November 21, 1974
The 19th National Print Exhibition, a survey of new work by beginning and established professional artists, will be on view in the Robert E. Blum Gallery of The Brooklyn Museum from Thursday, November 21, through January 5, 1975. Selected on a nation-wide tour by Jo Miller, Curator of Prints and Drawings, the show constitutes a representative cross-section of current trends in American printmaking. Among prints by known artists are Joan Mitchell’s first etchings, Agnes Martin’s first screenprints, and works by Dan Flavin, Don Judd, Gene Davis, Lucas Samaras, Alex Katz and Arakawa. Admission to the exhibition is free.
Brooklyn's National Print Exhibition was presented annually beginning in 1947, and has been a biennial event since 1958. "These exhibitions," Ms. Miller says in her introduction to the current exhibition catalogue(1), "have traditionally given us the opportunity to compare the new with the established and have helped launch young professionals in the art world. As in the past, the newcomers hold their walls well with convincing and forceful prints."
As demonstrated in the present exhibition, lithography is still used by more artists than any other process, due in part to the new phenomenon of the print publisher who has easy access to numerous lithography workshops. But etching has gained a new popularity among minimal and figurative artists alike. Hand-colored lithographs and etchings are having a vogue unequaled since the late 18th century.
“In this exhibition, Ms. Miller says, “the artist is concerned with people and their ideas, and places, real and invented, that create nostalgia. People seem to come first. The only public figure to be found here is Abraham Lincoln in an outrageous piece of Americana by Warrington Colescott. The unusual people looking out at us from the gallery walls pique our curiosity. Is the green and toothy Rosarita by Chicago’s enfant terrible, Ed Paschke, inviting us to her world of night creatures? Bill Brauer s tightly veiled, cadaverous woman chills us, Gloria Alford’s three-dimensional swimmer pounding through a Hokusai wave causes us to smile, and the thoughtful, dignified nude by William Bailey reminds us that fine drawing is not a thing of the past...
“Landscapes and places in the exhibition strike a warm note, too, in the instant nostalgia of Richard Bernstein’s Max’s Kansas City, John Murray’s great red dog stalking small city streets, and Michael Kirk’ s New Yorkers walking to and fro. The surreal and the satrical are present again, as they have been through out the history of printmaking.”
The 19th National Print Exhibition is made possible by a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts. Following its showing at The Brooklyn Museum, the exhibition will travel to the Fine Arts Gallery, San Diego, California.
To reach The Brooklyn Museum, located on Eastern Parkway and Washington Avenue, take the 7th Avenue IRT express to EASTERN PARKWAY-BROOKLYN MUSEUM. Parking is available at the rear of the building.
Museum hours are Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Thursday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday 11a.m. to 5p.m.; holidays, 1 to 5 p.m. Closed Monday and Tuesday. Admission to the Museum is free.
(1) The 19th National Print Exhibition. Introduction by Jo Miller. 108 pp; 94 b&w illustrations; color cover by Arakawa. Published by The Brooklyn Museum, New York. Available in the Museum's Book Shop.
Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. Press releases, 1971 - 1988. 1974, 047-48. View Original
