Beutlich was born in Poland in 1922. As a Pole of German origin he was drafted into the German army but after he was made a prisoner of war he signed up for the British army. In England he studied at the Sir John Cass Technical Institute and later at the Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts. He became interested in textiles and started making very imaginative wall hangings. He is considered to be one of the leading textile artists of the post war era. His work is characterised by his very experimental use of the materials, often incorporating non-traditional materials like wood, seed pods, even X ray film. As weaving materials he used sisal and jute. In Spain, where he lived for several years, he also worked with grasses. Apart from wall hangings he also created loose standing sculptural forms made of textiles. His influence as a textile artist is also evidenced by his book ‘The Technique of Woven Tapestry’ that is still widely consulted by weavers today. He died in 2011.
While he is first and foremost known for his textiles he also created many amazing prints that often rival his textiles in quality. Often of an extra-large scale, his prints are just as innovative as his textiles. They are typically described as block prints or relief prints and were hand printed without a printing press and incorporated various natural materials. His themes are normally abstract and organic forms and echo his woven work.
This large work is called ‘Heatwave in Antarctic’. It was printed in an edition of 75 probably around 1967. Beutlich has been very adventurous in how he created this print. In the bottom one third of the print it is clear he used wooden planks and the round shape in the middle may have been printed using a charred cross section of wooden post.
What I like particularly about this print is the subject matter which makes it very topical in today’s world.
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