The
Unfinished Print
It gives us a great deal of satisfaction this summer to present
a virtual sampler of The Unfinished
Print exhibition at The Frick Collection in
New York. After so many years of seeing printmaking play second
fiddle it's frankly great to see a bigtime art institution like
The Frick give star billing to prints. And what prints!
The exhibition includes fifty-seven impressions in varying degrees
of completion by European masters from the fifteenth to the early
twentieth century (of which our article reproduces fourteen; don't
forget you can click to see them enlarged.) Most of them are from
the National Gallery's extraordinary collection of 58,000 prints.
These landmarks in the history of printmaking, by artists including
Goltzius, Dürer, and Rembrandt, provide illuminating examples
in the history of aesthetic resolution, inviting viewers to look
over the artist's shoulder as he develops an image through a series
of working proofs and states.
From
World Printmakers' point of view as printmaking
advocates, this show is doubly gratifying, in that no other medium
outside of printmaking can provide the step-by-step graphic insight
to an artist's creative process. We owe a debt of gratitude to
Peter Parshall, curator of Old Master prints for the National
Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., where a larger version of the
exhibition was shown in the fall of 2001, for it was Parshall
who conceived and developed the original concept of The
Unfinished Print.
"Here
We Are, and Here's Our Work!"
Skipping from old masters to fresh new faces, we present an extract
from the Fine
Art Printmaking Degree Show of the Cardiff School of
Art and Design. This virtual version of the exhibit is thanks
to the initiative of Jessie Brennan, one of the students, who
wrote us last spring: "I am writing to inform you of an exhibition
of prints by contemporary artists in Wales. The exhibition by
final-year printmaking students brings together the recent work
of 16 artist-printmakers from the Fine Art department at Cardiff
School of Art & Design, UWIC. The work was produced during
spring 2004, using a number of traditional printmaking techniques:
etching, stone lithography, screen printing and relief processes."
We not only can't resist the opportunity to give a boost to student
printmakers, but we have a profound respect for young artists
like Jessie, who have the courage to proclaim to the wide world
(in this case to World Printmakers), "Here
we are, and here's our work!" So, here they are, and here's
their work.
Colorful
New Sponsors
You may have noticed that the World Printmakers
homepage has a new note of color at the bottom, the sunflower-yellow
banner of Caligo Inks. This third-generation family
business manufactures a comprehensive range of fine-art printing
inks at their state-of-the-art factory in Cwmbran Gwent in Wales
(UK). Though we haven't visited them yet (We're dying to take
up their invitation to do so!), judging from their website (www.caligoinks.com),
these folks are seriously committed to their craft, not only in
their traditional- style products, but also in their innovative
line of "safe wash" inks. They're currently expanding
and looking for new distributors on both sides of the Atlantic,
so if you're a distributor of fine-art materials, you might give
them a ring. And don't forget to tell them you saw them first
on World Printmakers!
See
you next fall. In the meantime, have a peaceful and fruitful summer,
and don't forget: ¡Viva el grabado!
Mike
& Maureen Booth
Editors & Publishers
World Printmakers
The Worldwide Showcase for
Contemporary Fine-Art Printmakers
URL: http://www.worldprintmakers.com
Email: contact@worldprintmakers.com
