Master printmakers or master printers are specialized technicians who hand-print editions of works of an artist in printmaking. [1] Master printmakers often own and/or operate their own printmaking studio or print shop. Business activities of a Master printshop may include: publishing and printing services, educational workshops or classes, mentorship of artists, and artist residencies.
The role of the specialist printers mostly emerged from the 18th century onwards. Previously artists in printmaking mostly printed their own prints, as for example Rembrandt did; he had a printing press for etchings and engravings in his house. For woodcuts the blockcutter had long been a specialist artisan, sometimes famous. Printing of lithographs from the 19th century on has normally been a specialist process.
Training for master printmakers varies by technique, geography, and culture. Master printmakers are almost always trained by other master printmakers. [2] The Tamarind Institute is one formal institution mandated to train master lithographers, located in New Mexico. In the 20th century in Britain there was a federation of master printers called the British Printing Industries Federation, renamed the British Federation of Master Printers (BFMP) in the 1930s and then again renamed the British Printing Industries Federation in the 1970s. [3]
Printmaking is the process of creating artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand processed technique, rather than a photographic reproduction of a visual artwork which would be printed using an electronic machine ; however, there is some cross-over between traditional and digital printmaking, including risograph.
Viscosity printing is a multi-color printmaking technique that incorporates principles of relief printing and intaglio printing. It was pioneered by Stanley William Hayter.
June Claire Wayne was an American painter, printmaker, tapestry innovator, educator, and activist. She founded Tamarind Lithography Workshop (1960–1970), a then California-based nonprofit print shop dedicated to lithography.
Atelier 17 was an art school and studio that was influential in the teaching and promotion of printmaking in the 20th century. Originally located in Paris, the studio relocated to New York during the years surrounding World War II. It moved back to Paris in 1950.
Krishna Reddy was an Indian master printmaker, sculptor, and teacher. He was considered a master intaglio printer and known for viscosity printing.
Aldo Crommelynck was a Belgian master printmaker who made intaglio prints in collaboration with many important European and American artists of the 20th century. At the time of his death, The Guardian termed Crommelynck the 'pre-eminent' and 'the most celebrated printmaker of the second half of the 20th century.'
Gemini G.E.L., formally Gemini Ltd., is an artists‘ workshop, exhibition space, and publisher of limited edition prints and sculptures, located at 8365 Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, California.
Tamarind Institute is a lithography workshop created in 1960 as a division of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, NM, United States. It began as Tamarind Lithography Workshop, a California non-profit corporation founded by June Wayne on Tamarind Avenue in Los Angeles in 1960. Both the current Institute and the original Lithography Workshop are referred to informally as "Tamarind."
Kenneth E. Tyler, AO is a master printmaker, publisher, arts educator and a prominent figure in the American post-war revival of fine art, limited edition printmaking. Tyler established leading print workshops and publishing houses on both West and East coasts of the United States and made several innovations in printmaking technology. His technical expertise and willingness to experiment on a bold scale drew many famous and influential artists to his workshops, among them Frank Stella, Helen Frankenthaler, Roy Lichtenstein, David Hockney, Robert Rauschenberg, Anthony Caro and Jasper Johns. Ken Tyler remains active as an educator and promoter of fine art printmaking, and mentor of a younger generation of printers through his various training and collecting institutions in Singapore, Japan, Australia and the US. The largest collection of prints produced at Tyler's successive workshops is currently held by the National Gallery of Australia.
Jon Cone is a collaborative printmaker, pioneer and developer of photographic ink jet technologies, educator, and photographer. Cone is best known for the founding of the world's first digital printmaking studio, Cone Editions Press and developer of quad-black ink jet systems for printing fine black-and-white photographs including the first commercially available method of producing fine art black-and-white prints in the digital darkroom.
Tatyana Grosman was a Russian American printmaker and publisher. She founded Universal Limited Art Editions.
Irwin Hollander (1927–2018) was an American artist and master printmaker, based in New York City. He helped revive lithography as a fine art around the 1960s. He had a printing studio called Hollander's Workshop.
Lower East Side Printshop, also known as L.E.S. Printshop is a nonprofit arts organization and printmaking studio located in New York City. They offer studio space, artist residencies, classes, artwork for sale and printing editions services. They work with approximately 160 artists per year, which makes this one of the largest printmaking shops in the country.
Judith Solodkin is an American printmaker and milliner. She completed the master printer program at Tamarind Institute. In 1975 she established the Solo Press.
This is a timeline of 20th-century printmaking in America.
Sheila Marbain (1927–2008) was a master printmaker known for establishing Maurel Studios, and for her collaborative works with Pop artists.
Kathleen Caraccio is a master printmaker. She learned her craft at Robert Blackburn's Printmaking Workshop. She established the K. Caracio Etching Studios in 1977. Caraccio also maintains an extensive print collection which was the subject of the 2021 exhibition Right place, Right time: The Rest is History - Becoming a master printer and collector with Bob Blackburn. In 2019 her work was exhibited at the International Quilt Museum in a show entitled Kathy Caraccio: Quilt Series.
Catherine Mosley is a master printmaker. She attended University of Wisconsin–Stout. In 1969 she began working at Robert Blackburn's Printmaking Workshop. In 1974 she established a studio where she printed with the artists Robert Beauchamp, Agnes Denes, Richard Haas, Lucio Pozzi, and Harvey Quaytman. Mosley collaborated with Robert Motherwell from the early 1970s until his death in 1991. In 2015 Mosley had a solo exhibition entitled Up Down & Sideways at the A.I.R. Gallery
Donn Horatio Steward was a master printmaker. He learned the craft at the Tamarind Institute. He was hired by Universal Limited Art Editions in 1966. There he worked with a variety of artists including Lee Bontecou, Helen Frankenthaler, Jasper Johns, Robert Motherwell and Cy Twombly. In the mid-1970s Steward established the Huntington Township Art League printmaking workshop.
The Tanglewood Press was a fine print publisher established by Rosa Esman in 1964. It was known for specializing in producing portfolio editions.