Pressed for Time: History of Printmaking
March 18, 2017 - July 2, 2017
Printmaking in the Western world from the 15th century to the present. The four major processes of printmaking are exhibited with remarkable diversity and ingenuity. Beginning with a 15th-century woodcut by Michael Wolgemut and continuing through to present time, Pressed for Time includes works by Albrecht Durer, Rembrandt van Rijn, James Abbot McNeill Whistler, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Pablo Picasso, Joan Miro, Jane Hammond, Yvonne Jacquette, Romare Bearden, and Andy Warhol.
Over the last five centuries, the creative potential of printmaking has attracted many of the world’s great artists who turned to printmaking because it often offered greater flexibility than painting or drawing. Because the works were made in multiples, images could also be distributed more widely and more inexpensively to viewers and collectors. With the abundance of printed material today, distinguishing an original print from a reproduction can be confusing. By outlining the characteristics of an original print and tracing the historical development of printing, this exhibition will increase visitors’ appreciation of this medium and the choices artists make to work in one process over another.
The exhibition has been organized by the Flint Institute of Arts and the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts.
