Boston — The Boston University Art Gallery (BUAG) will host an exhibition to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of The Boston Printmakers, February 9 – April 1. The exhibition will highlight the work of local, national and international printmakers, as well as educate the public about the field of printmaking since 1947. To mark the opening of the exhibition, a reception will be held at the gallery on February 8, 6:00 – 8:00 PM.

Exhibition curator, David Acton, who is also curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs at the Worcester Art Museum, has carefully selected the best of the award-winning prints and purchases from The Boston Printmakers' exhibitions over the past 60 years. Acton describes his selections as “astute and flawless impressions made by some of the finest printmakers working in drastically changing times.” The exhibition seeks to incorporate an international flair as well as reflect the growth and expansion of the print medium.

In addition to the display at BUAG, there will also be a companion exhibition entitled Sixty Years of North American Prints: Creating Public Collections at the Art Complex Museum in Duxbury, MA. While BUAG will feature prints that were purchased by curators and individual patrons (some of which have found their way into public collections), the Art Complex Museum will feature prints that were purchased and donated by The Boston Printmakers to public collections.

Sixty Years of North American Prints: Collecting from The Boston Printmakers at BUAG begins with prints shown at the very first Boston Printmakers exhibition in May of 1948. Among them are works by Otis Phibrick, Ture Bengtz and Arthur Heintzelman, all of whom played instrumental roles in forming the Boston organization, as well as Allan Rohan Crite, Grace Albee, Letterio Calapai, Clare Leighton, and Thomas Nason who joined The Boston Printmakers in its first year. Covering the full 60-year span of development, featured artists of the 1950 -60s include Michael Mazur, Richard Bartlett, Nora Unwin, Sigmund Abeles, and Minna Citron, while Warrington Colescott, Sidney Hurwitz, Karen Kunc, Masaaki Sato, Donald Stoltenberg, Constance Jacobson, Carol Wax, and Andrew Raftery represent the 1970s to the present.

In addition to the opening reception on February 8, a second reception will be held at BUAG at the Stone Gallery on February 18, 2:00 - 4:00 PM. There will also be several related print making shows at Boston University concurrently, including The Boston Printmakers 2007 North American Print Biennial and The Fifth Arches Student Print Show, on display at Boston University’s 808 Gallery (February 18 – April 1), as well as Episodes & Itineraries: Installations in Print Media by South American Artists, on display at Boston University’s Sherman Gallery (January 23 – March 9).

Sixty Years of North American Prints is sponsored in part by Ardon Vinyl Graphics, Art Complex Museum, Boston Public Library, DeCordova Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Stanhope Framers, and U.S. Art Company, Inc.

The Boston Printmakers is a nonprofit organization providing Boston and New England patrons access to fine art printmaking since 1948. The Boston Printmakers’ extensive print collection is available to the public through the Boston Public Library. The organization adds to this collection every two years with a Purchase Prize awarded to artists through the Print Biennial. In addition to the Print Biennial and the Arches Student Show, The Boston Printmakers sponsors traveling shows and member shows – which always debut in the Boston area, providing further cultural and learning opportunities to Boston and Greater New England – as well as promotes global sharing through international printmaking and traveling exhibitions. 

Dedicated to serving the public of New England as well as the University community BUAG is a non-profit art gallery geared toward an interdisciplinary interpretation of art and culture. Maintaining an ongoing exhibition schedule in its current location since 1958, now named the Stone Gallery, exhibitions focus on international, national, and regional art developments, chiefly in the twentieth century. BUAG has a particular commitment to offer a culturally inclusive view of art, one that expands the boundaries of museum exhibitions.

BUAG is located at 855 Commonwealth Avenue, at the Stone Gallery inside the College of Fine Arts building on the Boston University campus (BU West T stop on the "B" Green Line). Gallery hours are Tuesday-Friday 10 am - 5 pm, Saturday & Sunday 1 - 5 pm. For more information please visit www.bu.edu/art.

IMAGES ARE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST

EXHIBITION AND GALLERY EVENTS ARE FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

SUPPLEMENTARY PROGRAMMING

Lecture: Mezzotint in North America
Date: Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Time: 5:30 – 7:00 PM
Location: BU Concert Hall, 855 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA
Description: A lecture on the history of mezzotint and Boston presented by Carol Wax, author of The Mezzotint: History and Technique (published by Harry N. Abrams).

Workshop: What Are Prints? Demystifying Technique
Date: Sunday, April 15, 2007
Time: 2:00 PM
Location: The Art Complex Museum, 189 Alden Street, Duxbury, MA
Description: A hands on presentation by Carolyn Muskat, President of The Boston Printmakers and owner/operator of Muskat Studios in Somerville, MA.

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