NY, LA, San Francisco pages 2, 4 page 32 page 2, 10 Miami page 2 page 28

Journal of the Print World® devoted to contemporary & antique works of fine art on paper

© Journal of the Print World, 2012. All rights reserved. ISSN: 0737-7436 Volume 35 Number 4 October 2012 by Richie Lasansky Due to his contributions in the devel- opment of graphic techniques and his This year the art world lost Mauricio La- dedication to , Lasansky is sansky, the man who Time Magazine re- considered a forerunner in the evolution ferred to as “the nation’s most influential of the graphic arts. Many feel he is large- printmaker.” Born in 1914, Buenos Ai- ly responsible for its elevation as a criti- res, Argentina, he was one of a few mod- cal art form. Even as early as 1944, an ern artists who limited their work almost Art Digest review of his solo show at the exclusively to the graphic media and Whyte Gallery in Washington DC, said subsequently became recognized as one “Lasansky treats this graphic medium of the “Fathers of 20th Century American with all the serious respect usually ac- Printmaking. corded to and reserved for oil painting.” Throughout his career Lasansky consis- His work can be found in private collec- tently pushed the boundaries of tions and museums nationwide, as well printmaking in order to meet the require- as in Europe and Latin America, yet it ments of his image making. A master would be difficult to understand the ex- of his craft, he always maintained that tent of his influence in the world of print- technique, while necessary, served only making without giving full credit to his to support the image. role as a teacher. Within months of his arrival in the Unit- is teaching career began in ed States, Lasansky was invited by Stan- 1936 as a director of the Free ley William Hayter to join the HFine Arts school in Cordoba, Workshop and for almost two years he Argentina. Later, in the United States, became part of this international van- he served as a professor of printmaking guard of artists whose work radically in the School of Art and Art History at altered the course of intaglio printmak- the University of for more than 40 ing in America. Here Lasansky, worked years. Perhaps his place is secure, in the alongside and exhibited with such lumi- long line of visual artists from the cave naries as, , André Masson, paintings in Lascaux to more contempo- Yves Tanguy, George Grosz, and Jacques rary efforts, because of his rare ability to Lipchitz. devote himself completely to both the work he produced and the students he In his book titled, “About Prints,” Hayter taught. had this to say about Lasansky: “At the end of this time I was able to recommend One of Lasansky’s students, Robert Stin- him to the , where son, had this to say in his 1948 Master Mauricio Lasansky has since organized of Fine Arts thesis titled, “Mauricio La- and directed the biggest and one of the sansky, A Monograph.” “His own strong most important centers of graphic art in convictions regarding the importance of the United States.” graphic arts as an art form, his attitudes toward the values of hard work, his com- Lasansky began teaching at the Univer- mand of the media, and his seemingly sity of Iowa in 1945, where he quickly uncanny ability to put his finger on the set about reinvigorating the printmaking thing the student most needs in the way program. With Lasansky’s guidance, the of criticism and encouragement, com- program quickly gained international at- bine to make his teaching extraordinarily tention. He remained the head of the successful. He also seems to be able to department until 1984 and today many reach his students on a non-technical of his students are well-known artists and non-artistic level, which gives a and teachers, and the University of Iowa majority of them a strong sense of per- printmaking ... continued on page 8 sonal loyalty to Mr. Lasansky, as well as a genuine dedication to art in general and printmaking in particular.”

Lasansky came to the United States in 1943, on the first of five Guggenheim Fellowships, where he spent more than a year studying the extensive print collec- tion at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. “He may not have been the first person who wanted to examine all 150,000 of them, but he was the first person to actually do it.” said Michael Danoff in “Mauricio Lasansky: a Ret- rospective Exhibition of His Prints and Lasansky Gallery Mauricio Lasansky, “Woman with Lute,” 1965 Drawings.” Mauricio Lasansky, 1967 Intaglio print, 74 1/2” x 24” © Lasansky Corporation