Portfolio · 1991

House with Four Walls

Etchings and text turn remembered rooms, summer afternoons, visitors, warnings, and departures into a sequence about childhood and the loss of home.

House with Four Walls · complete portfolio

Date1991

MediumSeven-part etching portfolio with text and chine collé on handmade Nepalese paper and Arches Cover

SheetFamily record: 17 × 29 in.; other catalogue records: 16½ × 29½ in.

Edition25

The portfolio begins with the protective idea of four walls, then opens that enclosure to the memories held inside it. The house is not reconstructed as a complete picture; it is recalled through marks, textures, stories, and the knowledge that the family would one day leave.

This seven-part print portfolio is distinct from the poem The House at Aligarh. Across the portfolio, complete sheets, deckled edges, inscriptions, and edition marks preserve the physical presence of Zarina’s handmade papers.

Christie’s · House with Four Walls ↗

Archive sequence

Individual sheets

The titled sheets follow the family portfolio record; photographed copies may be from different numbered impressions.

Far Away Was a House with Four Walls, House with Four Walls, by Zarina — 01Far Away Was a House with Four WallsOpen image ↗

On Rainy Nights the Ghost Stopped by the Pillar, House with Four Walls, by Zarina — 02On Rainy Nights the Ghost Stopped by the PillarOpen image ↗

The Black Snake Came in the House, House with Four Walls, by Zarina — 03The Black Snake Came in the HouseOpen image ↗

On Long Summer Afternoons Everyone Slept, House with Four Walls, by Zarina — 04On Long Summer Afternoons Everyone SleptOpen image ↗

I Run Outside to Play and Burn My Feet, House with Four Walls, by Zarina — 05I Run Outside to Play and Burn My FeetOpen image ↗

One Night We Heard the Owl in the Tree, House with Four Walls, by Zarina — 06One Night We Heard the Owl in the TreeOpen image ↗

The One-Eyed Maid Said We Would Have to Move Far Away, House with Four Walls, by Zarina — 07The One-Eyed Maid Said We Would Have to Move Far AwayOpen image ↗