The History of American Printmaking: Selection from the Permanent Collection

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The History of American Printmaking: Selection from the Permanent Collection

Recently the ASU Art Museum received a gift of 190 prints from Melvin and Ellen Hellwitz. At the core of this gift are many examples of the best American printmakers from the early half of the 20th century. This gift offered a unique opportunity to highlight that time period, adding a few other prints from the permanent collection, and form the exhibition: The History of American Printmaking: Selections from the Permanent Collection.

Though there are a few prints from the 1920s, the focus of the exhibition is the volatile time of the 1930s-1940s. The nation was in a period of isolationism during the Great Depression and was bracing for the possibility of entering the Second World War. Roosevelt's New Deal generated temporary economic reforms which incorporated support for American art and artists through government programs that brought art into the public sector, schools and government buildings: the Section of Painting and Sculpture in the Treasury Department and the Federal Art Project in the Works in Progress Administration. As a result of the government support, there was renewed interest in printmaking as a medium that could reach a broad segment of the population and the artists of the period were encouraged to produce works with a distinctly American spirit.

The resulting work was categorized as the American Scene movement, seperated by some critics into two branches: the Regionalists and the Social Realists. Regionalists reflected rural American, romanticized views of country life as seen in the work by Thomas Hart Benton, Slow Train through Arkansas, 1941; John Steuart Curry, Sanctuary, 1944; and Grant Wood, Shrine Quartet, c. 1939. Social Realists depicted life in the American city, often with social and political commentary, such as in Margaret Lowengrund's Breadline, 1930s and Rockwell Kent's, And Now Where, 1936. The private presses and publishing firms were also very important in the development and propagation of the American Scene prints. The Associated American Artists (AAA) published etchings and lithographs by American artists and advertised their purchase - for $5. each - on the back of periodicals. This increased access to prints from the city art markets to a larger American audience, brought prints to more urban areas, such as Arizona. Many of the prints included in this exhibition were produced by AAA and acquired by the Hellwitzs and other donors, such as Mr. Oliver B. James, Mr. & Mrs. Read Mullan, Helen Shipley, Mr. & Mrs. Orme Lewis, and Robert Bell and Stirling Puck.

The American Scene movement declined with the insurgence of aesthetic influences from European artists escaping World War II. But the movement continues through this collection of prints, generously gifted by ASU Art museum supporters.

CHECKLIST OF THE EXHIBITION

John Taylor Arms

Lace in Stone, Rouen Cathedral, 1927

Etching, 14 1/4 x 11 3/8"

Gift of Mr. & Mrs. Read Mullan 1963.589

Milton Avery

Untitled, 1937

Drypoint, 3 1/4 x 7 13/16"

Gift of Ellen and Melvin Hellwitz 2001.023.079

Peggy Bacon

Frenzied Effort, 1925

Drypoint, 5 3/4 x 9"

Gift of Mrs. Melvin Hellwitz 1990.198.001

Clifford Beal

Untitled

Drypoint, 11 3/4 x 8 3/4"

Gift of Ellen and Melvin Hellwitz 2001.023.169

Thomas Hart Benton

Slow Train through Arkansas, 1941

Lithograph, 9 15/16 x 12 11/16"

Gift of Mr. & Mrs. Read Mullan 1964.664

Isabel Bishop

Putting on the Coat; The Coat (or Taking Off her Coat); Reaching for the Coat, 1941-43, reprinted 1981

Etching, various dimensions

Museum purchase with funds provided by the Newton Rosenzweig Family Philanthropic Fund of the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix Endowment Fund 1981.106-108

Asa Cheffetz

Midsummer Vermont

Wood engraving, 4 1/4 x 6"

Gift of Ellen and Melvin Hellwitz 2001.023.175

John Steuart Curry

Sanctuary, 1944

Lithograph, 11 3/4 x 15 3/4"

Gift of Mr. & Mrs. Orme Lewis 1961.261

Arthur B. Davies

Woman in Shadow, 1920

Lithograph, 12 3/4 x 9 1/8"

Gift of Ellen and Melvin Hellwitz 2001.023.052

Adolph Dehn

Minnesota Landscape, 1931

Lithograph, 8 3/4 x 11"

Gift of Mr. & Mrs. Melvin Hellwitz 1989.007

Mabel Dwight

In the Crowd, 1931

Lithograph, 9 3/8 x 11 3/4

Gift of Mr. & Mrs. Melvin Hellwitz 1988.135

Emil Ganso

Oasis, 1940s (?)

Lithograph, 11 7/8 x 17"

Gift of Ellen and Melvin Hellwitz 2001.023.075

Marsden Hartley

Apple, Pear and Pomegranate, 1923

Lithograph, 10 3/16 x 14 916"

American Art Heritage Fund 1961.314

Morris Henry Hobbs

The Snowball Man, Old New Orleans, 1938

Etching, 2 1/2 x 2 1/4"

Gift of Ellen and Melvin Hellwitz 2001.023.115

Rockwell Kent

And Now Where?, 1936

Lithograph, 13 1/8 x 9 3/8"

Gift of Helen B. Shipley 1989.240.001

Paul Landacre

Children's Carnival, 1946

Wood engraving, 8 1/2 x 12

Gift of Mr. Oliver B. Jones 1951.089

Armin Landeck

11 W. 11th Street, 1939

Drypoint, 12 7/8 x 9 13/16"

Gift of Ellen and Melvin Hellwitz 2001.023.143

Claire Leighton

Net Menders, 1933

Wood engraving, 7 3/8 x 6 1/8"

Gift of Ellen and Melvin Hellwitz 2001.023.016

Martin Lewis

Chance Meeting, 1941

Drypoint, 10 1/2 x 7 1/2

Gift of Mr. & Mrs. Orme Lewis 1966.769

Margaret Lowengrund

Breadline, 1931-34

Lithograph, 7 7/8 x 10"

Given in Memory of Mary B. Stoner 1997.026.001

Luigi Lucioni

Untitled, 1942

Etching, 8 x 5 7/8"

Gift of Ellen and Melvin Hellwitz 2001.023.083

John Marin

St. Paul's Against the El, 1930

Etching, 9 11/16 x 6 7/8"

American Art Heritage Fund 1961.228

Reginald Marsh

The Limited (Train), 1931

Etching, 5 x 11 7/8"

Gift of Mr. & Mrs. Orme Lewis 1962.383

Leo Meissner

Dune Grasses

Wood engraving, 5 13/16 x 4 3/8"

Gift of Ellen and Melvin Hellwitz 2001.023.160

Thomas W. Nason

Deer Isle (Maine Coast), 1941

Wood engraving, 6 7/8 x 9 1/16"

Gift of Ellen and Melvin Hellwitz 2001.023.171

Arnold H. Ronnebeck

Rio Grande Canyon, New Mexico, 1931

Lithograph, 9 1/2 x 14 1/8"

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Hellwitz 1988.162

Rudolph Ruzicka

A Summer Day, 1936

Woodcut, 5 1/8 x 8"

Gift of Robert M. Bell & Stirling M. Puck 1997.153

Sam Thal

Chad's Place (1920-40?)

Etching, drypoint, 8 7/8 x 11 15/16"

Gift of Ellen and Melvin Hellwitz 2001.023.067

Stow Wengenroth

Untitled

Lithograph, 8 5/8 x 12 9/16"

Gift of Ellen and Melvin Hellwitz 2001.023.166

Ronan W. Wolceske

Wind Blown Birches, 1931

Drypoint, 10 1/8 x 13 7/8"

Gift of Ellen and Melvin Hellwitz 2001.023.074

Grant Wood

Shrine Quartet, c. 1939

Lithograph, 8 x 12"

Gift of Mr. Oliver B. James 1951.099

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