Helen K. Siegl Etching, "Turtle Dance"

Green etching "Turtle Dance" by Helen Siegl (Vienna, 1924 - Philadelphia, 2009) depicts a boy and turtle dancing next to a tall flower; titled to bottom left and signed to bottom right; measures approximately 9-1/2" x 8-3/4" with frame and has a sight image of approximately 4-1/2" x 4". Siegl studied architecture and design at the Academie für Angewandte Kunst in Vienna, Austria. In 1952 she moved to Montreal, Canada, married American conservator Theodor Siegl, and moved to Philadelphia. Siegl's unusual printmaking technique— often combining various kinds of blocks and plates to create an image, including handmade plaster blocks she designed when wood was scarce in Vienna during World War II— helped garner her reputation as a widely respected printmaker. Siegl gained a reputation for both her individual signed and numbered prints and for her book illustrations. Her book illustrations include "The Dancing Palm Tree", which was chosen one of The Year's Best Illustrated Children's Books by The New York Times (1990), "Aesop's Fables" and "Birds and Beasts" (World Publishing). She was a regular contributor to the Philadelphia Print Club, and her work is included in various collections nationwide, among them the National Gallery of Art, Washington, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The Academy Art Museum is fortunate to have 49 original prints by Helen Siegl in the Permanent Collection.