Located just a short distance from New York's "Museum Mile," the Park Avenue Armory is a great location for the International Fine Print Dealers Association's annual print fair. I spent six hours on the exhibit floor on Saturday poring over prints from all eras, from works by Dürer and Rembrandt to early Japanese woodblock prints to hot-off-the-press contemporary editions from well-known publishers such as Crown Point Press and Shark's Ink. I learned a lot about printmaking, saw some knockout woodblock prints up close, and overheard some interesting conversations. Following are some highlights from the day.
Women Who Map
Given my obsession with maps, of course I was drawn to any map-like prints that I saw. Two really stood out for me, the work of Yvonne Jacquette (these are woodcuts):
and the work of Suzanne Caporael:
lithography and pochoir
woodblock
Arthur Wesley Dow and Friends
There were many gorgeous examples of some of my favorite early- to mid-20th century woodblock printmakers from the American northeast, including Arthur Wesley Dow, Blanche Lazelle and others. Most of the lovely little Dow woodblock prints I've ever seen have been very intimate pieces, often only a few inches in size. The piece at the top below was on display at the Hirschl and Adler Gallery booth and was quite large - about 7 inches wide!
Woodcuts by Women: Anne Ryan
The Susan Teller Gallery had a wall devoted to modernist woodcuts by women, and I was delighted to be introduced to the work of Anne Ryan (1889-1954). She made prints on black paper, giving the work great depth and complexity.
Kiki Smith
A book at the Arion Press booth caught my eye immediately as I walked by, a volume titled "Sampler" which contains 200 Emily Dickinson poems illustrated with images by Kiki Smith. The book was letterpress printed and hand bound in an edition of 400 and it was so hot off the press that Kiki Smith herself had not seen it yet. I was fortunate enough to be present when Smith arrived for her first look, so I was able to watch her face as she viewed the results of many weeks of labor. I think she liked it.
Other Woodcuts of Note
Keith Haring's Totem
This was huge, framed in 3 pieces, maybe 7 or 8 feet tall.
John Buck's Needles
About 4 feet high.
I had just one disappointment, which is that Davidson Galleries of Seattle, although a member of ifpda, didn't attend. They carry some of my favorite contemporary printmakers and I would have loved to have seen some of that work up close.
4 comments:
Thanks for the post, Annie. I am crazy about that John Buck print. It must have looked fantastic up close and personal.
I'm hoping to go to the show in Seattle in January. That may have been why Davidson's didn't show - they may have been busy prepping for the Seattle show. Crossing my fingers hoping to go!
Really interesting post Annie. Thanks for the links to Davidson Gallery and the Arion Press. I really love Anne Ryan's work too.
Thanks to you both for slogging through a long post! Beth, what is Davidson Gallery doing in January? Maybe I can justify a "business trip?!"
I found your blog by accident, but I'm glad I read it. Unfortunately, the Seattle Print Fair will not be happening this year. We had some trouble getting enough vendors to commit in time to secure the location. We are in the process of restructuring the fair so that this won't happen again, and we expect to be back in full force in 2009.
Meanwhile, we will be participating in the San Francisco Fine Print Fair and the IFPDA Fine Print Fair at the LA Art Show, both in January 2008. You can keep up with all our print fair activities, exhibitions, and more by subscribing to our RSS feed at www.davidsongalleries.com/news. Thank you for your interest and support!
Emily Ann Pothast
Director, Antique Print Department
Davidson Galleries
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