My Highlights from the IFPDA Print Fair 2013
I always try and look for, what I believe is, quality and dedication to practice. I truly admire artists who push the boundaries of what print can do and challenge people’s perceptions. Serra is mainly known for his sculptures but his prints have an amazing surface and a real power. Hodgkin’s large etching is a tour de force combining etching with hand hand-painting on a magnificent scale. Hockney is one of the greatest living printmakers. In terms of sheer quality though everyone should look to the old masters - Dürer and Rembrandt particularly.
This list, I believe, is an eclectic selection based around quality and some of the artists whose prints I am drawn to and admire:
Polly Apfelbaum, Empress Theodora, 2013, at Durham Press
Howard Hodgkin, Stormy Weather, 2012, Alan Cristea Gallery
Albrecht Dürer, (Die Weynachten) – Nativity (Christmas), 1504, at C. G. Boerner
David Hockney, Rue de Seine, 1972, Susan Sheehan
Martin Lewis, Glow of the City, 1929, The Old Print Shop, Inc.
Tauba Auerbach, Mesh\Moire series, 2012, Paulson Bott Press
Roy Lichtenstein, Haystacks #1 - #7, 1969, at Gemini G.E.L. at Joni Moisant Weyl
Artists to watch in 2014:
Ian Davenport. He is part of the YBA generation of British Artists, he had a sell out show of paintings in New York earlier this year and makes beautiful and complex color etchings that just keep getting better.
My number one tip for collecting prints:
I look for artists that actively engage with the medium of print and that catch my eye right away at first look. Printmaking should bring something new and original to an artist’s work unobtainable in other mediums. Also, I believe, you shouldn’t be afraid to ask questions. The dealers and publishers are the experts - many of them have spent years working with the material and the artists.
