THE PRINT, DRAWING & PHOTOGRAPH SOCIETY OF THE BALTIMORE MUSEUM OF ART

Newsletter■ ■ VOLUME 35 NUMBER 1 SPRING 2016

GIFTS FOR A NEW CENTURY The New Arrivals exhibition celebrates the success of the BMA’s Campaign for Art by showcasing some of the more than 3,500 gifts, promised gifts, bequests, and purchases of art added

to the Museum’s collection. 3

ALSO INSIDE D

O PRESIDENT’S LETTER 2 O H O

R WHEN PHOTOGRAPHS TACKLE ART HISTORY 6 T I M :

O THE DIRECTOR’S COLLECTION 10 T O H P

. EVAN LINDQUIST 14 N A M

D TAMING THE GARRETT COLLECTION 20 L E F E

N BROOMBERG & CHANARIN: OPTICS & CONFLICT 24 I L A

© GEORGE ALOYSIUS LUCAS, A BALTIMOREAN IN PARIS 28 Aline Feldman (American, born 1928) Night Grid, 2009 Color white line woodcut Sheet: 1011 x 659 mm. (39 13/16 x 25 15/16 in.) Gift of the Artist BMA 2011.77 T S I U Q D N I L N

A EVAN V E LINDQUIST AN ENGRAVER’S ENGRAVER BY SCOTT PONEMONE

few years back. Then after I friended him on Facebook earlier this year, I saw his post of an image of the Hayter portrait. That's when I first contacted him directly. …” Yes, what attracted Shafer to Lindquist was his engraved portrait of Hayter, the subject of her planned 2018 BMA exhibition and catalogue—a quest that started to take shape after the BMA acquired an print in 2007. His 2015 14 of Hayter is part on his continuing series of of engravers that began in 2006 and now numbers, by my count, 17 images. 5 1 0 2 , T S I Thanks to Shafer’s online monitoring of Lindquist’s U Q D N I

L series of portraits, the Museum purchased his N O R

A SW Hayter Engraves War last year. Asked why she H S : O T would want to include a portrait of Hayter in the O H P BMA collection, Shafer said, “I am pleased to be able Evan Lindquist to show the extension of Hayter's legacy all the way up to the present day.” INTRODUCTION As a thank-you for the BMA purchase, Lindquist While scanning the horizon for all things Hayter— made a gift of his 2009 engraving Gabor Peterdi that’s printmaker and Atelier 17 founder Stanley Engraves a Still Life. His generosity inspired me William Hayter (1901-1988)—Ann Shafer’s radar to contact him and seek out an email interview, to locked on Evan Lindquist. What attracted Shafer, which he quickly agreed. BMA Associate Curator of Prints, Drawings & Photographs, was not so much Lindquist’s 40-year tenure as an art, , and drawing professor INTERVIEW at Arkansas State University nor his appointment as Evan Lindquist certainly didn’t retire from printmaking Arkansas’s first Artist Laureate (2013-17). when he retired from ASU in 2003. His series of “I can’t recall the context in which I first saw his engraver portraits is a testament to that. Over his work,” Shafer said via email, “but I remember posting career he has had more than 60 solo exhibitions and his engraving Knight, Bird & Burin to my Tumblr a has received more than 80 awards in about 300 vi to present that feeling of adventure inmy YouTube chaos. It isanimportant balance to maintain. Itried al through burin-handling skill. If Iwere to rely on skill what Iwant to do as and anartist what Ican do wi copperplate. My entire field of vision isavista. Iplay In the act of engraving, my eyes areclose to the duplicate through any other medium or technique. of calligraphic qualities that would be impossible to natural characteristics. Thus, my images make use lines, and Iuse it inaway that emphasizes its The burin isanatural tool for making calligraphic [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRFq5Y74TwY] t Years later, copperplate engraving was the answer a —an environment that appears and surrounds me them. Engraving ismy way of creating anew “vista" work results inbeautiful calligraphy. Iamnot one of There aremany expert engravers whose creative go fr pl to bring the calligraphy of elegance to the copper motionless. What struggle typeof was it for you requires the burin-holding hand to remain allbut movement andhand pressure, engraving while Calligraphy appears to arm beadance of I s emulate those lines, but mine were just childish I lines, flowing curves, and bold shades. Before … Depression and World War II restrained hispassion. He had wanted to be anartist, but the Great calligraphy to yourattachment to engraving? How important was yourfather's interest in and to hiscurrent series of engraved portraits. philosophy about engraving, to hisschooling, chronologically from hisearly influences to his In my November 2015 email interview, Iworked in over 70 public institutions. competitiveexhibitions. His prints can be found o c m crawls incrayon which Itried to perfect. Later s deo deo one, the vista would appear cold and dead or in at t ould read or write, Iwould lie on the floor and c I hin that environment. Astruggle ensues between oved on to making those lines with inkpens. His penmanship often consisted of calligraphic reating elegant lines. … e? Wh c om onemediumt re E van Lindquist Engraves Martin Schöngauer a t e at men i t. t. tal adaptation was requiredto o t he ot her? . engraving—did heoffer? he provide? What mental lessons—apropos to learning from him.What technical lessons did en I two books on the subject, S.W. Hayter's printmaking and introduced me to engraving. Iread J. Warren Brinkman encouraged my interest in University, Emporia, KS],Norman R. Eppink and love with printmaking. Incollege [Emporia State introduced us to linoleum block prints, and Iwas in fourth grade inEmporia, Kansas, teacher our art rubber stamps and astamp pad. When Ireached the lumber crayons. Imade prints with dozens of castoff yard, for example, old wallpaper sample books and home drawing materials, scraps, from hislumber During my earliest years my father would bring Who introduced youto engraving? What made youeveninterested inprintmaking? H forgotten inthe excitement of meeting the maestro. t p [at the University of ] and showed himmy c surrealist image into the plate. After amonth of the Hayter and Heller books, and began cutting a t July 1960. She had taken teaching anart position in Sharon [Lindquist’s wife] and Imoved to Iowa City in of Gravure t told them inhissoft, heavily-accented voice: "Make teaching assistants appeared. He pointed to me and n The Maestro would choose prints to send to various levels, and we learned from everyone. Iowa it was anopen classroom for students of all for anyone who wanted to sit in. During my years at student. There were also afew full-class critiques recommend completely different ideas to the next suggest that one student should try something, but with each of us through private critiques. He might Every student was different, and the Maestro dealt printmaking major. … into the Iowa Print Group, and Iwas officially a hem closely. He asked some questions, now h his boy aprinter." That was my personal invitation ut understand yourteachers oneof was the late. He ran hisfingers over the cuts and studied a e e t graver . Tell meabout t ional exhibitions, and anassistant would cut the t p ing, Iwalked into Lasansky's first day of class urned and called out: “Jack, Virginia!” Two u blic schools. Ibought acopper plate, studied , and Jules Heller's Printmaking Today New Ways . 15 THE PRINT, DRAWING & PHOTOGRAPH SOCIETY OF THE BALTIMORE MUSEUM OF ART EVAN LINDQUIST T mats and package everything for entering the In your rules (in the 2010 Charles Kaufman article S I

U competitions. This routine provided a few lines for the Society of American Graphic Artists) you Q

D on our individual résumés and helped establish say: "Only a few lines should call attention to N I

L professional practices among the students. themselves and be recognizable as ‘calligraphic

N lines.’ " Yet some of your images emphasize

A Tell me about your set of rules for making V calligraphic lines—like the recent tree prints. E an engraving. Why is that? My "rules" are a combination of instinct and My personal definition of a calligraphic line is any experience—perhaps meaningful only to myself. line that stands out and shouts: "Look at me. I’m My goal is to keep from getting into a rut. I know beautiful!" But how many "beautiful" lines would what has worked for me in the past, and lots of it take to throw a composition into chaos? A few things didn't work. But rules should be broken. calligraphic lines might strengthen and support Break any rule and it may provide variety to the each other, but too many of these lines would fight work process and remind me that I should consider each other for your attention, becoming ridiculous alternatives to the rule. The most important rule is or chaotic. that I must embrace failure as part of a creative process. In other words, try something that might An example that illustrates this is my engraving, Tree not work, and then enjoy figuring out how to use (2014). A Japanese maple tree in front of my studio any unintended result. was the inspiration. In the first state of the print,

16 Y Y N N , , A A G G A A V V / / T T S S I I U U Q Q D D N N I I L L N N A A V V E E © © Evan Lindquist, American, born 1936 (LEFT) Tree, state I, unique proof, and (RIGHT) Tree, state IV (finished state) Tree, 2014, ed. 25 Burin engraving. Image size: 10 x 6.1 inches. Paper: Rives BFK every line has strong calligraphic qualities. The lines But it took many years before I could settle on a plan T S I in the trunk are closely related, working together as that would have continuity. A tentative step into the U Q a unit, forming a unique linear shape. In contrast, series was Knight, Bird & Burin (2006). This led to D N I

the foliage is a chaotic mess—too many lines, each Albrecht Dürer Engraves His Initials (2008), which L begging for attention. seemed to be a good entry into a new series. Dürer N A V

was followed by Claude Mellan Engraves a Self- E The finished state of Tree shows hundreds of new Portrait (2008). I saw potential for more old masters. lines—straight lines, not calligraphic—that work in groups. Collectively, they describe shape, value, and space, organizing the earlier chaos into forms that suggest foliage. Each clump is enriched by a bold calligraphic line lending rhythmic character to the composition. This example demonstrates that engraving a plate is a continuum. I begin each project with simple steps, then climb upward as the next step pops into my mind. Tell me about your series of engravings on engravers: why, when and how it began, who was chosen and why. When I became interested in engraving in the 1950s, I was not yet aware that the history of engraving D O O H

consisted of life stories of some old master engravers. O R T I M

I discovered that much of the information about : O 17 T O H them had been forgotten. Indeed, by mid-20th P . Y N , century, the entire medium of engraving was often A G A V /

dismissed as a "lost art." I was determined to "find" T S I U Q it for myself. D N I L N A V E

Rather than considering engraving to be a "lost art,” , 5 1 0 I considered it to be a "forgotten art." The postwar 2 © T

crop of printmaking teachers simply "forgot" how Evan Lindquist (American, born 1936) R A

SW Hayter Engraves War, 2015 F to teach engraving to younger generations. Even Engraving; printed in black () O M

Sheet: 388 x 310 mm. (15 1/4 x 12 3/16 in.) U worse, the entire concept of printmaking was being E S

Plate: 278 x 207 mm. (10 15/16 x 8 1/8 in.) U regarded as an inferior form of art. Few contemporaries Purchased as the gift of an Anonymous Donor M E BMA 2015.173 R seemed to understand complex creative processes. O M I T L

Newer and faster processes took the place of A

A recent print in the series is SW Hayter Engraves B E

engraving in art studios and classrooms. H

War (2015). Hayter had been taught to engrave T F O

S.W. Hayter attempted to revitalize engraving by copper plates by Jozef Hecht, a Polish engraver. Y T E I teaching it to many important "new masters,” such During the Spanish Civil War, Hayter produced prints C O S as Gabor Peterdi, Mauricio Lasansky, and others, to raise funds for the Republican war effort opposing H P A R at his Atelier 17 in Paris and New York. the Nationalists, but after the bombing of Guérnica in G O T

1939, the forces of Francisco Franco, supported by O H

About 1980, I complimented Warrington Colescott on P

Hitler, took over the government of Spain. Nazis took & his series of prints called The History of Printmaking. G N control of France. In 1939, Hayter moved his Atelier I W Warrington said, "Why don't you do the same thing A R

17 to and taught many contemporary D , for engraving?" Yes! That's what I wanted to do! T N artists to engrave. Hayter is best known for many I R P E

technical print innovations, but my engraving is H T T S I U Q D N I L N A V E D O O H O R T I M : O T O H P . Y N , A G A V / Evan Lindquist (American, born 1936) T S I

U Gabor Peterdi Engraves a Still Life, 2009 Q D N

I Engraving; printed in black (intaglio) L N

A Sheet: 369 x 299 mm. (14 1/2 x 11 3/4 in.) V

18 E , Plate: 266 x 195 mm. (10 1/2 x 7 11/16 in.) 5 1

0 Gift of the Artist 2

© BMA 2015.174

focused upon his humanitarian war effort on behalf than burin engraving. In this print I've incorporated of the people of Spain. some small areas of drypoint—scratching into the surface with the point of a needle. The Maestro A print closely related is Gabor Peterdi Engraves a encouraged experimenting with a variety of Still Life (2009). This great Hungarian printmaker processes to find new approaches to technical or fled to America, became an American soldier and aesthetic problems. I show him as he describes returned to Europe with U.S. forces. Peterdi was to me the importance of both the scraper and influenced by the horrors of Nazi atrocities when burin in the process of engraving—try anything he engraved his biting satire, Still Life in Germany with burin and scraper. (1946). In the depressingly chaotic lines of the dark background in my engraving, I've woven He had a love for fine, traditional, old presses, "1938" and "1946", referring to Peterdi's years of and every discussion of print aesthetics always despair and horror. included "print quality,” how well the plate was printed, how the press was used, how the paper The most recent print in the series is Mauricio was prepared, how the ink was ground and applied. Lasansky Teaches Me to Engrave (2015), a Yes, we ground our own ink from dry pigments. composite of memories. At this point it is the only I've alluded to all of these memories in my print one in the series that includes a medium other by showing the presses. T S I U Q D N I L N A V E Y N , A G A V /

T Evan Lindquist, American, born 1936 S I U

Q Mauricio Lasansky Teaches Me to Engrave, 2015, ed. 25 D N

I 19

L Burin engraving with drypoint. N A

V Image size: 13 x 11.3 inches. E

© Paper: Rives BFK

Every critique with Lasansky would relate to the Old What has been the advantage of concentrating

Master printmakers. The two bulls are reminiscent on one particular medium over so many years? T R A F

of Goya, whose legacy was nearly always brought Why are you still in love with engraving? O M

into a critique and seemed always appropriate as U E

This is what I was meant to do. It is what I do best. S U

an exemplar. There were framed Goya prints in the M

While engraving I find myself within the copper plate. E R

studio. Goya was never forgotten, but conversations O M I T also included Rembrandt, Picasso, Tiepolo, and other Each time I work with the burin, it is a new adventure. L A B

masters. E H T F O

It is significant that the bulls are on the left side of Y ONLINE T E I

the Maestro's head. He often said that, no matter C O Lindquist website: http://evanlindquist.com S what he might be doing, the upper left side of his H P A R

brain was always thinking about his current project. Evan Lindquist article by Charles Kaufman: G O T O

http://evanlindquist.com/about/article-kaufman.html H

What are your current print projects? P & G

Engraving links including YouTube videos on N For my next engraving I agreed to begin a self- I W A

Lindquist website: R

portrait for a museum exhibition next year. Early in D , http://evanlindquist.com/about/burin.html T N the year I'll also begin background research on my I R P

next Old Master engraver. I always seek new ideas. E H T