The prints represented in this catalogue and in this exhibition are the property of the Clark family and are reproduced with their kind permission for the purpose of education. The imagery of these prints remains the intellectual property of the artists and as such may not be reproduced without permission.

RELIEF PRINTS:

1. Bruce Kimberling, Untitled, wood engraving, n.d., 3 7/8" x 3 7/8"

The artist was born in Shelbyville, Indiana, in 1921. He studied first at Indiana University but then at the National Academy of Design in New York City and then the Farnsworth School of Cape Cod. He traveled to New Mexico in 1970 and much of his later work deals with themes taken from the American West. This print was commissioned by the Graphic Chemical and Ink Company. Bruce Kimberling uses the relief technique known as wood engraving. The image is cut out of the end grain of a hard and consistent wood like Boxwood or Hard Maple. Made popular in the 19th century as a medium for book illustrations, wood engravings were made by illustrators like the early 19th century Englishman Thomas Bewick. After it was replaced as a medium for commercial book illustrating it developed as a means through which artists created fine art prints.

2. Bronislaw 'Bruno' Bak, Good Days are Coming, woodcut, edition of 200 on laid mulberry paper, 1968, 200/200, 12 1/2" x 11 3/8"

Artists and printmakers Bruno and Heidi Bak came to the United States and Chicago from Poland after World War II to create art. He was born in Poland in 1922. He is known for his prints and a stained glass work found in Saint John's Abbey Church, Saint John's University, Minnesota. They established a print studio that later became Landfall Press. In 1973 Bruno Bak accepted a teaching position at Georgia Southern College where he remained until his death in 1981. The print in the exhibition comes from the period in the 1960s when racial turmoil spread throughout the United States. Having experienced the injustices of Nazi Germany in the war years, Bak portrays the plight and hope of the African American that the future will bring better times.
A woodcut utilizes the plank section of wood from which to cut the image. Using gouges and vieners or any tools that will leave an indentation in the wood surface the line image is left in relief while the space around it is removed. Many woodcut artists after the style developed by Edvard Munch and the artists of Die Brucke in northern Germany utilize the grainy quality of the block to add texture and imagery to the print. Bruno Bak has left this quality in the background behind the figure. The light gray-green background color that surrounds the figure would have been printed first with the black plate that includes the figure printed over the flat gray-green. The plates for each color would be registered-aligned with the printing paper-so that the images would print in the appropriate areas of the paper. The ink would be applied to the plates with a roller after it had been spread onto a smooth hard surface such as plate lass or marble. After the plate is inked and the paper placed on the proper spot, pressure is applied to the back of the paper which transfers the ink onto the paper. The pressure can be applied with either a printing press or by rubbing the back of the paper with a nonabrasive, slightly curved object such as a door handle or spoon. The process of inking and applying pressure is repeated for each print in the edition.

3. Sharon Linder, Wholesale Only, linocut, 2001, 29/70, 9 5/8" x 12 1/2"

The use of new plate materials was explored in the 20th century by many artists. Linoleum commonly used as floor covering was popularized as a printmaking material by Pablo Picasso. Inexpensive and easy to cut with hand tools linoleum became a staple relief medium in art classes from coast to coast. With the development of modern pre-finished vinyl sheet rolls, traditional linoleum is now produced primarily as an artistic medium. The print image reflects the cutting mark made by the linoleum cutting tool, yet does not show the grain quality that is common to some woodcuts

4. Mark Sisson, Portrait of S. Frier & J Titus/Tinkerbell, reduction woodcut, n.d., 1/18, 18 3/8" x 12 3/8"

Mark Sisson born in 1957 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, attended Albion College,received his B.F.A. from the University of Michigan, and his M.F.A. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. At Madison he was exposed to the work of Warrington Colescott (also in this exhibition) and Raymond Gloeckler. Since 1989 he has taught at Oklahoma State University.

Color was added to the earliest relief prints by painting a water-based pigment over the dark lines that formed the image. By the end of the 15th century printmakers had begun to use colored inks that were incorporated into the image by using multiple plates (one for each color) or using stencils over the plate while applying the color. Another method seen in this print is called reduction printing. One plate is used for all the colors. The artist begins by inking and printing the lightest color on the paper. This color is applied to and printed over all areas of the print surface that will eventually receive color. Next the area of the print that is to remain that color is physically removed guaranteeing that when subsequent colors are added the area of the print with that color will remain intact. This process is continued with each color printed with the next darkest color added until the print is completed with the printing of the darkest color. When completed the plate surface will be very small and contain only the raised area of the final color.

5. Ron Schaefer, Dreams of Cleveland, relief etching, n.d., ?/20, 23 7/16" x 32 1/2"

Residing in the New York State near the Hudson River the artist is known for his imagery of industrial settings, stilllifes and landscapes. His studio is a converted 19th century one-room schoolhouse. Metal plates that are either etched using acids or engraved using hand tools were utilized as early as the 15th century as a relief print matrix. The textured metal plate is inked on the raised area and printed like any relief print. This technique allows for crisper lines and a flat ink image without the wood-grained texture associated withwoodcuts.

6. Alex Brickonic, The Philosophers, multi-plate color woodcut and collagraph, n.d., A.P., 18 x 26 1/4"

Another early method of creating color woodcuts was the use of multiple plates, often one for each color. In this process the plates and the paper must be aligned to place each color where it belongs on each impression. Some relief artists will create plates that interlock much like a giant jigsaw puzzle with each plate receiving a different color. On the top edge of this print we see texture created by adding modeling paste to the plate surface and allowing it to dry so that when printed it created the texture. The adding of texture to a plate and inking it so that the relief surface and the texture show is referred to as a collagraph.

7. David Mayhew, State Café, Woodcut, n.d., A/P, 17 3/8" x 12 1/4"

At first glance this print has many of the characteristics of a silkscreen but the back of the paper shows the clear markings of a hand printed woodcut. Created in the Japanese style with the artist's identification placed in the lower right hand corner, David Mahen uses a variety of techniques to create this exquisite image. The blues of the sky were created using a blended color roll where the variety of colors are rolled together on the inking station. Where they touch the inks mix creating the color blend. This creates the subtle and gentle color transition from the light robin's egg blue at the bottom of the print to the darker blue at the top. The textured surface of the building could be created by roughly splattering latex paint on to the plate surface, allowing it to dry and then inking and printing it.

8. Toshusai Sharaku, Untitled (image of an actor), woodcut, 1794, 16" x 10 3/4"

In 1856 two years after Japan began relations with Western culture, the French artist Felix Bracquemond found a woodcut by Hokusai's being used as wrapping paper. Thus began the influence of the Japanese woodcut on Western artists. The paintings and prints of artists from Manet to Mary Cassatt were affected in their compositions, use of color and even subject matter. Believed to have lived in the last part of the 18th century, Sharaku was one of the innovators and masters of the ukiyo-e print that portrayed the events of everyday Japanese life. The woodcut seen here was probably created during the brief period from 1794 and 1795 when it is believed that he created his woodcuts. Sharaku was known for his images of Japanese actors and their unique facial and hand gestures. These were not well received by the art world of Edo (ancient Tokyo) because of the truthfulness with which he captured his subjects. It was after the French and American collectors of the late 19th century discovered his work that his woodcuts were recognized in his native Japan. Sharaku's prints are rare and limited to such a brief time span that some scholars believe that the name is actually an alias for one of the more prolific and better known artists of the time.

9. Emily Trueblood, Night Tower, multiple plate linocut, n.d., 37/50, 17 1/2" x 14"

Born in Alexandria, Virginia, she received her art education at Beloit College, Wisconsin, the Academia Artium, Madrid, Spain, the University of Wisconsin, Madison, the Pratt Graphics Center, and at the Art Students League, NYC. Trueblood has created a two plate linocut on Rives heavyweight white paper that was printed by K. Caraccio. It is one from a series images of New York City created by the artist beginning in 1990 using linocuts and woodcuts. The tradition of the master printer goes back to the time of the Renaissance when shops of printers and block cutters existed. This is not dissimilar to the use of technical experts in the production of multiple cast bronzes. The artist oversees the production of the print and approves the final image.

INTAGLIO PRINTS:

1. Brian Paulsen, Houses Hiding, engraving, 1985, 8/20, 13 15/16" x 9 11/16"

Brian Paulsen received his M.F.A. from Washington State University and his now the Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor at the University of North Dakota-Grand Forks. The earliest form of intaglio print dating from the beginning of the 15th century was the engraving. This technique was first used by goldsmiths to incise decorative patterns in jewelry and decorative items and by armorers who would decorate the armor of knights. Lines were cut into the surface of the metal plate using tools called burins and tint tools. Sharp metal burrs left from the act of engraving are removed by cutting them from the plate with a three edged sharpened knife called a scraper. The incised lines made by the engraving tools are what hold the ink and what create the image of the print. As with intaglio prints the image on the plate is reversed through the printing process when it appears on the paper. This print is unusual in that it breaks from the traditional use of a copper plate to utilize a plastic plate.

2. Leonard Baskin, Miasmal (Bird), etching, n.d., 18 1/2" x 12 1/4"

Leonard Baskin born in 1922 and died in 2000 is best known for his large relief prints of distorted human figures that were cut into large sheets of plywood as well as for his sculpture. Born the son of Rabbi Samuel Baskin and May Guss Baskin in New Brunswick, New Jersey, religious symbolism and the nature of human life and suffering were themes of his work. In this line etching Baskin captured in the imagery of a bird the sense of foreboding and existential angst that were themes of his art. Miasmal refers to an exhaled breath that signifies death. Sometime at the beginning of the 16th century etching, a new intaglio technique, was developed by armorers. They would coat armor with a wax solution, scratch a pattern through the wax exposing the bare metal and then use acid mixtures poured over armor to slowly incise the pattern into the metal. Artists such as Albrecht Durer, experimented with the technique initially using the steel of armor on which to create the image. It was later that copper and then zinc became the most materials used as etching plates.

3. Donald Furst, Penetralia III, mezzotint, n.d., 8/50, 9" x 9"

Donald Furst received his M.F.A. in 1978 from the University of Iowa and his now a professor of art at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington.
A technical problem that faced intaglio artists was how to create tonal (grays and blacks) areas in a print image. Intersecting engraved or etched lines created crosshatching, but beginning in the 17th and coming to fruition as a technique in the 18th century was the mezzotint. In mezzotinting, the metal plate is pitted by repeatedly rocking a curved-toothed tool over its surface. This creates a roughened texture that will print as a velvety black. Lighter tones are created by using a polishing tool (burnisher) to smooth the texture so it holds less ink. Because the pitted area of the plate is placed under great pressure during the printing process, traditional mezzotints create only a few quality impressions before the black areas begin to deteriorate. Some printmakers have had mezzotint images electroplated to increase the durability of the plate and allow for larger editions to be printed.

4. Ruben Matnek, Drypoint, drypoint, 1986, A/P, 7 3/4" x 12 3/4"

An early printmaking technique was the creation of an incised line into the metal intaglio plate by the use of a scriber or pencil-shaped tool. Unlike engraving, where in the metal burrs are removed, in drypoint a burr is purposely pushed up beside the incised line. Both the line and the burr collect ink creating a softer line in the finished print. This technique was used in conjunction with etching (Rembrandt) and was also practiced exclusively to create imagery by early printmakers like The Housebook Master (15th Century) and later by Mary Cassatt (19th Century). Because the burr is put under great pressure the soft line quality deteriorates after only a few impressions leaving the thinner inscribed inked line.

5. David Bumbeck, Ramona, soft-ground etching and aquatint. 1980, 23/80, 12 1/2" x 10 3/8"

Born in 1940, the artist received his B.F.A. from the Rhode Island School of Design and his M.F.A. from Syracuse University. He served as a professor of Art at Middlebury College, Vermont, for over 20 years. He has worked as a sculptor and extensively in the intaglio techniques with the human figure as the focus of his subject matter.
From the beginnings of etching artists experimented with the substance called a ground, that was used to coat the metal plate and protect it from the acid. In the 17th century a new type of ground known as soft-ground was created by adding tallow to the waxy ground material. This allowed artists to impress textures and simulate conte-crayon and chalk drawings in an etching. A second technique, aquatint, developed a century later and was used to create tonal areas within an etching. In aquatint powdered rosin is sprinkled over the plate, then melted into place to act as a resist against the acid. The acid bites into the plate in a dot pattern around the melted rosin. The longer the plate is submerged in the acid the deeper the pits, and the more the area holds ink. This area therefore prints darker. Aquatint by its nature holds ink entirely below the surface of the plate, is more durable under the pressure of the printing process than is mezzotint, which both pits and burrs the plate.

6. Warrington Colescott, The Great Moon Trip, color intaglio, 1972, 16/100, 17 3/16" x 29"

Warrington Colescott is both Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and Printmaker Emeritus for the Southern Graphics Council. He is known for his experiments and mastery in color prints uses multiple plates, cut-out sections and stenciled relief rolls which add additional color over the surface of the plate. Born in New Orleans, raised in California, Berkeley, Colescott received numerous awards during his lifetime including a Fulbright Fellowship (1957), a Guggenheim Fellowship (1965, and four National Endowment for the Arts fellowships.
The introduction of color in intaglio prints lagged far behind the similar development in relief prints. The 17th century Dutch painter/printmaker Hercules Seghers experimented with color by adding it to the paper and then printing another color ink over it, creating a two-color image. With theinvention of the aquatint, where tonal and color areas could be created color became a greater element in intaglio prints in the 19th century.

7. S. Matlin Frieden, Verges of Conversion, a' la poupee color intaglio with relief roll, 1973, 96/260, 14 7/8" x 14 7/8"

Another method for creating color prints was called a' la poupee. It did not use multiple plates but required the printmaker to carefully place different colors on the same plate. In this print by S. Matlin Frieden we see this technique and the use of a stenciled relief roll. The intaglio plate is covered with a stencil that exposes an area of the plate. A roller charged with ink is rolled over that exposed area treating the intaglio plate like a relief plate leaving the ink on the exposed surface.

8. Art Werger, The Recurrence, color intaglio, 1999, 12/50, 24 1/4" x 17 3/8"

Art Werger was born in Ridgewood, New Jersey and completed his B.F.A. at the Rhode Island School of Design in 1978. He then traveled to Madison, Wisconsin and received his M.F.A. in 1982. He is presently the Director of Foundations, Professor of Printmaking at Ohio University, Athens, Ohio.
Using a two-plate process Werger uses one plate with warm colors and the other with cool colors. He stencils color for highlights, often using this technique to include intense dayglo colors. In this print the grass green areas were created using stencils.

9. Roy E. Dryer III, Out of the Blue & into the Sun, Photo etching with sugar-lift and viscosity printing, 1996, 11/50, 12 3/4" x 24"

Roy E. Dryer III was born in San Francisco and taught in North Carolina for ten years. He works in what is referred to as a "photo-impressionist" style doing commissioned works of exotic and classic automobiles, boats and airplanes. (www.roydryer.com/default-m.htm)The 17th century Dutch painter/printmaker Hercules Segher is credited with developing an etching technique known as sugar-lift. A drawing is made on the metal plate with an emulsion of sugar and ink. It is then covered with an acid-resistant material such as a ground or a coating called stop-out varnish. The plate is placed in a bath of water that causes the sugar to expand, leaving fluid brushmarks exposed. Aquatint is then created in the exposed areas.

10. Charles Barth, El Sol y La Luna, Three plate color intaglio, 1996, 3/15, 24 1/2" x 18 3/16"

A professor at Mount Mercy College, Charles Barth studied at the University of Iowa, Illinois State University, Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology, and Chicago State University. He is drawn to the culture of Mexico and owns a home in Oaxaca where he goes to retreat.
The development of color technology in photography, television and printing in the 20th century resulted in the use of this knowledge to create a new type of color intaglio print. This print utilizes three different plates and inks to create the finished image. Based on the principle that all pigment colors result from the mixing of the three primary colors-yellow, red, and blue-the print is created by making three plates that represent all colors. They are printed in the order: yellow, magenta, and then cyan (blue). This is also known as the three-plate process.

11. Rembrandt (?), DeMolen, Restrike or Forgery, date unknown, 6 1/8" x 8 1/2"

After an artist's death their printing plates still exist and may be eprinted by later generations. This etching dated 1641 is either a restrike of a Rembrandt etching or a forgery. Under the extreme pressure created by an intaglio press the incisions that hold the ink become compressed, holding less ink and making later prints less precise in appearance. To improve the image these plates can be covered with an acid resistant ground, leaving the etched lines exposed, and then placed into an acid bath to deepen the etched lines. In an engraving, the compressed engraved lines are recut by an engraver to accomplish the same thing. This is known as a restrike. When done after the artist's death this significantly reduces the value of the prints created in this manner.
Another age-old method of reproducing a print without the artist's knowledge is the forgery. The prints of artists like Rembrandt, Durer, Goya, Daumier and Picasso have become so popular that they have been copied with the purpose of deceiving the buyer. Durer even complained in his own lifetime about his prints being copied. When the forger forgets about the reversing of the imagery that occurs in the printing, humorous results can follow.

LITHOGRAPHY:

1. John Noble, Quick Water, crayon lithograph, 1952, 10 5/16" x 14"

Born in 1913 the son of artist John “Wichita Bill” Noble he worked as a seaman from 1928 to 1945. He was a member of the National Academy of Design and worked exclusively as an artist from 1946 until his death in 1983. The younger John Noble was known for his maritime images. He created many scenes of the ships, their remnants and the waterways around Staten Island from his floating studio. He began assembling his vessel-studio in 1939 taking parts from abandoned vessels that he would find along the Kill Van Kull. He would go out in a rowing yawl or jolly boat during the day making drawings and photographing the images that would be recreated on the lithographic blocks of Bavarian limestone that were on his vessel-studio. Noble would then transport the prepared stones back to the New York studio of George Miller the master printer where they were etched and printed.
One of the earliest techniques in the development of lithography was the use of grease pencils or crayons to draw the image on the stone or plate. These crayons are a mixture of grease and wax. The image is then chemically treated with a mixture of gum arabic and nitric acid that adheres the image to the plate and makes it ready for inking and printing. The print work of Daumier for example, was created by him drawing directly on the stone. As seen in this John Noble print of the stern of an ocean going ship pushed by tugboats, a fine draftsman like Noble can create a dynamic image with fine details. This technique results in an immediacy of creating that many 19th and 20th century artists have found exciting.

2. Robert Kipness, Final Proof, hand drawn lithograph, n.d.,70/260, 11 1/2 x 13 5/8"

Born in New York City, Robert Kipness studied first at the Art Students League and then received his M.F.A. in 1954 from the University of Iowa. He was elected to the National Academy of Design in 1980.
From its beginning lithography offered artists a print medium that could create velvety blacks in the print surface. We see this in this Robert Kipness' print. The greasier the substance used to create the image and the density with which it is applied allows for prints with rich black areas similar to the intaglio technique of mezzotint. However, because lithography is a chemical process without a raised or lowered surface the pressure of the lithography press does not push down the ink holding area of the plate and diminish the printing surface. This allows for larger editions of prints.

3. Gerald Guthrie, Brain Cell, color lithograph, n.d., 10/75, 14 3/4" x 10 1/2"

Gutherie teaches at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champign and creates prints, drawings and constructions. His work is influenced by the Dada and Surrealist movements and he reports of his work, "I ask the viewer to ponder such issues as the presence of absurdity in intellect and belief. It (sic) is my intention to elicit contemplation about the many important yet enigmatic issues associated with everyday life, By (sic) creating images with unusual metaphoric twists playing against familiar, more comfortable backgrounds, the sensation of the dream-state is closely recalled I believe this feeling is present in all people and allows a common pathway for communication. Though there is also an element of humor in the work, it is the humor of nervous laughter, intriguing yet slightly discomforting." (www.tfaoi.com/aa/2aa502.htm)
The creation of color lithographs falls historically into two categories: chromolithography and color lithography. The chromolithograph was the commercially-created reproduction printed in large numbers for the purpose of mass distribution. This printing and commercial venture was first practiced by early 19th century entrepreneurs such as Charles Hullmandel of London and John Bufford in the United States. The color lithograph is a multi-plate print created by the artist for the purpose of creating an original image such as is seen in Gerald Gutherie's print. Artists must align or register the paper with the print area on the different plates in order to create a seamless effect.

4. Susan Hunt-Wulkowicz, Dickerson County, hand-colored lithograph from aluminum plate, 1978, 88/200, 7 3/4" x 11 1/4"

Born during World War II in Biloxi, Mississippi, where her father was stationed, Susan Hunt-Wulkowicz was raised in her father's neighborhood near downtown Chicago. She began taking classes at age six at the Art Institute of Chicago, and attended one year of college there before marrying and beginning a family. She began making prints in 1969 when she purchased an etching press. In 1980 after several life altering events she co-founded the Chicago Center for the Print with Dennis McWilliams. After they sold the center in 1989 they moved to rural Wisconsin where they remain today.
Although colored inks existed to make lithographic prints, one of the earliest methods for creating color images was hand-coloring the single color (black) key image with watercolor. This was a common practice of the Currier and Ives Company. This print was hand drawn on an aluminum lithographic plate, printed by master printer/printmaker Dennis McWilliams (now her husband) and hand colored. The title for this print comes from the Dickerson printing press that was used to create the print. There is no Dickerson County apart from the artist's imagination. The image was created in a windowless studio when Susan Hunt-Wulkkowicz lived and worked in Chicago. She says she now lives in a setting in Wisconsin that resembles the images in her prints.

5. Cnosun (?), So You Live on Wall St. Now, hand drawn lithograph, n.d., 22/22, 5 5/8" x 6 3/8"

One of the characteristics that first attracts many artists to the art of lithography is the ability of the artist to directly draw on the printing plate/stone surface to create the image to be printed. This beautifully drawn and textured image of urban life captures that characteristic. Although the imagery is reversed in printing, the artist is able to see the drawn image on the printing surface as he creates it. Early lithographers like Honore Daumier would make rapid character studies of the politicians, lawyers, doctors, actors, and general public of Paris and then send the lithographic stone to the print shops of the publications La Caricature and Le Charivari where they were printed. This print So You Live on Wall St. Now, is undated, but is reminiscent of the realist style that dominated much of the print work in the 1930s and 1940s and was supported by the financial efforts of the Federal Art Project of the W.P.A.

6. Grant Wood, Untitled, Reproduction, n.d., 8 1/2" x 11"

Both lithography and offset lithography have been used for both the fine art print and for reproduction. This image by the American Regionalist Grant Wood is a mass produced reproduction. This image was most likely printed using the offset lithography method, where a metal printing plate that is attached to a circular drum revolves and prints onto a second polished drum (thus, the term offset). This second drum transfers the print image onto the paper. This method is extremely fast and hundreds of thousands of images can be printed from a single plate. It also makes it possible to create the exact image on the plate without the usual reversal that occurs in regular lithography.
Offset reproductions are usually distinguishable by the lack of a separate artist's signature apart from the print image although this image was signed by the artist. Other ways to distinguish a modern reproduction can be the lack of an edition number and the inclusion of a publisher's name or identifying company mark. This print has the word "REPRO" printed in the lower left hand margin. Reproductions are often recognizable imagery that may be a painting or even a well-known fine art print.
This image also raises the issue of how prints are matted. This work has been glued to its matting material, and that mat board due to its highly acidic nature is beginning to discolor and damage the paper of the print. Under these circumstances when economically feasible the print can be stabilized by a proper print conservator who can be found at many major art museums. When having a print matted and framed always make sure that the framer is using archival materials.

7. John James Audubon, Whooping Crane, Lithographic Reprint, 1983, 162/700, 37 1/2" x 25 1/4"

   Audubon was born in 1785 in Haiti an illegitimate son of a slave dealer and sea captain and his mistress. He was sent to
   Nantes, France at age four where he was raised by his father and stepmother, educated and studied at age 17 with the famous painter Jacques Louis David in Paris. (monet.unk.edu/mona/artexplr/audubon/audubon.html) He came to the United States a year later to avoid conscription into Napoleon's army. He was to oversee a farm his father had purchased northwest of Philadelphia, but he became a naturalist instead, banding birds as well as shooting and then posing them for drawing using a wire support he pushed through the body of the bird. He sold the farm and moved to Kentucky, working briefly in Cincinnati as a taxidermist. At age 35 he began the career for which he is known, the depiction of the birds of North America. His first portfolio was engraved by the English engraver Robert Havell Jr. when Audubon's work was rejected in the United States as a result of professional jealousy.
   There are countless prints and reproductions of Audubon's watercolors of birds. The study of Audubon prints is exemplary of the manner in which prints are made and sometimes reproduced. There are five recognized editions of Audubon prints with the first called the Havell Edition dating from 1827--1838. The first ten plates were engraved by William H. Lizars with the remaining 425 plates engraved by Robert Havell Jr. The paper size of this edition is 26 x 39 inches. The prints were hand colored. A second, smaller-sized edition of the bird images was produced between 1840 and 1844, the First Royal Octavo Edition. This contains all of the 435 prints from the Havell Edition plus an additional 35 new images. It was printed on paper approximately 6 1/2 x 10 3/4 inches and printed in an edition of approximately 1200 sets. The Bien Edition dates from 1860. It was the work of John Woodhouse Audubon (son of the naturalist) and Julius Bien a lithographer. The edition is a chromolithographic reproduction of the earlier Havell Birds of America edition and was printed on paper 27 x 40 inches. 106 plates were produced some of which combined plates of smaller birds two on a page.
   There are two modern editions the first being the Amsterdam Edition of 1972. It is a facsimile based on a set from the Havell edition located in the Teyler's Museum of Haarlem. It was produced using the offset printing method and was printed on original size paper and reproduced all 435 plates. The last edition was the Abbeville Edition of 1985. It was created in conjunction with the National Audubon Society in honor of the bicentennial of Audubon's birth. It utilized modern printing techniques with multiple color runs to reproduced the image and color quality of the originals.
   Countless other reproductions of individual prints have been made from these editions. Looking for watermarks, paper quality and size, printers marks and quality of the print as seen under a magnifying glass can be clues to the prints' authenticity. Only a well-trained expert or the guarantee of a reputable print dealer can lead the collector of Audubon prints through the maze of what is considered a valuable print and what is considered a low-cost reproduction.When a popular print is editioned and the total number of prints sold, artists and/or publishers will sometimes resort to the reprint or restrike to create additional images for sale. When there is an attempt to deceive the buying public these prints will have a second series of edition numbers or can have the designation "A.P." (Artist's Proof). Other times the edition numbers are missing. If the image is a photographic reproduction a study of the print surface with a magnifying glass will divulge the dot pattern created by the color separation process.

SILKSCREEN:

1. Kathryn Maxwell, She Danced Into His Heart, water-based silkscreen, 1994, 15 3/4" x 11 3/8"

An Illinois native, Kathryn Maxwell received her B.A. from Northwestern University, in 1980 and her M.F.A. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1982. She presently teaches printmaking at Arizona State University. This silkscreen deals with the nature of Love and its dangers. She wrote about printmaking:
Printmaking is a wonderfully varied field. Printmakers draw, paint, photograph and scan to create their images. The verbs describing the actions of printmaking express the strong physicality of the techniques-grinding, gouging, etching, and cutting spring to mind. Existing images can be recombined and recontextualized, forming new meanings, continuing printmaking's rich tradition of communicating and disseminating ideas. Ultimately, however, my choice to use printmaking comes down to a matter of love. I love the process, the look, and the ability to convey meaning through a variety of visual methods. My philosophy is simple. Do what you love and do it to the best of your ability.
Influenced by multiple trips to Mexico and the richness of color found in the American southwest, Kathryn Maxwell's print reflects her sense of humor and the use of double entendres to invite the viewer into the pitfalls of love. The print combines photo images with hand stenciled work. Photo emulsions used in other printmaking processes were
easily adapted for use in silkscreen printing. The screen is coated with a photo-sensitive material, exposed to a negative, treated to remove the areas not receiving ink and then used as a stencil.

2. Donald Rowe, The Morgan Tomato by Afternoon, Photo-silkscreen, n.d., 2/50, 11 3/16" x 14"

Born in Chicago during World War II, Donald Rowe studied printmaking initially at the Institute of Design in Chicago before receiving his B.S. from the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1966. He went on to receive his M.F.A. from the University of Hartford in 1968. He has served as a Professor of Art at Olivet College, in Olivet, Michigan since 1968. This print is one of a suite of five, "…all depicting imaginary monuments which were supposed to be interactive or alive." Donald Rowe used an old Kodak duplication system which made positive images on mylar. "I used this as a method of collage combining autographic and photographic elements." This technique created a high contrast image and was created by the artist at home using his kitchen sink to form the stencils and his bedroom to print the edition.

3. Martin Webber, Burgundy, Silkscreen bleed-print, 1971, 9/13, 23" x 35 1/8"

Although prints are often framed by the unprinted paper border that can surround the image, some artists like Martin Webber push the edges of the print past the paper by creating what is called a bleed-print. Using a variety of stencil methods he has printed the ink to the very edge of the paper creating the visual sense of the image continuing beyond its confines. He also adds additional texture to the print by over printing with a varnish causing some image areas to push out from the burgundy field of color.

4. Donna Jaggard, Posters I, Photo Silkscreen, 1971, 9/36, 14 3/4" x 14 1/4"

If the viewer looks carefully at the print surface small dots of color are visible. Chicago artist Donna Jaggard uses a half-tone screen to help transfer her photo images onto her screen for printing. The screen allows for the transfer onto the light sensitive emulsion of subtle value differences and also creates a texture visible in the screen pattern seen in the ink. Donna Jaggard combines the mechanical regularity of the screen in a highly organic and free flowing design.
There are several methods that are utilized in the creation of a photo-silkscreen, either the direct emulsion method or the use of commercially purchased photo sensitive film. Each has advantages and disadvantages. Photo emulsion works best with synthetic fiber screens (monofilament nylon or polyester). The photo sensitive emulsion is applied to the printing screen in multiple coats without exposing the solution to light, dried, exposed to light through ta photographic negative, unexposed emulsion washed out of the screen, then printed. Exposure to light hardens the emulsion which acts when printed as the blocking part of the stencil. With commercially purchased photo sensitive film the emulsion comes attached to a clear plastic backing. The film is first exposed through the negative, adhered to the screen, the backing removed, and image printed. The photo silkscreen process is a staple of the commercially produced silkscreen business in the production of t-shirts and other souvenir items.

5. F. Blackbear Bosin (a.k.a. Tsate Kongia), The Kiowa Dancer, silkscreen reproduction of a gouache original, (Printer: Ed Poran), n.d., 25 1/2" x 18"

   The artist was also known as Tsate Kongia and was a Comanche-Kiowa. Born 5 June 1921, in Anadarko, Oklahoma, he lived for many years in Wichita, Kansas and died 9 August 1980. His works are in many public and private collections including the Eiteljorg Museum, Indianapolis, Denver Museum of Art, Heard Museum, Phoenix, Wichita Art Museum and both the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Arts and Crafts Board of the United States Department of the Interior.
   The silkscreen process is sometimes used to reproduce paintings. Because of the medium's natural use of flat color areas paintings such as the gouache (opaque watercolor) created by the Native American artist F. Blackbear Bosin are easily recreated through silkscreen. This print was used to decorate the top of a calendar. The non-archival material that held the silkscreen and the method used to attach the calendar appear in the darkened print area that borders the main image and in paper damage that is present at the bottom of the print.
   A similar printing process is used for the production of many fine wall coverings such as the handmade William Morris wallpaper that comes from England. The Kiowa Dancer raises the question: when is a print fine art and when mass communication.

6. William Kwamena-Poh, Ghanaian (b. 1960), Oranges, Not Seashells , giclée reproduction of an original watercolor

   Born in Ghana, West Africa, William Kwamena-Poh came with his father, a Fulbright scholar, to the United States in 1980. He graduated from Talladega College in 1984, then lived in Washington, D.C., and Chicago before settling in Savannah, Georgia where he currently works. His work combines his sense of the two cultures he knows, Ghanaian and American, with an appreciation of his African homeland gained only after prolonged exposure to America. If his work seems familiar, it may be recognizable from the sets of 1980s and 1990s television shows such as “The Cosby Show,” “Living Single,” “In the House” or “Moesha.”
   Giclée prints are made by scanning an original image (typically a flat, painted image such as a watercolor or a gouache) into a computer at a very high resolution. Alternatively, a photographic transparency of the original can be scanned. A 12-color ink-jet printer attached to the computer outputs the ink onto a high quality art paper or canvas using a continuous-tone process. The name of the technique derives from the French word for “spray” or “spurt.” The process faithfully reproduces the original and, like the offset process, can produce an infinite number of reproductions in a variety of sizes.