ATELIER 17
Atelier 17 was opened in Paris in 1933 by Stanley William Hayter (1901–1988) at 17 Rue Campagne Première, the name derived from the address of a studio (atelier) for printmakers. Hayter had arrived in Paris in 1926 and enrolled at the Académie Julian and worked there for several months before meeting the engraver, Joseph Hecht. Hecht’s technique of engraving directly onto the plate and intrigued by this technique, purchased a press and in 1927 his studio at the Villa Chauvelot in rue Moulin Vert turned into a small workshop. In 1933 Hayter moved to 17 Rue Campagne-Premiere and so began the Atelier 17 proper. Although its main emphasis was on printmaking, the studio also provided a centre for the exchange of artistic ideas, and among the notable artists attracted to it included Joan Miró (1893-1983) and Max Ernst (1891-1976), who worked together there in a spirit of collaborative experiment and exploration and Picasso would drop by for technical advice. They were joined by many English artists such as Julian Trevelyan (1910-1980), John Buckland Wright (1897-1954), and Anthony Gross (1905-1984). At the outbreak of the Second World War, Hayter, left Paris, moved to New York City, and reopened his Atelier 17 studio at East 8th Street, where, among the American artists were drawn to it included the likes of Jackson Pollock (1912-1956), Willen de Kooning (1904-1997) and Mark Rothko (1903-1970). Hayter moved his studio back to Paris in 1950 where it continued to operate until his death in 1988 when the studio was renamed Atelier Contrepoint and continued to operate. Suffolk artists who studied at Atelier 17 include Anthony Benjamin, Kate Ponsonby and Valerie Thornton.