September 27, 1985
In December 1984, the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation awarded The Brooklyn Museum the first grant it has ever given for the accquisition of contemporary graphics. Since the spirit of the grant was to place the works of as many artists as possible in the Museum’s collection, certain guidelines were established: the works purchased had to be either by Americans or by artists working primarily in this country, the artists had to be unrepresented in the permanent collection of prints, prices had to fall beneath a certain ceiling, and a balance had to be struck between established and emergent artists.
The Museum thus acquired the forty-seven works by forty-one artists that comprise this collection. A number of gaps in the Department of Prints and Drawings’ holdings were filled, and prints by several artists that the department’s curators were interested in but would normally have been unable to purchase were added to the permanent collection.
The Brooklyn Museum, through its ongoing series of National Print Exhibitions, has for many years been in the forefront of exhibiting contemporary American prints. With this generous grant from the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation, it has been able to add a large body of work in a field for which it is well known.
BARRY WALKER Associate Curator
Department of Prints and Drawings
EXHIBITION CHECKLIST
Note: Dimensions are in inches; height precedes width.
1 Roger Barr (English, b. 1957) War Dance, 1984
Gum bichromate and cyanotype
Composition: 27 1/2 x 19 7/8
Sheet: 29 7/8 x 22
85.28
2 Cathey Billian (American, b. 1946) Aching Risk, 1981-82
Aluminum plating stencils
Plate/sheet: 42 x 29 1/2
85.29
3 Edward Brezinski (American, b. 1954) Face, 1983
Linoleum cut
Composition: 43 1/2 x 37
Sheet: 47 x 41 1/2
85.35.1
4 Richard Carboni (American, b. 1953) Knot, 1981
Drypoint, roulette, college, handcoloring
Composition: 9 3/4 x 8
Sheet: 15 5/8 x 13 1/2
85.36
5 Louisa Chase (American, b. 1951) Chasm, 1983
Woodcut
Composition: 24 x 28
Sheet: 26 1/8 x 30 1/8
85.60.1
6 Sandro Chia (Italian, b. 1945) Remembrance, 1983
Etching
Plate: 23 3/4 x 17 7/8
Sheet: 48 x 31 3/4
85.56.1
7 Francesco Clemente (Italian, b. 1952) Untitled (Head), 1984
Lithograph
Composition: 20 x 16
Sheet: 42 3/4 x 30 1/2
85.52
8 Sue Coe (English, b. 1951) It’s Like A Jungle, 1984
Photo etching
Composition: 9 7/8 x 15 1/8
Sheet: 111/2 x 18
85.55.1
9 Chuck Connelly (American, b. 1956) Untitled, 1983
Linoleum cut
Composition: 9 x 6
Sheet: 21 x 17 1/2
85.35.2
10 Jane Dickson (American, b. 1952) Woman on Balcony, 1984
Monotype
Comp./sheet: 17 x 9 7/8
83.35.3
11 Nancy Dwyer (American, b. 1954) No Answer, 1984
Screenprint
Comp./sheet: 30 x 22 1/2
85.97
12 Aaron Fink (American, b. 1955) Man With Fan Hand, 1982
Lithograph
Composition: 12 1/4 x 10 1/8
Sheet: 15 1/4 x 19 1/4
85.44
13 Anthony Gorny (American, b. 1950) Magpie Caliper, 1976-80
Lithograph, printed both sides
Composition, recto: 29 1/2 x 18 1/4
Composition, verso: 30 5/8 x 28 5/8
Sheet: 34 1/2 x 32 5/8 (irregular)
14 Harmony Hammond (American, 1944) Ruffled Waters, 1981
Monotype
Composition: 15 x 15
Sheet: 30 x 22 1/4
85.51
15 David Humphrey (American, b. 1955) Nocturne, 1984
Linoleum cut
Composition: 10 x 10
Sheet: 18 x 18
85.42
16 Bryan Hunt (American, b. 1947) Untitled from Five Falls portfolio, circa 1978
Etching and aquatint
Plate: 4 3/4 x 6 3/8
Sheet: 20 x 13
85.37
17 Bill Jensen (American, b. 1945) Studio, 1983-84
Etching, aquatint
Plate: 6 7/8 x 4 7/8
Sheet: 19 7/8 x 15 1/4
85.59
18 Roberto Juarez (American, b. 1952) Juncos, 1983
Composition: 13 x 6 3/4
Sheet: 19 x 12 3/4
85.60.2
19 John Lesnick (American, b. 1953) Untitled (Hooded Figure) from Future Icons, Circa 1984, 1983
Photo screenprint
Composition: 13 1/2 x 9 5/8
Sheet: 22 1/8 x 15
85.39
20 Elizabeth Murray (American, b. 1940) Inside Story, 1984
Lithograph, handcolored with watercolor
Comp./sheet: 58 1/4 x 36 1/4
85.32.1
21 Bruce Nauman (American, b. 1941) Raw War, 1971
Lithograph
Comp./sheet: 22 1/4 x 28 1/4
85.31
27 Jane Ash Poitras (Canadian, 1951) Buffalo Spirit, 1984
Etching, intaglio print
Plate: 26 3/4 x 24 3/4
Sheet: 28 3/4 x 26 3/4
85.49
28 Andrea Rosenberg (American, b. 1952) Untitled, 1984
Lithograph
Composition: 24 x 18
Sheet: 42 x 30
85.95
29 Alan Saret (American, b. 1944) Stars in the Sacred Ground, 1983
Suite of 7 etchings
Image, each: 3 1/2 x 3 1/4
Sheet, each: 10 1/2 x 9 1/4
85.41.1-.7
30 Italo Scanga (American, b. Italy, 1932) The Bombing of Monte Cassino, 1984
Woodcut
Composition: 22 7/8 x 18 1/2
Sheet: 28 x 20
85.60.4
31 Alix du Serech (American, b. France, 1947) Plate V from Antiseptic Power Contest Information File Folder, 1984
Screenprint with glitter
Comp./sheet: 30 x 22 1/4
85.53
32 Joel Shapiro (American, b. 1941) Untitled, 1979
Lithograph
Composition: 31 7/8 x 37 1/4
Sheet: 37 1/2 x 42 1/4
85.32.2
33 John P. Shaw (American, b. 1948) Brooklyn Bridge, 1983
Linoleum cut
Composition: 7 7/8 x 10
Sheet: 19 7/8 x 25 7/8
85.47
34 Michael Singer (American, b. 1945) 7 Moon Ritual Series, 1984
Etching and embossing
Comp./sheet: 33 x 98
85.56.2
35 Pat Steir (American, b. 1940) The Tree After Hiroshige, 1984
Etching
Composition: 24 x 36
Sheet: 32 1/4 x 43 1/8
85.33
36 Gary Stephen (American, b. 1942) Untitled (From A Tree Four Fire), 1984
Lithograph, screenprint
Comp./sheet: 19 5/8 x 17 1/4
85.98
37 Michelle Stuart (American) Correspondences: Time; Connecticut Fuchia, 1983
Lithograph and dye transfer photograph
Comp./sheet: 24 x 29 1/8
85.57
38 William Tucker (English, b. Egypt, 1935) House of the Hanged Man, 1982
Lithograph
Comp./sheet: 29 1/2 x 41 1/2
85.38.2
39 Richard Tuttle (American, b. 1941) Suite II, 1983
Spit bite and sugar lift
Comp./sheet: 42 x 29 1/2
84.43.1
40 Michael Volonakis (American, b. 1952) Acadea, 1983
Lithograph
Comp./sheet: 19 7/8 x 26 1/8
85.38.1
41 Robert Wilson (American, b. 1944) Overture Chair, 1977
Etching
Composition: 14 7/8 x 15 3/4
Sheet: 27 x 22 1/4
85.43.2
Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. Press releases, 1971 - 1988. 1985, 063-66. View Original
September 27, 1985
Contemporary American Prints: Recent Acquisitions, an exhibition of forty-seven works by forty-one artists is currently on view in the Museum’s second floor Print Gallery and will be on display through December 2, 1985.
This exhibition, curated by Barry Walker, Associate Curator, Department of Prints and Drawings, presents works that were purchased in December, 1984 through a grant from the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation. The spirit of this grant, the first ever given by the Tiffany Foundation for the purchase of graphics, was to benefit both the Museum and the artists. For this reason, only works by artists not yet represented in the permanent collection of the Department of Prints and Drawings were eligible for acquisition with grant monies. The Brooklyn Museum was thus able to fill several gaps in its collection of contemporary prints., while a number of emergent artists received a significant boost to their careers by the inclusion of their work in a major collection.
So that a creditable body of work could be acquired in the name of the Tiffany Foundation, the grant placed a ceiling on the price that could be paid f or any single work or portfolio. The Museum was thereby enabled to acquire forty single works and one portfolio, Stars in a Sacred Ground by Alan Saret. A number of the artists represented in this collection (Louisa Chase, Aaron Fink, Anthony Gorny, Harmony Hammond, Roberto Juarez, Elizabeth Murray, Jay Phillips, Joel Shapiro and Pat Steir) had been exhibited in The Brooklyn Museum’s Twenty-third National Print Exhibition. These and other of the artists had been on the department’s “want list” before the grant was awarded, while several works were first seen by the curator in the process of assembling work for the grant.
The grant specified that works purchased must be by artists who were either American or working primarily in this country. The latitude of these terms made it possible for the Museum to add to its collection representative works by the Italians Sandro Chia and Francesco Clemente, the English Roger Barr, Sue Coe, Alastair Noble and William Tucker, and the Canadians Clayton Patterson and Jane Ash Poitras. All other artists in this collection are either American born or of American citizenship.
Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. Press releases, 1971 - 1988. 1985, 067. View Original
