The Baltimore Museum of Art Exhibits Prints from Dürer to Lichtenstein

Written by Maurice Rougerie Monday, 14 November 2011 00:18

Baltimore, MD.- "Print by Print: Series from Dürer to Lichtenstein" at the Baltimore Museum of Art from October 30th through March 25th 2012, offers a rare opportunity to view more than 350 prints by artists working in series from the late 15th through the 21st centuries, including Canaletto, Marcel Duchamp, Pablo Picasso, Odilon Redon, and Ed Ruscha. This sweeping exhibition presents 29 series of multiple images in complete sets — revealing the true vision of the artist, print by print. Also represented are two voices for a new generation of printmakers, Daniel Heyman and Andrew Raftery, who will speak at the BMA on Saturday, December 3rd. The Baltimore Museum of Art is home to an internationally renowned collection of 19th-century, modern, and contemporary art. Founded in 1914 with a single painting, the BMA today has 90,000 works of art — including the largest holding of works by Henri Matisse in the world.

From Albrecht Dürer’s 16 woodcut illustrations for The Apocalypse (1496-1498) to Roy Lichtenstein’s seven Monet-inspired lithograph Haystacks (1969), the exhibition demonstrates how serial printmaking has, and continues to be, a vital practice for artists to comprehensively explore and experiment with motifs, styles, and media.  The 29 series, portfolios, and sets of prints represent a wide range of printmaking techniques used over the course of more than five centuries, ranging from etchings and engravings to lithographs and screenprints. The works vary considerably in number and scale from Picasso’s two compelling images for "The Dream and Lie of Franco" and Sonia Delaunay’s 40 brilliant color pochoirs in "Compositions, Couleurs, Idées". Other examples include Giovanni Battista Piranesi’s "Carceri d'invenzione" (16 etching and engravings); El Lissitzky’s "Figurines: The Three-Dimensional Design of the Electro-Mechanical Show “Victory over the Sun,” (10 color lithographs); and Ed Ruscha’s "News, Mews, Pews, Brews, Stews, & Dues", (6 color screenprints). More than half of the works in the exhibition have never been on view at the Museum. Rather than a chronological survey, the exhibition is organized in six broad themes—narrative, design, places, imagination, appropriation, and war—that allow visitors to see how the earlier artists have influenced subsequent  generations. All of the series in the exhibition are from the BMA’s internationally renowned collection of 60,000 works on paper, including 4,000 drawings and 3,000 photographs, from the 15th century to the present. Considered one of the most significant collections of works on paper in the country, it is also a comprehensive resource for the study of European and American printmaking.

Throughout the Museum, visitors will find an outstanding selection of European and American fine and decorative arts, 15th- through 19th-century prints and drawings, contemporary art by established and emerging contemporary artists, and objects from Africa, Asia, the Ancient Americas, and Pacific Islands. Two beautifully landscaped gardens display an array of 20th-century sculpture that is an oasis in the city. As a major cultural destination for the greater Baltimore region, the BMA organizes and presents a variety of dynamic exhibitions and innovative programs throughout the year, and frequently hosts special events with cultural and educational partners. The Museum is located three miles north of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor in a park-like setting in the heart of Charles Village, adjacent to the main campus of The Johns Hopkins University. It is distinguished by a grand historic building designed in the 1920s by renowned American architect John Russell Pope and a massive wing for contemporary art added in 1994. Gertrude’s restaurant and The BMA Shop are destinations unto themselves. Visitors enjoy superb regional cuisine from celebrity chef John Shields while overlooking the scenic sculpture gardens or listening to the popular summer jazz concerts. The BMA Shop offers a variety of unique art-inspired gifts, including items from local artists and craftsmen. From a single object in 1914, The Baltimore Museum of Art’s outstanding collection today encompasses 90,000 works of art, including the largest holding of works by Henri Matisse in the world, as well as masterpieces by Pablo Picasso, Paul Cézanne, and Vincent van Gogh. The BMA is recognized for an impressive collection of contemporary art that includes important examples of Abstract Expressionism, Minimalist sculpture, and Pop Art with many late works by Andy Warhol, as well as major acquisitions of more recent work by artists such as Olafur Eliasson and Kara Walker.The Museum also boasts an internationally renowned collection of prints, drawings, and photographs from the 15th century to the present; European masterpieces by Sandro Botticelli, Rembrandt van Rijn, and Sir Anthony van Dyck; distinguished American painting, sculpture, and decorative arts; one of the most important African collections in the country; and notable examples of art from the Ancient Americas, Asia, and the Pacific Islands. The BMA’s Sculpture Gardens feature a 100-year survey of modern and contemporary sculpture on nearly three landscaped acres in the heart of the city. Visit the museum's website at ... http://www.artbma.org

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