First State (1962), Black and White

8.5"x6.5" B/W edition of 3 pieces

First State is the third etching in the etching series (1962). All etching editions were very small.

First State was first done in black/white but lacked the details of the houses underneath the man's head. A trial piece was used to create the hand-colored etching which includes the details of the houses. I have been asked if First State is David Ben Gurion, and it is not. The name signifies the first state—black/white to color. My father used pastel to hand-color lithographs in the 1970s and 80s.