A PRINT SHOW

Saturday 6th December – Sunday 14th December

Etching was the medieval method of decorating arms and armour. In the sixteenth century, it was adapted into the technique of printmaking, allowing artists to make multiple impressions and distribute their work more widely. Now, a new exhibition at Art & Talking gathers work of some of the most famous printmakers in history.

A Print Show includes a woodcut by the German artist Albrecht Dürer, the leading printmaker of the Renaissance, as well a contemporary engraved copy of a Dürer woodcut by Marcantonio Raimondi, a Rembrandt and a Goya. It also features twentieth-century pieces from the celebrated Swiss sculptor Giacometti, the infamous Spanish surrealist Salvador Dalí, and prints by the acclaimed Welsh artist Frank Brangwyn.

Printmaking was also a way of giving value to paper – in the form of money and stamps – and creating images complicated enough that they could not be faked. So, the exhibition features an 1816 Chipping Norton £5 banknote and a world-famous Penny Black.

A Print Show includes an etching by David Hockney from his illustrated Cavafy poems, screen prints by the pop artist Peter Blake, and works by the contemporary artist Pato Bosich, created in collaboration with renowned modern printmakers. Many of these pieces are framed by the first-class framer Simon Quinn.

It also features work by Tapíes, Wyndham Lewis, Wols, Stephan Hausmeister, Michael Bucknell, Miriam Nabarro, Jacques Villon, & Patricia V Dawson, as well as maps by John Speed

A Print Show was inspired by director Michael Bucknell’s lifelong fascination with the art form:

Ever since I was a child, I have loved looking at prints. I started visiting the prints room at the British Museum at the age of sixteen and have been returning ever since. This exhibition is the perfect chance to introduce viewers to the incredible range and richness of this artistic form. We have a fascinating collection of dry point, engravings, etchings, collotypes, screen prints and lithographs from across historical periods – all of them for sale.

The result is an idiosyncratic tour through the history of print making, from the Renaissance to the modern day. Taking place in early December, the exhibition will be combined with a varied programme of events.