Printmaking: Edvard Munch and Peers

Today, I visited the Prints and Drawings Room at the Art Institute of Chicago, where you can submit a request to view up to 20 prints/drawings of your choice. I tagged along with my husband, who is taking a class on Edvard Munch through the OLLI program at Northwestern University. His instructor, Lois Gordon, put together a thoughtful selection of art (along with a handout) to complement the ongoing show Becoming Edvard Munch, which closes on Sunday. Lois' selection includes Munch's prints not included in the show as well as some art work of Munch's peers, who may have influenced his work.

Solitude, Loneliness, Melancholy

Edvard Munch. The Girl at the Window. 1894. Drypoint, roulette and burnishing on paper, 219 x 158 mm (plate, 444 x 341 mm (sheet). Clarence Buckingham Collection.


Edvard Munch. Two Human Beings. The Lonely Ones. 1894. Drypoint, roulette, and burnisher on copper plate printed on cream wove paper, 168 x 225 mm (plate), 343 x 480 mm (sheet). Clarence Buckingham Collection.


Edvard Munch. The Girls on the Bridge. 1918. Woodcut in blue and lithography (from multiple stones) in yellow, green, orange and blue on white wove paper, 500 x 430 mm (image), 630 x 528 mm (sheet). Clarence Buckingham Collection.


Edvard Munch. Printed by Lassally (German), late 19th-early 20th century). Melancholy III. 1902. Color woodcut from two blocks, with gouges, chisel and fretsaw, on paper, 377 x 471 mm (image), 440 x 590 mm (sheet). Art Institute of Chicago Prints and Drawings Purchase Fund.


Paul Gauguin. Aha Oe Feli? (What! Are You Jealous?). 1894. Watercolor monotype, with pen and red and black ink on tan Japanese vellum, 195 x 232 mm. Gift of Edward McCormick Blair.

Persona of Women

Edvard Munch. Printed by Petersen and Waitz. Woman (The Sphinx). 1899. Lithograph on paper, 461 x 593 mm (image), 494 x 645 mm (sheet). Clarence Buckingham Collection.


Paul Gauguin. Eve. 1889/90. Gouache on millboard, 170 x 130 mm. Gift of Edward McCormick Blair.

Bathers

Edvard Munch. Printed by Sabo or Angerer. Women Bathing. 1895. Drypoint with open bite and burnishing on buff wove paper, 125 x 180 mm (image), 220 x 321 mm (plate), 335 x 419 mm (sheet). Clarence Buckingham Collection.


Edvard Munch. Printed by Halvorsen and Larsen. Neutralia. 1915. Color lithograph on paper, 543 x 495 mm (image), 734 x 585 mm (sheet). Robert A. Waller Fund.


Paul Cézanne. Bathers. 1890-1900. Color lithograph on off-white China paper, 230 x 280 mm (image), 294 x 355 mm (sheet). Bequest of Walter S. Brewster.


James Ensor. The Baths at Ostend. 1899. Etching, with hand coloring, on cream wove paper, 212 x 268 mm (image), 225 x 277 mm (plate), 284 x 398 mm (sheet). Gift from the Estate of Curt Valentin.


Paul Gauguin. Printed by Louis Roy. Auti Te Pape (Women at the River), from Noa Noa. 1893-94. Woodcut on boxwood printed in black, yellow and brick red applied with stencils on tan Japanese paper, 207 x 358 mm (image), 246 x 393 mm (sheet). Albert Roullier Memorial Collection.


Edvard Munch. The Forest. 1908/09. Lithograph on paper, 325 x 416 mm (image), 481 x 651 mm (sheet). Clarence Buckingham Collection.

Édouard Manet. Written by Charles Cros, printed by Auguste Delâtre and Cochet, and published by Librarie de l'au-forte. The Mountain, plate 2 from Le Fleuve. 1874. Etching, drypoint and aquatint on ivory laid paper, 74 x 96 mm (image), 78 x 98 mm (plate), 279 x 243 mm (sheet). Gift of Robert M. Light in memory of Harold Joachim.


Paul Gauguin. Mahana Atua (The Day of God). 1894-95. Woodcut printed in black and touched with watercolor in blue, crimson and orange on Japanese paper, 181 x 202 (image), 184 x 205 mm (sheet). Clarence Buckingham Collection.


Vincent van Gogh. Weeping Tree. 1889. Reed pen and black-brown ink, with black chalk on off-white wove paper, 498 x 613 mm. Gift of Tiffany and Margaret Day Blake.


Odilon Redon. Flower Clouds. c. 1903. Pastel, with touches of stumping, incising, and brushwork, on blue-gray wove paper with multi-colored fibers altered to tan, perimeter mounted to cardboard, 445 x 542 mm. Through prior bequest of Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection.


Edvard Munch. A Boat Tied to a Pier. 1892. Brush and black and gray wash, over touches of graphite, on tan wove paper, 224 x 159 mm. Restricted gift of Frank B. Hubachek.


James McNeill Whistler. Nocturne. 1878, published 1887. Lithotint, on a prepared half-tint ground, in black with scraping, on blue laid chine, laid down on ivory plate paper, 171 x 259 mm (image), 170 x 258 mm (primary support), 341 x 498 mm (secondary support). Gift of the Crown Family in honor of James N. Wood.

Munch Himself

Edvard Munch. Self-Portrait. n.d. Blue crayon on paper, 265 x 235 mm. Kate S. Buckingham Fund.


Photo Credit: All photos by Amy A. Rudberg, unless otherwise indicated.

The Printmaking Process: The Ceramic Print

I am attending the Southern Graphics Council Conference: Global Implications in Chicago from March 25th to 29th. Columbia College of Chicago is hosting the conference this year.

Today, I attended the Ceramic Print demonstration at the Art and Design Center at Columbia College. Tom Lucas, director of Hummingbird Press at Lillstreet Art Center, and Matt Harris, ceramicist and instructor at Lillstreet, demonstrated the techniques for printing on ceramics. Tom showed us the photocopy transfer process, and Matt demonstrated screen printing directly on clay and a slip-newsprint transfer process.

Tom mixes special ceramic ink with a modifier.

Tom applies and then wipes off gum arabic from
a photocopy print, and then inks and sponges it
carefully several times without tearing the paper.

Tom applies the print to damp slip with a terra
cotta base, and carefully burnishes the print.
Here he begins to peel off the print.

Several prints can be laid on the same ceramic piece.
Tom applies heavy blue ink to a wood block he
created with silk screening and sand blasting.

Tom creates a new image on top of an old
one (center) by using the wood block (below).

Matt demonstrates screen printing directly
on the damp slip and terra cotta base.

Matt also demonstrates transferring a screen
printed image on newsprint to clay. Here
(clockwise from center right) we have the results
of the two methods: (1) direct screen print on
clay, (2) screen print on newsprint with wet slip
applied, dried, and then used to transfer to the
clay, and (3) the transferred image to the clay base.

Ceramic Print Demo Samples

Ceramic Print Demo Samples

Ceramic Print Demo Samples

Ceramic Print Demo Samples

For more information on classes and workshops on printing on ceramics and the ongoing Ceramic Print Group Exhibition, contact Lillstreet Art Center, 4401 N. Ravenswood Avenue, Chicago, at 773.769.4226, email: lillstreet@lillstreet.com.


Photo Credit: All photos by Amy A. Rudberg, unless otherwise indicated.

The Printmaking Process: Two Lithuanian Printmakers

Photo: Courtesy of the artists.

Eglë Vertelkatë and Birutë Zokaitytë are Lithuanian artists who combine traditional and contemporary printmaking techniques to explore gender, cultural, and social issues and identities. Their current exhibition at the Chicago Cultural Center (CCC) through March 29th was organized by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs in collaboration with the Ciurlionis Lithuanian Gallery and with support from the Consulate General of the Republic of Lithuania.

Eglë and Birutë, both born and raised in Lithuania, met at the Vilnius Art Academy in Lithuania. Although they have participated in group exhibitions with one another over the years, their current show at the CCC is the first time they have exhibited together.

"I work with traditional printmaking techniques, such as etching, aquatint, deep etching, woodcuts, and combine them with digital prints, drawings, photo copy transfer prints, and collage. I consider myself to be a conceptual artist using printmaking techniques. I like to work with other artists' images -- Cindy Sherman, Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray, Eadweard Muybridge, E.-J. Marey, and others. My focus is on subjects such as infinity and repetition (spinning, eating, running, working, walking, and so forth) and creating postmodern art with different interpretations of images and personalities. I work with themes that are interesting to me -- artists, nature, and cinema -- anywhere in the world, regardless of the culture, nation, race, or age." --Eglë Vertelkatë

Eglë Vertelkatë. 2006. A Target, Infinity In Dots.
Etching, stamp, 70 cm x 85 cm.
Courtesy of the artist. At CCC.

Eglë Vertelkatë. 2005.
Face Vs Face (Cindy Vs Cindy).
Etching, mixed media, 25 cm x 140 cm.
Courtesy of the artist.

Eglë Vertelkatë. 2006. Horizon.
Mixed media on canvas, 55 cm x 120 cm.
Courtesy of the artist.

Eglë Vertelkatë. 2006. I.D. Of Shell.
Digital print, mixed media, 60 cm x 220 cm.
Courtesy of the artist.

Eglë Vertelkatë. 2005. Lilly Vs Wave.
Etching, aquatint, mixed media, 25 cm x 100 cm.
Courtesy of the artist.

Eglë Vertelkatë. 2007.
Lithuanian Polifonic Folk Song.
Book A4, digital print.
Courtesy of the artist. At CCC.

Eglë Vertelkatë. 2006.
Lithuanian Polifonic Folk Song II.
Etching, mixed media, 15 cm x 42 cm.
Courtesy of the artist. At CCC.

Eglë Vertelkatë. 2005-2006. Lux Life.
Etching, aquatint, 90 cm x 180 cm.
Courtesy of the artist.

Eglë Vertelkatë. 2006. Swimming Woman.
Digital print on canvas, 80 cm x 150 cm.
Courtesy of the artist.

Eglë Vertelkatë. 2004.
When Cindy Sherman Reflected, Man Ray.
Digital print, mixed media, stamp, 20 cm x 50 cm.
Courtesy of the artist.

"My works for the show are from my most recent series, The Rituals of Women, depicting their social and cultural roles and identities. I work primarily with traditional techniques such as etching, aquatint, mezzotint, soft ground, and dry point, and combining those techniques with collage, stencil, and photo copy transfer prints. I am always inspired by my environment." -- Birutë Zokaitytë

Birutë Zokaitytë. 2000.
Beautiful man.
Soft ground, 40 cm x 40 cm.
Courtesy of the artist. At CCC.

Birutë Zokaitytë. 2003.
Map of the moon.
Soft ground, aquatint, 40 cm x 60 cm.
Courtesy of the artist. At CCC.

Birutë Zokaitytë. 2003. molecule of love.
Color etching, soft ground, aquatint, 80 cm x 50 cm.
Courtesy of the artist. At CCC.

Birutë Zokaitytë. 2000. Salomeja (2).
Soft ground, 40 cm x 40 cm.
Courtesy of the artist. At CCC.

Birutë Zokaitytë. 2000. Salomeja.
Soft ground, 50 cm x 70 cm.
Courtesy of the artist. At CCC.

Birutë Zokaitytë. 2008. The crew.
Soft ground, 62 cm x 62 cm.
Courtesy of the artist. At CCC.

Birutë Zokaitytë. 2002. The picture of the bedroom.
Color etching, soft ground, aquatint, 40 cm x 80 cm.
Courtesy of the artist. At CCC.

Birutë Zokaitytë. 2003. Trying to fly.
Color etching, aquatint, 40 cm x 60 cm.
Courtesy of the artist. At CCC.

Birutë Zokaitytë. 2003. Trying to fly (2).
Color etching, aquatint, 40 cm x 60 cm.
Courtesy of the artist. At CCC.

Birutë Zokaitytë. 2009. Perfection.
Soft ground, 62 cm x 62 cm.
Courtesy of the artist. At CCC.