SUSAN SHEEHAN GALLERY 2023
THE ART SHOW TO BENEFIT HENRY STREET SETTLEMENT ORGANIZED BY ART DEALERS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA
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Cover: Donald Judd, Untitled, 1990
BOOTH A9
BENEFIT PREVIEW: NOVEMBER 1, 2023 SHOW DATES: NOVEMBER 2–5, 2023
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SUSAN SHEEHAN GALLERY 146 Greene Street New York, NY 10012 +1-212-489-3331 info@susansheehangallery.com www.susansheehangallery.com
Jasper Johns (b. 1930) began making prints in 1960 and has produced over 300 editioned works since, mastering the medium of lithography, screenprint, and various etching techniques. Fascinated by the concepts and processes of reproduction and visual memory, Johns arrived naturally to printmaking, incorporating, embodying, and critically examining themes most intrinsic to the practice – repetition, transfer, reflection, and reversal. His striking and inexhaustibly rich prints probe the values and limitations of iterative mechanisms, producing works that reveal the significance of process and context. Over the years, Johns experimented endlessly with methods to convey the absurdity and magic of linguistic signs and symbols in his art, interested in the way language gains, loses, or shifts its meaning in various contexts. Age-old motifs of communication, such as the alphabet or numerical systems, are rediscovered through Johns’ work, unraveling them as frames of predetermined form and sequence that expose the complexities embedded within their intellectual and aesthetic notions. In the 1960s, when Johns started working with Universal Limited Art Editions (ULAE), he began experimenting with the theme of alphabet grids, producing various permutations of lithographs in black, gray, and white. The results fell short of the necessary delicacy, however, and the images were never editioned. Gray Alphabets is not only the largest-scale version of this subject in the medium - it is also the only one editioned and published. Gray Alphabets exemplifies the focus and dedication in which Johns returned to the theme in 1968 at Gemini’s workshop in Los Angeles, expanding the scale (this would be the largest print he had made to that date), and returning to serifed type, using specially made backwards rubber stamps to apply the letters to the printing plates. The print contemplates the function of color, symbol, and object, deconstructing and reconstructing language from its component parts to question systems of understanding and meaning-making. To maintain clarity while evoking the flickering grays of the original encaustic painting, he broke the image out into four aluminum plates and mixed his own inks, some consisting of metallic pigments in a transparent base, to convey the perfect luminosity of graphite from the original book illustration of the Roman alphabet that Johns sought to emulate. Each row begins with a different letter of the alphabet but repeats all letters in an established order through the grid structure. By following this system, each letter remains entirely unique due to their exacting placements, muddy marks, and varying colors, while still following the rules of sequential arrangement. The result, in the words of curator Mark Pascale, is “a masterwork of nacreous brilliance.”
Jasper Johns and printmaker Kenneth Tyler at Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles, 1971
Jasper Johns Gray Alphabets, 1968 Lithograph Sheet size: 60 1/2 x 42 inches Printer and Publisher: Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles Edition size: 59, plus proofs Catalogue Raisonné: ULAE 57 Signed, dated, and numbered Provenance: Collection of Carter Burden, New York
Jasper Johns Savarin, 1981 Lithograph Sheet size: 50 1/4 x 38 3/8 inches Printer and Publisher: ULAE, West Islip, New York Edition: 60, plus proofs Catalogue Raisonné: ULAE 220 Signed, dated, and numbered
Donald Judd (1928-1994) began executing his first prints in 1951 at the Art Students League in New York. Initially working in lithography, the artist’s first works included figurative elements and illusionistic references. He soon shifted to woodcuts in 1953, which quickly became his preferred print medium as he developed his angular, abstract, and minimalist style. Judd’s printmaking can be roughly categorized into two particularly active phases: the early sixties, and the period between the mid-eighties and the artist’s death in 1994. Judd’s first prints were conceived as single sheets, but from 1961 onward, a majority of the prints that Judd produced were part of a series. The sequences allowed Judd to experiment with concepts of seriality and permutation, while elaborating on his interest in lines, intervals, and divisions of pictorial space. Between 1961 and 1963, Judd produced an impressive series of 26 woodcuts in cadmium red and 12 woodcuts in cerulean blue, depicting various iterations of parallelograms and their corresponding mirror images. Two of the prints from this rare series are presented here. Judd’s later prints are often considered to be analogous to his three-dimensional objects where an inner volume and outer frame are distinguished. The prints are conceived as a range of formulas of proportional divisions—halves, thirds, fourths and so on. Judd’s four-decade engagement to wood block printing explore the ideas and techniques of form and color that are found in his paintings and three-dimensional works, exemplifying his favor and commitment to the medium.
Donald Judd in his studio and home on Spring Street, New York, 1976
Donald Judd Untitled, 1992 Woodcuts Sheet size: 26 1/4 x 38 1/2 inches, each Printer: Derrière l’Etoile Studios, New York Publisher: Brooke Alexander Editions, New York Edition size: 25, plus proofs Catalogue Raisonné: Schellmann 211-214 Each sheet is signed and numbered, verso
Donald Judd Untitled, 1961-63 Woodcut Sheet size: 30 5/8 x 22 inches, each Printer: Roy C. Judd Publisher: The Artist Edition size: 10 Catalogue Raisonné: Schellmann 57 Signed, dated, and numbered; titled on verso Provenance: Collection of Lois B. Torf, Boston
Donald Judd Untitled, 1961-63 Woodcut Sheet size: 30 x 21 7/8 inches Printer: Roy C. Judd Publisher: The Artist Edition size: 3 Catalogue Raisonné: Schellmann 65 Signed, dated, and numbered Exceedingly rare. This impression is one from the group of twelve versions of the parallelogram shape in cerulean blue that were printed in an edition of only three.
Donald Judd Untitled, 1961-75 A set of two woodcuts Sheet size: 24 3/4 x 33 7/8 inches each Printer: Two assistants of Donald Judd Publisher: Edition der Galerie Heiner Friedrich, Munich Edition: 20, plus proofs Catalogue Raisonné : Schellmann 28-29 Signed, dated, and numbered
Donald Judd Untitled, 1961-1978 Woodcut Sheet size: 20 1/2 x 25 inches Printer: Roy C. Judd Publisher: Edition der Galerie Heiner Friedrich, Munich Edition: 25, plus proofs Catalogue Raisonné: Schellmann 25 Signed, dated, and numbered
Donald Judd Untitled, 1990 The complete set of seven woodcuts Sheet size: 23 1/2 x 31 1/2 inches Printer: Derrière l”Etoile Studios, New York Publisher: Brooke Alexander Editions, New York Edition: 25, plus proofs, each Catalogue Raisonné: Schellmann 193-199 Each sheet is signed and numbered, verso
Helen Frankenthaler (1928-2011) came to printmaking as a novice with apprehension about the medium, and although it took some initial convincing, she regarded her time at ULAE, her first print workshop, as an invaluable experience that expanded and challenged her conceptions of production and collaboration. Frankenthaler’s prints paralleled her paintings with the same spontaneous and intuitive sensibility. As she expressed in a 1994 interview, “I like my prints as well as my paintings to look as if they were ‘born at once’, yet making a print also involves often tedious process.” In arduous attempts to translate her gestural painterly style to the technical and exacting medium of printmaking, Frankenthaler created inventive works that explored voids and fluid shapes, providing a new point of departure for the artist’s own artmaking and many others. In the 1980s, Frankenthaler entered her third decade of printmaking. Continuing to work in lithography, etching, and woodcut, she produced several series of monoprints and collaborated with independent printers and new workshops. Her works in the 80s exuded not only confidence and control, but also a true commitment to the printmaking process, undergoing virtually endless trials and proofs before the final state felt complete. Divertimento, a collaboration between Frankenthaler and printer John Hutcheson, was commissioned by the Hartford Art School in concurrence with a print seminar. Although the project began in the spring of 1982, Divertimento was not completed until early 1983. Reflective of Frankenthaler’s maturity and confidence in medium, the lithograph underwent numerous changes over multiple proofing sessions, including at least four plates and two woodblocks that were not maintained for the edition, before the final iteration was approved by the artist. Exemplifying Frankenthaler’s tailored skill and exacting eye in her print practice, Divertimento’s vibrant layers of cadmium and pink lithographic ink, which spill across the peach waterleaf handmade paper, showcase a compositional affinity with her infamous color-field paintings – proof that she had finally mastered the translation of her visual language in what seemed, at first glance to the artist, to be an entirely contrasting medium.
Helen Frankenthaler working with John Hutchenson on Divertimento, University of Hardford Art School, Connecticut, 1982
Helen Frankenthaler Divertimento, 1983 Lithograph Sheet size: 37 3/4 x 27 1/2 inches Printer: Hartford Art School, West Hartford, Conneticut and River Press, Hoboken, New Jersey Publisher: Multiples, Inc., New York Edition size: 39, plus proofs Catalogue Raisonné: Abrams 120 Signed, dated, and numbered
Helen Frankenthaler White Portal, 1967 Lithograph Sheet size: 30 x 22 inches Printer and Publisher: ULAE, West Islip, New York Edition size: 18, plus proofs Catalogue Raisonné: Abrams 10 Signed, dated, and annotated
Introduced to printmaking in the 1960s, Rotterdam-born artist Willem de Kooning (1904–1997) made his first prints at the then-new print studio at the University of California, Berkeley, where he produced two large, gestural works on lithographic stone. In 1966, de Kooning created his third lithograph with New York printer Irwin Hollander, which was published in Portfolio 9. His introduction to lithography in the 1960s marked the beginning of the artist’s radical experiments in print that took place in the following two decades. It was not until de Kooning returned from a trip to Japan in 1970 that he began to dedicate himself fully to the medium and in the span of one intensely creative year, de Kooning created some of the most rhythmic, expressive prints of the twentieth century. Reflecting the artist’s newfound intrigue for the relational possibilities between abstract expressionism and printmaking, his prints symbolize the coexistence between representation and non-representation, form and formlessness. From 1970 to 1971, de Kooning worked together with Hollander and his partner, Fred Genis, to produce three groups of prints. Impressions from the first group of 20, including Big, The Marshes, The Preacher, Minnie Mouse, and Landscape at Stanton Street were purchased by de Kooning’s lawyer and his son, then subsequently gifted to The Museum of Modern Art. They were exhibited in December 1971 and received a resounding positive reception. These lithographs showcase de Kooning’s loose, spontaneous lines that reference the visual vocabulary of calligraphy. De Kooning always opted to apply tusche—a greasy, viscous ink— directly to the lithographic stone, drawing the image on a metal plate or transfer paper. In a 1985 conversation between the artist and his dealer Xavier Fourcade, de Kooning expresses succinctly, “I did them in black and white because you do it and it’s there. I couldn’t work with different colors at different times. I can only work with what’s there. If it’s not there, I can’t experience it. Besides, sometimes there’s more light in black and white.” The aesthetic preference reflects de Kooning’s commitment to the immediacy and totality of visual experience, the necessity of sensing all elements of a composition as they engage, relate, and define one another.
Willem de Kooning in his New York studio, 1961
Willem de Kooning Big, 1971 Lithograph Sheet size: 40 x 28 1/2 inches Printer: Hollander’s Workshop, New York Publisher: Knoedler Gallery, New York Edition size: 10, plus proofs Catalogue Raisonné: Graham 8 Signed, dated, and numbered
Willem de Kooning The Marshes, 1971 Lithograph Sheet size: 40 x 28 1/4 inches Printer: Hollander’s Workshop, New York Publisher: Knoedler Gallery, New York Edition size: 20, plus proofs Catalogue Raisonné: Graham 7 Signed, dated, and numbered Editions 1-10 marked “A” on J.B. Green paper and editions 11-20 marked “B” on Italia paper
Willem de Kooning The Preacher, 1971 Lithograph Sheet size: 30 x 22 inches Printer: Hollander’s Workshop, New York Publisher: Hollander’s Workshop and Xavier Fourcade Gallery, New York Edition size: 60, plus proofs Catalogue Raisonné: Graham 27 Signed, dated, and numbered
Willem de Kooning Minnie Mouse, 1971 Lithograph Sheet size: 29 7/8 x 22 1/2 inches Printer: Hollander’s Workshop, New York Publisher: Hollander’s Workshop and Xavier Fourcade, New York Edition size: 61, plus proofs Catalogue Raisonné: Graham 25 Signed, dated, and numbered
Willem de Kooning Landscape at Stanton Street, 1971 Lithograph Sheet size: 30 x 22 1/4 inches Printer: Hollander’s Workshop, New York Publisher: Hollander’s Workshop and Xavier Fourcade, New York Edition size: 60, plus proofs Catalogue Raisonné: Graham 26 Signed, dated, and numbered
Ed Ruscha Made in California, 1971 Lithograph Sheet size: 20 1/8 x 28 inches Printer: Cirrus Editions, Los Angeles, California Publisher: Grunewald Graphic Arts Foundation, University of California, Los Angeles Edition: 100, plus proofs Catalogue Raisonné: Engberg 52 Initialed, dated, and numbered
Ed Ruscha Insects, 1972 Screenprints Sheet size: 20 1/8 x 27 inches, each Printer: Styria Studio, New York Publisher: Multiples, Inc., New York Edition: 100, plus proofs Catalogue Raisonné: Engberg 60-65 Signed, dated, and numbered A complete portfolio of six screenprints, retaining the combination title and colophon sheet, encased in a raw linen-covered portfolio box with a plastic cover encapsulating brown-ish-red soil.
Fascinated by the pictural possibilities of still-life objects found in everyday American life, Wayne Thiebaud developed a distinct realist vocabulary across his artistic practice, concisely depicting everyday objects that are not only visually compelling, but engage the viewer in a strikingly direct manner. Creating contradictions between the depth of the displayed objects, made threedimensional by their vivid shadows, and the vague flatness of the abstract empty space, Thiebaud masterfully juxtaposes color and texture in unexpected ways to elevate seemingly mundane commercial objects into fascinating subjects. Throughout his career, Thiebaud regarded artmaking as a reciprocal practice, mixing various media within a single work and using different media to produce variations of an image. Across mediums, his processes were informed by one another, exploring the expressive and conceptual potential of each. Believing that a theme could never truly be exhausted, Thiebaud was dedicated to perpetual trial and error, creating numerous proofs before finalizing the image. Thiebaud’s introduction to lithography was as a student at San Jose State University where he was immediately captivated by the medium. His graphic work evolved in conjunction with his painting as the technical difficulties of the medium provided opportunities for him to reexamine and accentuate specific pictorial details. Bow Ties (1990), an iconic color lithograph, is infused with Thiebaud’s quintessentially American nostalgia. Frequently returning to arrangements of ties and bow ties—menswear accessories that were fashion emblems of post-war America – the work depicts the striking visual language of contrast, shadow, and depth that the artist developed. The exaggerated color scheme and rhythm of the work invokes an eye-catching department store display, reflecting the rise of consumer culture in that era. Four prints from the portfolio Recent Etchings I are included in this catalogue - Four Cakes, Freeway Curve, Daffodil, and Shoes. The subtle variations in shading and tonal values, capturing minute details of the objects along with their harsh shadows, elevates seemingly ordinary objects into a heightened, dynamic composition -- transforming the quotidian into the iconic.
Wayne Thiebaud signing his prints at Crown Point Studio, 2019
Wayne Thiebaud Bow Ties, 1990 Lithograph Sheet size: 20 3/4 x 22 inches Printer: Trillium Graphics, Brisbane, California Publisher: Campbell Thiebaud Gallery, San Francisco Edition size: 35, plus proofs Signed, dated, and numbered
Wayne Thiebaud Four Cakes, 1979 Etching and aquatint Sheet size: 23 x 29 3/4 inches Printer: Crown Point Press, San Francisco Publisher: Parasol Press, Ltd. New York Edition: 50, plus proofs Signed, dated, and numbered From the portfolio Recent Etchings I
Wayne Thiebaud Freeway Curve, 1979 Etching and aquatint Sheet size: 23 x 29 3/4 inches Printer: Crown Point Press, San Francisco Publisher: Parasol Press, Ltd. New York Edition: 50, plus proofs Signed, dated, and numbered From the portfolio Recent Etchings I
Wayne Thiebaud Daffodil, 1979 Etching and aquatint Sheet size: 29 3/4 x 23 inches Printer: Crown Point Press, San Francisco Publisher: Parasol Press, Ltd. New York Edition: 50, plus proofs Signed, dated, and numbered From the portfolio Recent Etchings I
Wayne Thiebaud Shoe Rows, 1979 Etching and aquatint Sheet size: 23 x 29 3/4 inches Printer: Crown Point Press, San Francisco Publisher: Parasol Press, Ltd. New York Edition: 50, plus proofs Signed, dated, and numbered From the portfolio Recent Etchings I
Ellsworth Kelly Blue Green, 1990 Lithograph Sheet size: 39 1/2 x 37 3/4 inches Printer and Publisher: Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles Edition size: 75, plus proofs Catalogue Raisonné: Axsom 65 Signed and numbered
Ellsworth Kelly Yellow, 1973-75 Lithograph Sheet size: 38 5/8 x 38 inches Printer and Publisher: Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles Edition: 48, plus proofs Catalogue Raisonné: Axsom 107 Signed and numbered
Ellsworth Kelly Blue Red-Orange Green, 1970-71 Lithograph Sheet size: 42 1/2 x 30 inches Printer and Publisher: Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles Edition: 64, plus proofs Catalogue Raisonné: Axsom 75 Signed, inscribed, and numbered
Despite his reputation as a realist painter, Edward Hopper (1882-1967) initially struggled to find a market for his canvases, achieving his first success as an artist in New York by creating prints. Learning etching in 1915, Hopper quickly realized that the technique suited his style well, enabling him to achieve clear lines and stark contrasts between areas of light and shadow. He often heightened this effect by using bright white papers and specially ordered inks. Between 1915 and 1923, Hopper supported himself through his prints, teaching himself to be such an accomplished etcher that his works became regarded as some of the finest examples of American printmaking. Hopper’s prints from the decade that followed show his early exploration of the motifs he would later become famous for rendering in paint, portraying everyday American life with quiet yet intense drama. Among the numerous exhibitions that included Hopper’s etchings in those years was the First International Exhibition of Etching, organized by the Brooklyn Society of Etchers in April 1922 at the Anderson Galleries in New York, where Night Shadows was first shown. Night Shadows (1921), Hopper’s most famous etching and one of his most iconic works across any medium, depicts a lone man walking along a deserted city street, seen from a birds-eye view. Hopper’s extreme foreshortening coupled with his expert use of cross-hatching and deeply bitten lines to convey dark, mysterious shadows creates an ominous tone. As with so many of Hopper’s most renowned works, the viewer of Night Shadows occupies the role of voyeur, observing the lone stranger from somewhere out of his view. Dwarfed by and seemingly vulnerable to his surroundings – which were inspired by an actual location in New York, also seen in his painting New York Corner (1913) – the figure in Night Shadows captivates us as we wonder where he has come from and where he might be headed. Night Shadows is not only an iconic image, but the exhibited impression is rare, printed by the artist before the metal printing plate was reinforced with steel-facing and reissued as part of The New Republic portfolio, printed by Peter Platt. Obsessed with quality, Hopper printed most of his etchings himself in his West Village studio in very small editions. Hopper produced approximately 70 etchings between 1915 and 1928 before returning exclusively to painting. However, he attributed his printmaking practice to the evolution and ultimate success of his painting practice, stating later in life: “After I took up my etching, my painting seemed to crystallize.”
Edward Hopper in his Washington Square studio, New York, 1948
Edward Hopper Night Shadows, 1921 Etching Sheet size: 12 1/8 x 13 1/2 inches Printer: The Artist Edition size: Approximately 75 printed by the artist from an intended edition of 100 Catalogue Raisonné: Levin 82 Signed, recto and inscribed “Night Shadows $25” and “3 Wash Square N, New York,” verso A rare impression printed before the plate was steel-faced on heavy wove, unwatermarked paper.
Andy Warhol Flowers, 1970 Screenprint Sheet size: 36 x 36 inches Printer: Aetna Silkscreen Products, Inc., New York Publisher: Factory Additions, New York Edition: 250, plus proofs Catalogue Raisonné: Feldman and Schellmann II.65 Signed in ball-point pen and stamp numbered with a rubber stamp, verso Provenance: Collection of Cy Twombly, Rome Cy Twombly Foundation
Andy Warhol Hammer and Sickle, 1977 Screenprint Sheet size: 30 x 40 inches Printer: Rupert Jasen Smith, New York Publisher: Andy Warhol Enterprises, Inc., New York Edition: 50, plus proofs Catalogue Raisonné: Feldman and Schellmann II. 164 Stamped twice and numbered 070E UT.001 by The Estate of Andy Warhol and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, initialed by Tim Hunt (T.J.H).
Arriving at the Los Angeles artists’ print workshop Gemini G.E.L. in 1986, Dan Flavin (19331996) had only briefly explored printmaking and had no specific projects in mind. After his range of initial experiments, Flavin became interested in examining the chromatic relationship of pure, unmixed printing inks on a variety of handmade papers, attracted to the way the hues of the ink would complement and engage with the deckle-edged sheets. The resulting prints entitled (to Don Judd, colorist) 1-7, feature the fluorescent colors Flavin evoked throughout his career – vibrant reds, greens, yellows, oranges, blues, pinks, and oranges. These prints are made from a careful selection of four different handmade papers, all approximately 30 x 40 inches, and seven vivid inks – all unmixed and straight out of the can, except one. The printing process used to create the editions in the (to Don Judd, colorist) set was unprecedented for the Gemini workshop. Though the prints are essentially lithographs, Flavin did not draw the image on an aluminum lithographic plate. Instead, the printers rolled ink over the plate, uniformly covering its entire surface. The inked plate was then placed down on the lithography press, and Flavin’s chosen paper was laid over the plate and printed like a traditional lithograph. The exposed edge, resulted from the slightly smaller plate against the paper, emphasizes Flavin’s intended exposure of the nuances of the sheet and the ink color. The title references Flavin’s friend Donald Judd, whose sculptures of repeated structures, often mounted on the wall in vertical stacks, were exemplars of early minimalism. Flavin did not dictate that his print series should be kept together, nor did he indicate how they should be hung when in a group, but given the right space, they could be arranged à la Judd, in a column.
Dan Flavin, 1966
Dan Flavin (to Don Judd, colorist) 2, 1987 Lithograph Sheet size: 29 3/8 x 40 1/4 inches Printer and Publisher: Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles Edition: 30, plus proofs Catalogue Raisonné: Gemini 17.2 Signed, dated, and numbered From the set of seven lithographs
Dan Flavin (to Don Judd, colorist) 3, 1987 Lithograph Sheet size: 29 3/8 x 40 1/4 inches Printer and Publisher: Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles Edition: 30, plus proofs Catalogue Raisonné: Gemini 17.3 Signed, dated, and numbered From the set of seven lithographs
Dan Flavin (to Don Judd, colorist) 6, 1987 Lithograph Sheet size: 29 1/8 x 40 3/8 inches Printer and Publisher: Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles Edition: 30, plus proofs Catalogue Raisonné: Gemini 17.6 Signed, dated, and numbered From the set of seven lithographs
Richard Diebenkorn Woman Seated at Table, 1967 Lithograph Sheet size: 30 x 22 inches Printer and Publisher: Collectors Press, San Francisco Edition: 75, plus proofs Initialed, dated, and numbered
Richard Diebenkorn Cup and Saucer, 1965 Lithograph Sheet size: 17 1/8 x 17 1/8 inches Printer and Publisher: Original Press, San Francisco Edition: 50, plus proofs Initialed, dated, and numbered
Robert Ryman Seven Aquatints 1972 Aquatints Sheet size: 24 x 23 inches, approximately, each Printer: Crown Point Press, San Francisco Publisher: Parasol Press, Ltd, New York Edition size: 50, plus proofs Each sheet is signed, dated, and numbered in pencil, lower margin The complete portfolio of seven aquatints, with the title page that retains the original linen-covered portfolio.
Bands of Color in Four Directions & All Combinations is one of Sol LeWitt’s earliest experiments with etching. LeWitt (b. 1928) created his first print in 1970, and over the following year explored various techniques at different printmaking workshops. The work exemplifies key themes that fascinated the artist throughout his career, including seriality and repetition. The etchings that comprise Bands of Color in Four Directions & All Combinations were made from just two plates, which LeWitt arranged and layered in various ways to create sixteen unique combinations of parallel lines, all printed in primary colors. Working with Kathan Brown at Crown Point Press in San Francisco, she described LeWitt’s approach as “mystifying,” especially compared to the work of other artists with whom she had worked frequently in the 1960s. Bands of Color in Four Directions & All Combinations was the second series LeWitt created with Brown in 1971. In his “Paragraphs on Conceptual Art” (1967), LeWitt stated: “When an artist uses a conceptual form of art, it means that all of the planning and decisions are made beforehand and the execution is a perfunctory affair. The idea becomes a machine that makes the art.” In keeping with these notions, LeWitt’s wall drawings and sculptures were often—and continue to be—realized by assistants following LeWitt’s instructions. However, the tactile medium of etching necessitates the presence of an artist’s hand, and LeWitt chose to draw all his own prints. At Crown Point, LeWitt drew directly onto the copper plates, which were then inked and processed by the printers. Despite LeWitt’s belief that conceptual artworks were ostensibly premeditated, Brown points out that the artist occasionally had to alter his plans for a print during the printing process. For example, while working on a series of etchings in the 1990s, LeWitt suddenly felt the prints bore too close a resemblance to the style of Keith Haring. Aiming instead to draw on an earlier work of his own—his first Crown Point print, Lines Not Long, Not Straight, and Not Touching (1971)—he immediately worked with the printers to alter it. LeWitt once remarked that “what the work looks like isn’t too important,” but Brown suggests that his attention to detail and willingness to make adjustments to his prints indicates that some may apply this oft-cited quote to LeWitt’s practice too literally. Over the course of his career, LeWitt continuously returned to printmaking—and Crown Point Press—making this early portfolio a pivotal and historic work.
Sol LeWitt at Crown Point Press, San Francisco, 1997
Sol LeWitt Bands of Color in Four Directions and All Combinations, 1971 Etchings Sheet size: 21 1/8 x 21 1/8 inches, each Printer: Crown Point Press, San Francisco Publisher: Parasol Press Ltd., New York and Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut Edition: 25, plus proofs Catalogue Raisonné: Krakow Witkin 1971.04 Each sheet is signed and numbered The rare complete set of sixteen etchings
Brice Marden Han Shan Exit 1-6, 1992-93 Etchings with Aquatint Sheet size: 15 x 11 1/4 inches, each Printer: Branstead Studio, NY Publisher: The Artist Edition size: 45, plus proofs Each sheet is signed, dated, and numbered The complete set of six etchings
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