The Butterfly (La Mariposa)

On October 20, 1943, Lasansky arrived in New York to begin his first Guggenheim Fellowship—a prestigious grant awarded to scholars and artists—one week after his 29th birthday. He made his way to Atelier 17, the celebrated print studio founded by British artist Stanley William Hayter. Lasansky admired Hayter’s bold, imaginative approach to printmaking. Hayter favored intaglio—techniques such as engraving, etching, or aquatint, in which lines are cut into a metal plate and then inked and printed when the plate is run through a press (from the Italian word intagliare, meaning to cut or engrave). He also fostered an environment of experimentation. At Atelier 17, Lasansky worked alongside Marc Chagall, Joan Miró, Jackson Pollock, and Sue Fuller, among other artists. Despite his proximity to this star power, Lasansky’s biggest influence at this time was Pablo Picasso, along with Hayter’s own lyrical Abstract Expressionism. Close inspection of this print reveals elaborately worked surfaces and a mastery of challenging techniques.