Krishna Reddy (b. 1925) is best known for his significant contributions to intaglio printmaking. After his training in India, in 1949, he relocated to England and studied at the University of London’s Slade School of Fine Arts with Henry Moore. After moving to Paris in 1950, Reddy met Stanley William Hayter, the founder of Atelier 17, a highly influential and experimental printmaking workshop. Eventually, Reddy would become an associate director of Atelier 17.

Reddy was a pivotal figure for the development of viscosity printing, which allowed the simultaneous printing of multiple colors in the intaglio technique. Reddy’s imagery in prints was quite varied, often referencing organic life, with implied animal or vegetal forms. These were commonly abstracted into amorphous shapes that suggested movement, energy, and a generalized natural vitalism.

A fundamental feature of Reddy’s printmaking is an inventive reworking of individual printing plates, creating new, distinct variations (called “states” in printmaking parlance). These altered, stand-alone images are remarkable in their complexity of added linear elements, colors and tones, and even low relief textural effects. Indeed, Reddy viewed the printing plates themselves as independent artworks, to be appreciated for their inherent sculptural qualities.