West Palm Beach, Florida
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Platemarks
July 19 to September 6, 1998
Platemarks,
an exhibition organized by the Norton Museum of Art, looks at the mysterious
process of creating prints using the intaglio process (engraving, etching,
mezzotint, aquatint and drypoint). The exhibition takes a historic look
at artists' relationship to printmaking by displaying works from 1512 through
1998. Artists included are: Albrecht Diirer, Rembrandt Van Rijn, Gionvanni
Battista Piranesi, Francisco Goya, Edouard Manet, Edgar Degas, John Taylor
Arms, Reginald Marsh, Gordon Cook, Lester Johnson, Kyu-Bak Hwang and Leslie
Lerner.
The fine print has evolved slowly over a period of six
centuries. The invention of this genus of the graphic arts (in which a design
worked onto metal, wood, or some other substance is transferred to paper
through application of pressure and the aegis of printing ink) cannot be
credited to any one individual. Rather, developments in other fields were
slowly absorbed by fine artists who wished to make multiple images which
were none the less original artistic expressions in their own right. As
time went by, new methods of achieving this end became fashionable, and
in some cases were pioneered by particular artists.
Some of the earliest printmakers were often trained goldsmiths or armorers. In both of these professions, the art of incising lines into hard metal for decorative purposes was practiced. The first engraved impressions were probably the result of an accidental discovery, when it was found that an incised line filled with ink or color would, under pressure, transfer a design onto paper. The engraving was used widely particularly for the reproduction and interpretation of paintings.
One reason that
the engraving lost ground as a principal form of artistic expression was
the development of the etching. The particular nature of this process allowed
artists far greater freedom to achieve heightened effects of tonality and
a new fluidity of line. Undeniably, Rembrandt holds a unique position in
the roster of great etchers. While the craft of etching to many of his contemporaries
meant no more than the transference of a drawing onto copper, it achieved
a new eminence in Rembrandt's hands. Not only did he fully exploit the tonal
and calligraphic qualities of the medium, but he also embellished his plates
with other techniques such as drypoint and engraving to achieve the best
possible effect. One can view Rembrandt's etching The Death of a Virgin,
1639 in this exhibition.
Etching is a variety of the intaglio process. A variety
of etching is aquatint. One artist who used both of these intaglio techniques
to previously unimagined effect was Francisco Goya, arguably the greatest
virtuoso printmaker of all time. In Goya' s work we again see an artist
pushing the boundaries of skill and knowledge. This was not only due to
his imaginative use of the aquatint technique, but also his subject matter.
Goya's etching and aquatint Hilan Delgado (Plate 44 from Los Caprichos),
1799 will be on display.
Also included in the exhibition is a work by Leslie Lerner,
a California artist now living in Sarasota and teaching at the Ringling
School of Art & Design. Mr. Lerner collaborated with GraphicStudio,
the premier experimental print shop, at the University of South Florida,
to create a work of art for this exhibition. The work examines the process
of etching starting with the beginning process to the finished plate. The
work was executed in four states and also includes the preliminary drawing.
Images from top to bottom: Reginald marsh, Merry-go-Round, etching, 6 13/16 x 97/8, gift of Feragil Gallery; Gordon Cook, Fuchsia, Iris, Geraniums, Daisy, 1985, etching, 19 3/4 x 16 1/4; John Taylor Arms, 42nd Street at Night, n.d., etching and aquatint, 10 1/2 x 6 3/4 inches, purchased through the R. H. Norton Fund; Lester Johnson, Milford Figure, etching, 1st state, 24 1/2 x 18 inches, gift of Robert L. Burnham
rev. 11/26/10
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