"Lost Sou" circa 1960, Etching.

Edition: 50. Signed and numbered in pencil, lower right; titled, lower left.

Image: 7 3/4 x 5 3/4 inches (196 x 146 mm). Sheet: 10 3/8 x 8 1/4 inches (263 x 209 mm).

Reference: Kovinick and Yoshiki-Kovinick 1998:137.

Excellent condition. Good margins. Printed on off-white wove paper. Tracing Dorothy Stauffer Hay's history is a bit difficult, however Kovinick and Yoshiki-Kovinick (1998:137) have attempted a chronology. She was born Brenholtz, was married to her first husband Stauffer, circa 1929. By 1953, she is documented as Mrs. Joe P. King, and is living in Santa Fe, New Mexico. By 1962 she is settled in Tucson, Arizona, and married to a Mr. Hay. Throughout all of this is her nimble ability to change her signature as her life changed - making the attribution of her art somewhat difficult. Curious to this image is the title Lost Sou. It is apparent that the print is of a Mexican scene (posters on the right in Spanish, one announcing a fiesta), with two elderly women looking for a lost coin in front of a church. Although "sou" is generally considered to be a French coin term the artist uses it here in a Mexican context. The artist traveled widely in Mexico, so it is possible that she knew of this word usage in that country. It may reflect regional linguistic residue of the intervention, influence, and withdrawal of France into Mexico -1862 to 1866.           

$300.00