“The Simple Art: Printed Images in an Age of Magnificence" features 64 works by well known 16 century Italian printmakers while “Painting with Acid: The Prints of Norman Ackroyd, R.A. presents the art of British printmaker Norman Ackroyd.
A preview reception for both exhibitions, open to the public free of charge, will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 5, from 5–7 p.m.
“The Simple Art: Printed Images in an Age of Magnificence” offers the etchings, engravings and woodcuts from nine New England college collections. Many of the works are modeled after masters such as Raphael, Leonardo, and Michelangelo.
Anonymous, after Leonardo da Vinci, “Knot Pattern”, 1490s., engraving, 267 x 203 mm, Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence; Museum Works of Art Fund
The exhibition examines the impact of printmaking on Italian art of the 16 century, exploring how these small-scale, inexpensive, and easily transportable objects made works of art available to a wider, less affluent society. The changing role of the artist—engravers, printers, and publishers—is examined through a variety of images, including religious, literary, and historical subjects, as well as decorative designs, topographical views, and book illustrations. The relationship between the duplication of an image and the aesthetics of an original masterpiece is also examined.
Curated by UNH professor of art history Dr. Patricia Emison, the exhibit will travel to the Thorne-Sagendorph Art Gallery at Keene State College where it will be on view from November 9 to December 10. An illustrated, 100-page catalogue accompanies the exhibition and is available for purchase through The Art Gallery.
The exhibition and catalogue are supported in part by grants from the FEDCO Charitable Foundation and the International Fine Print Dealers Association, with additional funding from the Friends of The Art Gallery, the Winthrop S. Carter, Jr., Fund for Special Exhibitions, Edmund G. Miller, and the John W. Hatch Art Faculty Development Fund.
An interdisciplinary lecture series, “After the Invention of the Printed Image: Lectures on Art, Music, and Literature”, is supported by a grant from the UNH Class of 1954 Academic Enrichment Fund, with additional funding from the UNH Center for the Humanities and various academic departments.
Giulio Cesare Procaccini, “Holy Family with an Angel”, c. 1600, etching, 162 x 122 mm, Davis Museum and Cultural Center, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, Museum purchase
“Painting with Acid: The Prints of Norman Ackroyd, R.A.”, focuses on the work of the acclaimed British printmaker who is a distinguished member of the Royal Academy. Ackroyd's atmospheric etchings of the English landscape are recognized internationally, not only for their spectacular imagery, but for their technical expertise. His adventurous experimentation with the materials and process of printmaking results in beautiful images that capture the essence of the natural landscape. Traveling from London exclusively for this exhibition, Ackroyd will appear as a guest lecturer as part of the “After the Invention of the Printed Image: Lectures on Art, Music, and Literature” lecture series.
A number of free public lectures and weekly ArtBreak programs at the Paul Arts Center are being offered in conjunction with the exhibitions, including:
Wednesday, September 6, noon, Rm. A219
ArtBreak – slide lecture: “An Artistic Response to
September 11 by artist Sarah Haskell, creator of The Button Project”.
Wednesday, September 13, noon, Rm. A219
ArtBreak - slide lecture: The Lure of the Line: My Life with
Prints* – Sue Welsh Reed, retired curator of prints at
the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, offers a personal reminiscence
on prints and printmaking.
Wednesday, September 20, noon, Rm. A219
Program: ArtBreak – lecture: The Marvelous Real: Marco
Polo's Legacy to European Romance* – Professor Michael
Murrin, University of Chicago, examines the effects of old accounts
of Asia on the imagination of European writers of the Renaissance
and later.
Wednesday, September 27, noon, Rm. A219
Program: ArtBreak – film & discussion: Artists in Print,
Etching: Norman Ackroyd – Scott Schnepf, UNH professor
of printmaking, leads a follow-up discussion on printmaking techniques.
Tuesday, October 3, 4:00 p.m., Rm. A219
Program: lecture: Myself and My Heroes* – Distinguished
British etcher Norman Ackroyd, a Royal Academician and visiting
artist from London, speaks about his work and its relationship
to the history of art.
Wednesday, October 4, noon, The Art Gallery, Paul Creative Arts
Center
Program: ArtBreak –performance: Excerpts from “Seussical”,
led by Carol Jo Fisher, UNH Department of Theatre and Dance.
Wednesday, October 11, noon, The Art Gallery, Paul Creative
Arts Center
Program: ArtBreak – gallery walk: A curatorial perspective
on the exhibition, “The Simple Art: Printed Images in the
Age of Magnificence”, by Professor Patricia Emison, UNH
Department of Art & Art History.
Thursday, October 12, 5:00 p.m., Rm. A219
Program: lecture: “Music,
Mechanics and Mixed Mathematics”* – Dr. Alison Laywine,
McGill University, Montreal, examines music theory in the sixteenth
century, and the relationship between music and the emergence
of mechanics as a science.
Wednesday, October 18, noon, Rm. A219
Program: ArtBreak-fiction
reading: – New literary work, “El Repoman”,
presented by Assistant Professor Alexander Parsons, UNH Department
of English.