Complete Set

Complete Set

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Complete Set

CONTENTS

Foreword 2 Conversation with Cindi Ettinger, Peter Paone, and Ron Rumford 4 Works in the Exhibition 26

April 2–July 31, 2016

FOREWORD

Complete Set explores different ways in which

some of Philadelphia’s most fascinating experiments

artists tell stories in a series of related works.

in the graphic arts was a gift from Philagrafika

Some of the print portfolios on view represent one

itself. Having served on the organization’s board

artist’s endeavor to make a statement. Others are

prior to my time as Woodmere’s director, this gift is

collaborative projects, involving numerous artists

especially meaningful. The Museum is showing the

whose works are brought together according to a

complete annual portfolios of the odd-numbered

single organizing principle. Still another example is

years, 2001 through 2011, and this makes it imperative

associated with the photojournalist’s art: a series

that we devise an exhibition soon that allows us to

of photographs that explore a news story. As a

show the portfolios of the even-numbered years.

collecting institution, it is satisfying when our

We also thank Clare W. Gargalli and Robert B.

holdings allow us to explore the relationship between

Waterhouse, Philip Jamison, Anne Kaplan, Leonard

the parts and the whole of a multifaceted project.

Klorfine, Jerome Kurtz, Joan L. Tobias, and an

This exhibition includes numerous works of art that came to Woodmere in recent years as gifts.

We include the four prints that comprise the Philadelphia Portfolio, published in 1981 by the Print Center in collaboration with the City of Philadelphia to commemorate the Print Center’s 65th Anniversary. Mayor Bill Green gave them to visiting dignitaries. Ann and Don McPhail gave the Philadelphia Portfolio to Woodmere in 2013 as part of their transformative gift of works on paper.

The Museum was honored last year to be given ten complete sets of the Philagrafika Invitational Portfolio; this remarkable chronicle of ten years of

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anonymous donor for the gifts of art included in the exhibition. Woodmere’s staff, as always, applied creative passion and expert skill in the development and implementation of Complete Set. We also thank Cindi Ettinger, Peter Paone, and Ron Rumford for participating with Rachel McCay, Woodmere’s Assistant Curator, in the conversation transcribed in these pages. To everyone, I express my deepest gratitude.

WILLIAM R. VALERIO, PHD The Patricia Van Burgh Allison Director and CEO

Mr. Hackney’s School, 2011, by Ron Tarver (Courtesy of the artist) Photographs © Philadelphia Inquirer

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A CONVERSATION WITH CINDI ETTINGER, PETER PAONE, AND RON RUMFORD

On January 11, 2016, Cindi Ettinger, owner and master printer at C. R. Ettinger Studio; Peter Paone, artist; and Ron Rumford, artist and director of Dolan/Maxwell, works of art on paper specialist dealers, sat down with Rachel McCay, Woodmere’s Assistant Curator, to discuss the exhibition Complete Set. RACHEL MCCAY: Thank you all for coming.

serving as a start, we set out to create an exhibition

We’re sitting down to discuss Complete Set. Like

of portfolios and series by various artists that

most exhibitions at Woodmere, the idea for the

would demonstrate some of the unique qualities

show began by looking at our collection. In 2015,

of this art form.

Philagrafika donated the complete set of invitational portfolios made from 2001 until 2012. We also recently acquired Calder’s Circus, a set of sixteen lithographs made from Calder’s 1931–32 circus drawings. With these two additions to the collection

Working on a series often allows the artist to delve into a particular topic or explore their chosen media. Works like Elaine Kurtz’s Color Illusion (1973), for example, investigate the idea of color

Color Illusion (Warm), 1973, by Elaine Kurtz (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Jerome Kurtz, 2012)

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across a series of six serigraphs, whereas Robert

who can create an entire series of work know more

Riggs’s series of lithographs inspired by the circus

about what they are doing than artists who don’t

focus on a particular subject. A portfolio like those

work in this manner. While working in a series or

completed by artists involved in the Philagrafika

on a portfolio allows an artist to dig deeper into

project or the Philadelphia Portfolio allows visitors

a particular subject, to think that such artists are

to see how multiple artists interpret either the same

“more serious” seems to me to be a false attribution

call to make work, the same idea, or even the same

coming from a commercially driven stance. I think

event, allowing for a variety of voices to interact.

this is interesting because you represent numerous

The show will also include Ron Tarver’s 2011 series of

points of view since you are all artists, but, Ron and

photographs of South Philadelphia High School.

Cindi, you are professionals in the commercial realm

Before we met today I read articles and artist blogs about “working in a series” or “working on a portfolio.” Many of the authors argued about the commercial benefits, particularly for young artists, of working this way. The writers claim that working in a series makes you appear serious and highly focused to collectors and gallery owners. I was surprised to learn that some feel that artists

as director of Dolan/Maxwell and owner of the C. R. Ettinger Studio.

Do you have any thoughts?

RON RUMFORD: Lots! Let’s say from a dealer

perspective, if I’m going to look at an artist’s work, the idea of one masterpiece isn’t very useful if you’re going to get involved with an artist and work

Color Illusion (Cool), 1973, by Elaine Kurtz (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Jerome Kurtz, 2012)

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Naples Tenements, date unknown, by Earl Horter (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Roslyn Silverman Hahn, 2013)

with him or her on a long-term basis. I want to be

undertakes the project of making a portfolio, they

able to see that they’re not a one hit wonder, that

usually have a large idea that takes more than one

they have the ability to sustain and develop work

image to explain; it’s like a wordless book. One of

successfully over time. The idea of a young artist

the things that’s unique to the process of creating a

is very popular in the art market today, when in

portfolio is that you have to build a relationship with

fact, I’m much more interested in somebody that’s

a printer. You have to decide who’s going to print it,

spent years, maybe decades thinking something

and what arrangements you’re going to make with

through and has a well-developed idea about what’s

that printer. The other problem is: who’s going to

important to them. Working in this manner gives the

fund it? I’ve done thirteen portfolios in my career.

artist the opportunity to explore an idea—an artist

Four were commissioned and the other nine were

working on a series of works is forced to ask himself

self-published. Then you must decide how you’re

or herself what else they have to say about the idea.

going to present it. Is it going to be a clamshell box?

PETER PAONE: I don’t think a portfolio defines an

artist any more than a single print does. If an artist

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Is it going to be a ribbon portfolio? How are you going to distribute it? One of the downsides of a portfolio is that a dealer could buy it and split it up,

Philadelphia (View of Philadelphia with City Hall), c. 1950, by Dox Thrash (Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 2015)

which happens often, so that the large statement is

Graphic Sketch Club (later the Samuel S. Fleisher

suddenly broken up into a lot of little pieces. On the

Art Memorial), was terribly important in the 1920s.

other hand, to do a portfolio is an undertaking and

The great printmaker Earl Horter taught there

quite an accomplishment. Philadelphia has always

and Allan Freelon and Dox Thrash worked with

been a print city. We just celebrated the hundredth

him there. Of course the Fine Print Workshop of

anniversary of the Print Club, which is now the

the Federal Art Project was established at Broad

Print Center.

and Spruce Streets in Philadelphia from 1937

RUMFORD: Printmaking has always been very

strong in Philadelphia. Joseph Pennell was very much a part of bringing what was known as the American etching revival to Philadelphia. The

to 1941. The Federal Art Project was a branch of the government-sponsored Works Progress Administration (WPA). Many notable printmakers worked in the Fine Print Workshop, including

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Dox Thrash, Hugh Mesibov, Michael J. Gallagher, Salvatore Pinto, Mildred Elfman Greenberg, Bessie Rigrodsky, Sam Brown, and Claude Clark.

MCCAY: Raymond Steth worked there as well.

The Fine Print Workshop was the only WPA workshop devoted entirely to the production of limited-edition prints.

RUMFORD: Raymond Steth is another great one.

Because of the kind of experimentation fostered by the Fine Print Workshop, a new technique was developed—the carborundum mezzotint. Nobody did it as much or as well, I think, as Dox Thrash and Michael J. Gallagher, but clearly the consequences were tremendous.

PAONE: Benton Spruance is important to mention

as well. At the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Carl Zigrosser, who was backed by Lessing Rosenwald, built an incredible collection. The Print Club, under their director, Bertha von Moschzisker, did much to establish a print history in Philadelphia. Now we have printers like you, Cindi, and the Brandywine Workshop and Archives, and it goes on and on and on.

RUMFORD: Bertha brought in Stanley William

Ceres, 1948, by Stanley William Hayter (Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 2011)

Hayter to run workshops at the Print Club (now the Print Center) in the 1940s. Hayter’s method of running a workshop with a focus on process

PAONE: Gene Feldman was also extremely

was very influential as far as how printmaking

important. Feldman ran Falcon Press. He was

was taught in colleges throughout this country.

the first in the 1950s to do offset printing as a fine

Hayter had a big impact on artists like Morris

art. He invited students, including myself, to work

Blackburn, Abraham Hankins, and Sam Maitin.

with him, not as assistants but as artists.

These artists went on to teach and become very,

You would adjust the image with knobs, color, and

very influential in how printmaking was taught from

depressions—most of his work was abstract and

the 1950s onward in the city. Blackburn in particular

was a very important part of printmaking

incorporated Hayter’s methods in the printmaking

in Philadelphia.

shop he established at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA).

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RUMFORD: I don’t know of any other major city

where fine art offset lithography was taking place at

TOP: St. Mark’s Square, 1966, by Eugene Feldman (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Rosina Feldman, 2008); BOTTOM: Cape May Point 2, 1956, by Eugene Feldman (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Rosina Feldman, 2008)

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that time. Feldman was also doing really interesting

PAONE: Thinking about the art schools, one of

things like abstracting images from television and

the things that’s interesting about Philadelphia

photography. We still have the Borowsky Center

was that in the 1950s when I was a student, Curtis

for Publication Arts at the University of the Arts,

Publishing Company switched from hand lithography

which is offset, and the Brandywine Workshop and

to mechanized offset. They sold their lithographic

Archives is still very much an offset operation.

presses for $50, with all the stones you could carry.

CINDI ETTINGER: I came to Philadelphia in the late

1970s. When I moved here, and I started printing, I wasn’t aware of a big printmaking scene. As a

Of course, UArts, Tyler, and Moore bought them. That boosted lithography in the city because suddenly you had greater access to presses.

rule, students graduated and left for New York or

ETTINGER: Accessibility has always been

someplace else. Very few artists stayed here. When

something that affects the output of printmakers.

I opened my print studio in Philadelphia, most of

Today there are studios like Second State—it’s a

the artists I printed for were New Yorkers. It wasn’t

communal printmaking workshop that just celebrated

really until the Philadelphia Print Collaborative that

its fifth anniversary. It’s kind of an amazing aligning

I started to learn about other printmakers here

of the stars that happened when Tyler moved to

in town. There was no social media to keep me

Temple’s main campus. They had extra presses,

informed. Now, it’s completely different; it was a

and the owner of the Crane Arts Building worked

slow rebirth, but it did come back.

at Tyler, so they were able to facilitate getting the

PAONE: Another important printer was Theodore

Cuno. He was a commercial printer who worked for Ketterlinus Lithographic Manufacturing Company in

extra presses on loan from the school. They offer professional facilities through membership as well as professional development opportunities.

Philadelphia and also printed privately for artists on a

RUMFORD: There’s also BYO Print, a printmaking

lithographic press in his basement. He was a master

studio and artist collective. Like Second State, it’s

printmaker working from the 1920s until the 60s.

another membership-based, affordable, accessible

RUMFORD: Cuno printed for Julius Bloch, Ralph

printmaking studio in Philadelphia.

Smith, Vincent LaBadessa, Louis Lozowick, and Harry

MCCAY: Collectives and studios like BYO and

Brodsky, to name a few. I suspect that the Sabatini

Second State prove how resourceful and supportive

lithographs in this exhibition may have been printed

the Philadelphia art community is. Cindi, you

by Cuno because they were printed in 1927. They

mentioned that it wasn’t until your involvement

were made around the same time that Sabatini was

with the Philadelphia Print Collaborative, which

working on the sculptures on the upper part of the

changed its name to Philagrafika in 2006, that you

N. W. Ayer Building on Washington Square. Sabatini

learned about other printers in the city. I want to

completed the sculptures in 1929, working with J.

talk about the genesis of the Philadelphia Print

Wallace Kelly. Like the Ayer building, Sabatini’s folio

Collaborative, Philagrafika, and some of its history.

has an art deco quality, with an elegant fracturing

At the outset of the portfolio project, how were

of forms. He was also so devoted to developing the

the shops organized?

programs at Tyler School of Art. 10

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Ponies, 1927, by Raphael Sabatini; from the portfolio Seven Shots from the Spot-Light (Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 2015)

N. W. Ayer Building, Washington Square, Philadelphia COMPLETE SET

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Title

Page, Strutter, Trapeze, BlackBottom, Get Thee from Behind Me Satan, Shuffling, Card Board Tragedy, 1927, by Raphael Sabatini; from the portfolio Seven Shots from the Spot-Light (Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 2015)

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ETTINGER: It was through the Philadelphia Print

Collaborative, which began in 2000 as a way to increase the visibility of printmaking, with the goal of being a central organizing body for cooperative initiatives between artists, educators, curators, nonprofit arts organizations, galleries, and print workshops.

RUMFORD: Bob Brand was very much behind

it. He had the vision for the Philadelphia Print Collaborative because there were all these isolated activities going on in printmaking. He’d been involved with Silicon Gallery Fine Art Prints. He’s a collector, and a very community-minded man.

He also involved dealers like me. The first thing we did was a print festival based around the 2001 Dox Thrash exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. We celebrated that show and in doing so

Looking North, 2003, by Hester Stinnett; printed by The Fabric Workshop and Museum (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Philagrafika, 2015)

recognized the collaborative nature of printmaking in the city. We organized this festival at Solutions for Progress, which is a nonprofit headed by Bob. It was very successful. The idea of the Philagrafika portfolios is that they would sell and they would fund themselves and fund activities. Bob remained on the board of Philagrafika.

PAFA, Moore College of Art and Design, Temple Contemporary at Tyler School of Art, and the Print Center. It did pull in a lot of people from all over the country. The Southern Graphics Council (now the SGC International), a professional organization with a national and international membership

ETTINGER: Each year there was an exhibition of

of printmakers held its annual conference in

that year’s portfolio with an event.

Philadelphia that year partially because of everything that was going on with Philagrafika,

RUMFORD: It morphed from the Philadelphia Print

which helped to bring in an international crowd.

Collaborative. The idea came up that Philadelphia would have a printmaking festival of exhibitions

MCCAY: Woodmere also participated in the 2010

all over the city with a curated, international

event with two exhibitions, Symbiosis: A Selection

scope. There was a tremendous struggle to pull

of 20th Century Prints by Philadelphia Artists and

that off financially, but it did happen in 2010. with

Shelley Thorstensen–Counterpoint: The Leap from

exhibitions taking place in almost ninety galleries

Vision to Print.

and other sites around the city and works by more than three hundred artists on view. A major part of the 2010 event was the multisite exhibition The Graphic Unconscious that took place at the PMA, 14

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ETTINGER: I would say, to this day, there are

actually people who moved to Philadelphia because they thought of it as a great print town because

Cindi’s Hair, 2001, by Astrid Bowlby; printed by C. R. Ettinger Studio (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Philagrafika, 2015)

Untitled, 2005, by William Smith; printed by C. R. Ettinger Studio and Silicon Gallery Fine Art Prints (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Philagrafika, 2015)

that year there was so much great stuff going on

Bowlby’s first. Other artists like Hester Stinnett are

and it was international. The festival served to bring

experienced and established printmakers.

printmaking into the contemporary art world. The goal was to try to be more inclusive, and get artists to see the potential of printmaking in all of its forms, and it was successful in doing that.

RUMFORD: Oh, I think it was very successful, it

RUMFORD: It served to get Astrid interested in

printmaking and she’s continued to make prints.

MCCAY: Bowlby’s print is a depiction of your

hair, Cindi?

was very well thought of, and people talked about

ETTINGER: Yes, my hair is everywhere! After the

it for years afterward and wondered when the next

2005 portfolio, I did another print with Bill, and I

one was going to happen. My own critique of it

probably will again. A lot of the artists that I worked

was that Philagrafika did not properly acknowledge

with came back to do more—some of them had

the traditional, the people that love printmaking

made prints before and some of them hadn’t. The

because they just love ink and matrices and images.

organizers were of two minds. It was good to work

MCCAY: Until I looked through the entire gift, I

didn’t realize that some of the artists involved in the portfolios had never made a print before.

with people who had never worked with prints, so they would be exposed to them and look at them differently. It was also good to work with people who hadn’t made them before, to give them an

ETTINGER: Yes, it was a mix of artists. Untitled

opportunity to work in a way that they wouldn’t

is Bill Smith’s first, and Cindi’s Hair is Astrid

have done on their own. There was maybe one year COMPLETE SET

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Celebrating the Phillies, 1981, by Edna Andrade; from the Philadelphia Portfolio (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Ann E. and Donald W. McPhail, 2013)

Philadelphia Song, 1981, by John E. Dowell; from the Philadelphia Portfolio (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Ann E. and Donald W. McPhail, 2013)

when everybody had been a printmaker, and then

much just chose somebody they knew that they

we picked a year where nobody had been, but there

thought they might like to work with. We had no

were pros and cons to both.

idea there would be portfolios every year, but the

MCCAY: I’m not surprised to hear that your

shops picked up the tab for the first portfolio.

participation in the Philagrafika portfolio project

MCCAY: After speaking with Timothy Evans who

introduced you to other printmakers. There are

is on the board of Philagrafika, I learned that there

so many involved, including the Borowsky Center,

wasn’t a predetermined criterion as such. Like you

Rutgers Center for Innovative Print and Paper (now

explained Cindi, the selection process was more

the Brodsky Center for Print and Paper), the Fabric

organic and originated from multiple discussions

Workshop and Museum, Space 1026, among others.

among the portfolio committee and print shops

RUMFORD: Space 1026 is a cooperative of no-

longer-so-young skateboarders and screenprinters.

each year. Every year was different because the members of the committee and the print shops were different so they had new ideas, interests,

PAONE: How were the artists selected to participate?

and perspectives.

ETTINGER: Well, it evolved. It started out one way

ETTINGER: I was on the portfolio committee. I

and it kept changing. In the beginning, we wanted

wasn’t on the board. The committee would meet

to get artists involved so the print shops pretty

and discuss how many print shops to include and

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Still Life with City Hall Tower, 1981, by Elizabeth Osborne; from the Philadelphia Portfolio (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Ann E. and Donald W. McPhail, 2013)

Penn’s Cake, 1981, by Peter Paone; from the Philadelphia Portfolio (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Ann E. and Donald W. McPhail, 2013)

which ones. There were some faux pas along the

Sometimes they’d have a list of artists and I’d look

way and some learning lessons. It was a goal to

at their work and think how would any of those

do a portfolio every year, and it was important.

artists make an etching, without it costing me some

It definitely generated interest among a lot of

unbelievable amount of money.

artists who wouldn’t normally have paid attention to printmaking. I think it really was successful on a lot of levels and it was a great thing. I first met Woodmere’s director Bill Valerio when he was on the board of Philagrafika.

RUMFORD: Another component of Philagrafika

was the idea that the portfolios were going to be a fundraiser. That is very difficult. I’ve been doing this for a very long time and it’s very hard to sell a portfolio. Most of the prints in your show have

MCCAY: Yes, Bill served on the board from 2007

been printed by a master printer, which is typical

to 2010.

of a portfolio.

ETTINGER: I personally wanted to work with people

PAONE: Yes, like the Philadelphia Portfolio that

I thought could do interesting etchings, people

was published by the Print Club in collaboration

who had never made one before or had expressed

with the city of Philadelphia to celebrate the Club’s

interest but didn’t have the funds. That was kind of

65th anniversary. in 1981. They were given away to

how I approached it. Rocky Toner had never made

visiting dignitaries. Mayor Rizzo used to give away a

a color print. That’s why I wanted to work with her.

big silver bowl, and he said to Queen Elizabeth II, “I

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don’t know what to think of this, but it holds about

MCCAY: Cindi, I’m sure you’ve noticed that while

two pounds of rigatoni!” I think the next mayor,

we’ve been talking about the history of printmaking

Bill Green was happy to have something else to

in Philadelphia, we’ve been mentioning mostly men.

give away.

ETTINGER: It was all men! When I started printing

ETTINGER: That’s interesting, because at that time

in the 1970s, I had a partner, and even though

people did give prints as gifts. In 1980, I worked

we were equal partners in the work and in the

with Jerry Kaplan to print A Portfolio of White

financing, when people came into that shop, male

House Etchings: The White House Christmas for

or female, they talked to my partner, K. C., who was

Jimmy Carter.

a man, and expected me to go get the coffee. That

MCCAY: We’re including that portfolio in

the exhibition.

was one of the reasons I left actually, because it was insulting. I wasn’t going to be a printer, but the project with Jerry Kaplan was the reason I got back

RUMFORD: That is a wonderful portfolio. It’s very

into it. He heard I was back in town and that I could

intimate. Kaplan was invited to come and spend

print the editions. The deal was that I had to print it

time in the White House and he made sketches and

at Philadelphia College of Art (now the University of

drawings on site.

the Arts). That job did help me get more work and gradually I was successful enough to buy a press and I started doing it again. When I was starting

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LEFT TO RIGHT:

Library, Misty, and Christmas Tree 1979, White House Etchings: The White House Christmas, 1979, by Jerome Kaplan; from a portfolio printed

by C. R. Ettinger Studio (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Anne Kaplan, 2000)

on my own, nobody was hiring Cindi Ettinger. If

singlehandedly revitalized the art of lithography in

you notice, my studio is C. R. Ettinger or C. Royce

the United States. Judy Brodsky, who was president

Ettinger, because my name is Cindi Royce Ettinger

of the board of directors of Philagrafika through

and nobody knew if I was a man or a woman if I

2010, founded the Rutgers Center for Innovative

went by C. R. or C. Royce! I can’t tell you how many

Print and Paper (now the Brodsky Center), which

times people would call up and ask to speak to Mr.

fostered an international exchange of new ideas in

Royce, or Mr. C. R.

print and papermaking processes and education.

MCCAY: Have things changed?

ETTINGER: Yes, it has changed.

RUMFORD: I would say it’s gone the other way!

ETTINGER: Judith Solodkin is another important

figure—she founded the publisher and fine art printer Solo Impression in 1975. She was the first woman to graduate from the Tamarind Institute as a master lithographer.

ETTINGER: It’s all women now.

RUMFORD: Tatyana Grosman founded Universal RUMFORD: 90 percent women.

PAONE: June Wayne, founder of the Tamarind

Lithography Workshop and later the Tamarind Institute of the University of New Mexico, almost

Limited Art Editions, a fine art print publisher that also contributed to the resurgence of printmaking in the United States. In this city, the great dealers were and are women.

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ETTINGER: Margo Dolan, Marian Locks, Sueyun

at the Kennedy Gallery liked them and commissioned

Locks, Sande Webster, Janet Fleisher.

me to do a portfolio in color lithography. We jointly

RUMFORD: Bertha Moschzisker propelled the Print

Club. Ofelia GarcĂ­a was also a director of the Print

selected eleven images from forty works and built the project around those images.

Club. I think there have almost always been women

All the prints are made from original stone

directors of the Print Club, right up to Elizabeth F.

lithographs, not offset facsimiles. Each image is

Spungen today.

printed from three to five different stones, each stone

MCCAY: Peter, can you talk about your

Dreams portfolio?

representing one color. The entire set was printed by Mourlot, a Paris-based lithography company. They had opened a new branch in Lower Manhattan,

PAONE: After I returned to New York from Europe, I

where this set was printed. The entire project took

wanted to move in a new direction with my work. My

six months. After all the impressions were printed,

method has always been to explore new thoughts

I designed the clamshell case and the text sheet

through drawing and watercolors before I start to

that wrapped around each print. It was published

work in more complex media. I use a free association

in an edition of one hundred copies with ten artist’s

approach to my images without trying to connect

proofs. The gallery retained fifty copies for sale to

them to a story; I called this series Dreams. My dealer

cover their financial output and I kept fifty copies.

LEFT TO RIGHT:

III Woman Detached, VIII A Hippo in My Living Room, X Applause for a Caught Fish, 1970,

by Peter Paone; from the portfolio Dreams (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Joan L. Tobias, 2008)

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MCCAY: They’re remarkable. As we mentioned

MCCAY: I agree. Can we talk about the group of

earlier about the relationship between the artist and

circus lithographs by Riggs?

printer, the success of the portfolio had to do with your collaboration with the printer.

RUMFORD: When the Barnum and Bailey Circus

came to town, Riggs went every time and he came

ETTINGER: I think a lot of people who make prints

to know all of the performers. You can identify the

with me like to come make prints just so that they’re

people because he knew them.

working with somebody. When you’re alone and painting, you do something and you might think, I wonder if I should have done that. If you have someone there, and you say, “I’m going to do this,” and they say, “Really? You think that’s a good idea?” then you’re actually discussing it. When I have somebody who’s never made a print, I think they benefit from my experience and input. I give them options they might not have considered.

RUMFORD: There’s a certain chemistry that has

MCCAY: Alexander Calder’s figures are also

identifiable performers. Calder went to the circus for two weeks when he was in his twenties. He actually had a press pass that allowed him to sketch and take notes because he was making illustrations for the National Police Gazette. Comparing Calder’s and Riggs’s, they’re very different depictions of the circus. Calder’s prints—like his three-dimensional circus—are about movement. The original drawings, from which these lithographs were made, were

to happen.

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Calder’s Circus, 1964, by Alexander Calder; lithographs made of Calder’s circus drawings from 1931-32 (Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase and partial gift by exchange through the generosity of Leonard Klorfine, 2015)

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drawn from the kinetic wire sculptures he made of circus performers, lions, clowns, and other animals and figures. Riggs’s lithographs on the other hand have a psychological undertone.

PAONE: It’s a very labor-intensive way of working.

RUMFORD: He actually made a small fortune. He

studied at the Art Students League and was hired here in Philadelphia by the N. W. Ayer advertising

RUMFORD: The circus was a huge theme. I would

agency. He traveled around the world. In 1924–25,

say prior to 1950, every artist that I’ve come across

he went to Africa and Asia. When he came back

pretty much did something about the circus or the

to Philadelphia, he got his job back but somehow

idea of spectacle.

landed on this idea that he didn’t want to work

PAONE: Riggs’s lithographs were done from black

to white. They were all picked at with a single-edge razor blade to get the tonal quality. They were not drawn. He would cover the entire lithographic stone with ink and pick away to create a line;

in wet media and because of this he worked on lithographic stones in a subtractive manner. It’s just a point of view that I think an artist can’t help. If that’s how he knows the world, then that’s how he’s going to do it.

instead of the more traditional technique of drawing

PAONE: The medical series he did for SmithKline

with lithographic drawing ink, or tusche on a clean

pharmaceuticals is all done this way. Each one was

litho stone.

so time consuming. He must have had a very special

RUMFORD: Riggs was extremely technically adept

to be able to get the range of tones he wanted by

kind of personality to sit there and pick away day after day.

darkening and then pulling out light—it’s a very

RUMFORD: The circus prints were all very, very

interesting way to work on a lithography stone.

successful in the early 1930s. He won a lot of prizes.

COMPLETE SET

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WOODMERE ART MUSEUM

LEFT, TOP: On the Lot, c. 1934, by Robert Riggs (Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 2012); LEFT, BOTTOM:

Clown Alley, c. 1934, by Robert Riggs (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Clare W. Gargalli and Robert B. Waterhouse in memory of Dr. Robert B. Waterhouse, 1983); ABOVE: Elephant Act, c. 1935, by Robert Riggs (Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 1943)

His career was made by making complex and

a tiny space. He’s selling the idea. He’s projecting

compelling lithographs. He had commissions for

the scene that he sees, and through the process

illustrations for magazines that were lithographs

of lithography he is able to sell this bizarre, maybe

and he would develop a lithograph and then he

frightening idea. He was an interesting character. He

would make an edition of prints to sell. Meanwhile,

lived alone. He kept snakes and reptiles in his house,

he was also collecting the fee for rights to

and he collected Native American and African

reproduce the work as an illustration. He was sort of

ethnographic material.

a genius! The circus was not set up or completed as a portfolio; it’s really a sequence of a favorite theme.

PAONE: Right. He didn’t set out to do a bound

portfolio. He set out to do a set, and I think that’s why it fits into your exhibition.

PAONE: Yes, and he had a huge boa constrictor!

He smoked cigars twenty-four hours a day and was fearless with the lithography stone.

MCCAY: He sounds like a character. Thank you all

for coming.

RUMFORD: Yes, they’re so obviously related.

His career as a commercial artist informed his noncommercial prints because there’s a quality that he’s selling something. It’s not just that he depicts weird characters and clowns crammed into

COMPLETE SET

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WORKS IN THE EXHIBITION

EMILY BROWN American, born 1943 But Once, 2008 Line etching, edition 5/25, 8 1/2 x 8 1/2 in. (image); 15 x 11 in. (sheet) State I of Friends’ print project Woodmere Art Museum: Anonymous gift, 2014

Happy the Place, 2008 Line etching, edition 11/25, 8 1/2 x 8 1/2 in. (image); 15 x 11 in. (sheet) State I of Friends’ print project Woodmere Art Museum: Anonymous gift, 2014

In Memory, 2008 Line etching, edition 8/27, 8 1/2 x 8 1/2 in. (image); 15 x 11 in. (sheet) State I of Friends’ print project Woodmere Art Museum: Anonymous gift, 2014

O Wait for It, 2008 Line etching, edition 7/25, 8 1/2 x 8 1/2 in. (image); 15 x 11 in. (sheet) State I of Friends’ print project Woodmere Art Museum: Anonymous gift, 2014

Released, 2008 Line etching, edition 10/25, 8 1/2 x 8 1/2 in. (image); 15 x 11 in. (sheet) State I of Friends’ print project Woodmere Art Museum: Anonymous gift, 2014

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: But Once, Happy the Place, O Wait for It, In Memory, 2008,

by Emily Brown

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WOODMERE ART MUSEUM

ALEXANDER CALDER American, 1898–1976 Calder’s Circus, 1964 Portfolio of sixteen lithographs made of Calder’s circus drawings from 1931–32, 12 1/2 x 17 in.

Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase and partial gift by exchange through the generosity of Leonard Klorfine, 2015

JEROME KAPLAN American, 1920–1997 Christmas Tree 1979, 1979 Etching, 5 7/16 x 4 9/16 in.

From A Portfolio of White House Etchings: The White House Christmas Printed by C. R. Ettinger Studio Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Anne Kaplan, 2000

Library, 1979 Etching, 4 1/2 x 5 1/2 in.

From A Portfolio of White House Etchings: The White House Christmas Printed by C. R. Ettinger Studio Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Anne Kaplan, 2000

Detail: Lincoln Bed, 1979 Etching, 4 1/2 x 5 9/16 in.

From A Portfolio of White House Etchings: The White House Christmas Printed by C. R. Ettinger Studio Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Anne Kaplan, 2000

Minerva Clock, 1979 Etching, 4 1/2 x 5 1/2 in.

From A Portfolio of White House Etchings: The White House Christmas Printed by C. R. Ettinger Studio

ELAINE KURTZ

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Anne Kaplan, 2000

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Jerome Kurtz, 2012

Misty, 1979 Etching, 4 1/2 x 5 1/2 in.

From A Portfolio of White House Etchings: The White House Christmas Printed by C. R. Ettinger Studio

American, 1928–2003 Color Illusion (Cool), 1973 Portfolio of three serigraphs, 30 1/4 x 24 in.

Color Illusion (Warm), 1973 Portfolio of three serigraphs, 30 1/4 x 24 in.

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Jerome Kurtz, 2012

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Anne Kaplan, 2000

President’s Desk, 1979 Etching, 5 7/16 x 5 9/16 in.

From A Portfolio of White House Etchings: The White House Christmas Printed by C. R. Ettinger Studio

PETER PAONE American, born 1936 Dreams, 1970 Lithograph, 20 1/2 x 15 1/2 in.

From the portfolio Dreams

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Anne Kaplan, 2000

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Joan L. Tobias, 2008

Sewing Box, 1979 Etching, 5 1/2 x 4 1/2 in.

From A Portfolio of White House Etchings: The White House Christmas Printed by C. R. Ettinger Studio

I Blue Master, 1970 Lithograph, 20 1/2 x 15 1/2 in.

From the portfolio Dreams

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Anne Kaplan, 2000

II Table Top Landscape, 1970 Lithograph, 20 1/2 x 15 1/2 in.

From the portfolio Dreams

Yellow Oval Room, 1979 Etching, 5 1/2 x 4 1/2 in.

From A Portfolio of White House Etchings: The White House Christmas Printed by C. R. Ettinger Studio Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Anne Kaplan, 2000

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Joan L. Tobias, 2008

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Joan L. Tobias, 2008

III Woman Detached, 1970 Lithograph, 15 1/2 x 20 1/2 in.

From the portfolio Dreams Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Joan L. Tobias, 2008

COMPLETE SET

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IV Wedding Dream, 1970 Lithograph, 20 1/2 x 15 1/2 in.

From the portfolio Dreams Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Joan L. Tobias, 2008

THE PHILADELPHIA PORTFOLIO EDNA ANDRADE American, 1917–2008

V Lost Rabbit, 1970 Lithograph, 20 1/2 x 15 1/2 in.

From the portfolio Dreams Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Joan L. Tobias, 2008

VI Arranged Jungle, 1970 Lithograph, 15 1/2 x 20 1/2 in.

From the portfolio Dreams Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Joan L. Tobias, 2008

VII Dear Thought, 1970 Lithograph, 20 1/2 x 15 1/2 in.

From the portfolio Dreams Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Joan L. Tobias, 2008

VIII A Hippo in My Living Room, 1970 Lithograph, 15 1/2 x 20 1/2 in.

From the portfolio Dreams

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Ann E. and Donald W. McPhail, 2013

Cindi’s Hair, 2001 Etching on white Rives BFK paper, 25 1/2 x 19 1/2 in.

Printed by C. R. Ettinger Studio Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Philagrafika, 2015

JOHN E. DOWELL American, born 1941 Philadelphia Song, 1981 Hand-colored etching, 17 7/8 x 12 3/4 in. (image); 24 x 18 in. (sheet) From the Philadelphia Portfolio Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Ann E. and Donald W. McPhail, 2013

JAMES DUPREE American, born 1950 Stolen Dreams and Forbidden Fruits #51, 2001 Offset lithograph, 25 1/2 x 19 1/2 in.

Printed by Brandywine Workshop Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Philagrafika, 2015

ELIZABETH OSBORNE American, born 1936

IX Coffee Table Landscape, 1970 Lithograph, 15 1/2 x 20 1/2 in.

From the portfolio Dreams

Still Life with City Hall Tower, 1981 Hand-colored etching, 17 7/8 x 13 in. (image); 24 x 18 in. (sheet) From the Philadelphia Portfolio

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Joan L. Tobias, 2008

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Ann E. and Donald W. McPhail, 2013

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Joan L. Tobias, 2008

ASTRID BOWLBY American, born 1961

Celebrating the Phillies, 1981 Hand-colored etching, 24 x 18 in.

From the Philadelphia Portfolio

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Joan L. Tobias, 2008

X Applause for a Caught Fish, 1970 Lithograph, 20 1/2 x 15 1/2 in.

From the portfolio Dreams

PHILAGRAFIKA INVITATIONAL PORTFOLIOS

JIM HOUSER American, born 1973 Bursts, 2001 Silkscreen, 19 1/2 x 25 1/2 in.

Printed by Space 1026 Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Philagrafika, 2015

PETER PAONE American, born 1936

VIRGIL MARTI American, born 1962

Penn’s Cake, 1981 Hand-colored etching, 17 7/8 x 13 in. (image); 24 x 18 in. (sheet) From the Philadelphia Portfolio Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Ann E. and Donald W. McPhail, 2013

Bunny Multiplication, 2001 Inkjet with rayon flock, 25 1/2 x 19 1/2 in.

Printed by Silicon Gallery Fine Art Prints Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Philagrafika, 2015

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WOODMERE ART MUSEUM

BRUCE POLLOCK American, born 1951 Alpha, 2001 Offset lithograph, 25 1/2 x 19 1/2 in.

Printed by Borowsky Center for Publication Arts Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Philagrafika, 2015

JUDITH SCHAECHTER American, born 1961 Child Bride, 2001 Two-color linocut on Somerset paper, 25 1/2 x 19 1/2 in.

Printed by Rutgers Center for Innovative Print and Paper

Red Star P.C.P. no. 1, 2003, by Alice Oh; printed by Space 1026 (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Philagrafika, 2015)

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Philagrafika, 2015

WILLIE STOKES

EMILY BROWN

STUART NETSKY

American, born 1943

American, born 1955

Animals and Two Dancing People, 2001 Silkscreen, 25 1/2 x 17 in.

Printed by The Fabric Workshop and Museum

An Early Thaw, 2003 Lithograph, 18 x 15 in.

Printed by Rutgers Center for Innovative Print and Paper

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Philagrafika, 2015

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Philagrafika, 2015

Daisy Clover, Too, 2003 Inkjet with archival and water resistant inks on watercolor paper, 18 x 15 in.

Printed by Silicon Gallery Fine Art Prints

American, born 1955

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Philagrafika, 2015

JAMES BRANTLEY

ENID MARK

American, born 1945

American, born 1932–2008

Maiden Voyage, 2003 Offset lithograph and silkscreen, 18 x 15 in.

Printed by Brandywine Workshop

Rose, 2003 Offset lithograph, 18 x 15 in.

Printed by Borowsky Center for Publication Arts

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Philagrafika, 2015

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Philagrafika, 2015

ALICE OH American, born 1967 Red Star P.C.P. no. 1, 2003 Silkscreen, 18 x 15 in.

Printed by Space 1026 Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Philagrafika, 2015

COMPLETE SET

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HESTER STINNETT American, born 1956 Looking North, 2003 Silkscreen, 18 x 15 in.

Printed by The Fabric Workshop and Museum Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Philagrafika, 2015

ROCHELLE TONER American, born 1940 Sessile, 2003 Etching, aquatint, spit bite, 18 x 15 in.

Printed by C. R. Ettinger Studio

Sessile, 2003,

by Rochelle Toner; printed

by C. R. Ettinger Studio (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Philagrafika, 2015)

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Philagrafika, 2015

KATIE BALDWIN American, born 1971 Steadfast Mercury Was Lucky to Be Ordinary, 2005 Japanese woodblock (moku hanga) and etching, 18 x 15 in.

Printed by the University of Pennsylvania Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Philagrafika, 2015

DANIEL A. HEYMAN

MAXIMILLIAN P. LAWRENCE XIII, 2005 Silkscreen, 18 x 15 in.

Printed by Space 1026 Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Philagrafika, 2015

DENNIS LO

American, born 1963

Chinese, born 1971

England Walks for U.S., 2005 Eight-color silkscreen on Arches 88 silkscreen white, 300g, 18 x 15 in.

Printed by The Fabric Workshop and Museum

Tsunami, 2005 Digital print, 18 x 15 in.

Printed by Silicon Gallery Fine Art Prints

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Philagrafika, 2015

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WOODMERE ART MUSEUM

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Philagrafika, 2015

TRISTIN LOWE American, born 1966 Lowly Shrub Converses About Truffula Trees, 2005 Nichrome wire used with an electric current to burn images onto white cotton paper with titanium dioxide; protected with matte fixative, 18 x 15 in.

Printed by Rutgers Center for Innovative Print and Paper Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Philagrafika, 2015

Moonlight over Meru, 2005, by Diane Pieri; printed by Borowsky Center for Publication Arts (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Philagrafika, 2015)

NATASHA PESTICH

DIANE PIERI

WILLIAM SMITH

Canadian, born 1973

American, born 1947

American, born 1963

Trojan, 2005 Digital print, 18 x 15 in.

Printed by Silicon Gallery Fine Art Prints

Moonlight over Meru, 2005 Offset lithograph, nine colors on Arches hot-press paper, 18 x 15 in.

Printed by Borowsky Center for Publication Arts

Untitled, 2005 Etching, white ground, digital print, and chine-collĂŠ on Rives BFK paper, 18 x 15 in.

Printed by C. R. Ettinger Studio and Silicon Gallery Fine Art Prints

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Philagrafika, 2015

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Philagrafika, 2015

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Philagrafika, 2015

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ANTHONY CAMPUZANO American, born 1975 Drop Dead Fears, 2007 Offset lithograph, 15 x 18 in.

Printed by Brandywine Workshop Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Philagrafika, 2015

MARILYN HOLSING American, born 1946 Young Marie Casts a Shadow, 2007 Digital print, 18 x 15 in.

Printed by Silicon Gallery Fine Art Prints Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Philagrafika, 2015

JANE IRISH American, born 1955 Room, 2007 Silkscreen, 15 x 18 in.

Printed by The Fabric Workshop and Museum Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Philagrafika, 2015

RANDALL SELLERS American, born 1969 Untitled, 2007 Etching, 15 x 18 in.

Printed by C. R. Ettinger Studio Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Philagrafika, 2015

Young Marie Casts a Shadow, 2007, by Marilyn Holsing; printed by Silicon Gallery Fine Art Prints (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Philagrafika, 2015)

JACKIE TILESTON

NAMI YAMAMOTO

American, born 1960

Japanese, born 1968

Untitled, 2007 Offset lithograph with nine runs, including four-color process and rainbow roll, with hand applied stickers, 15 x 18 in.

Printed by Borowsky Center for Publication Arts

Miniature Garden: Trace, 2007 Pigmented, over beaten bleached abaca with watermark, 15 x 18 in.

Printed by The Brodsky Center

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Philagrafika, 2015

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WOODMERE ART MUSEUM

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Philagrafika, 2015

July in Philadelphia, 2011, by Jennifer Levonian; printed with Silicon Gallery Fine Art Prints (Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Philagrafika, 2015)

HENRY BERMUDEZ

STEVEN DUFALA

JENNIFER LEVONIAN

Venezuelan, born 1951

American, born 1976

American, born 1977

Philadelphia, 2011 Digital print with reflective foil layer and dye-cut, 18 x 15 in.

Printed with Silicon Gallery Fine Art Prints and Tim Eads Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Philagrafika, 2015

BILLY DUFALA American, born 1981 Untitled, 2011 Etching, 15 x 18 in.

Printed with C. R. Ettinger Studio Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Philagrafika, 2015

July in Philadelphia, 2011 Digital print with dye-cut elements hand inserted, 15 x 18 in.

Printed with Silicon Gallery Fine Art Prints Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Philagrafika, 2015

COMPLETE SET

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ALEX LUKAS American, born 1981 Untitled, 2011 Eight-color offset lithograph, 15 x 18 in.

Printed with the Borowsky Center for Publication Arts, University of the Arts Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Philagrafika, 2015

PAUL SWENBECK American, born 1967 Untitled, 2011 Silkscreen, 15 x 18 in.

Printed with Space 1026 Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Philagrafika, 2015

Clown Acrobats, c. 1934 Lithograph on heavy woven paper, 14 3/8 x 19 1/8 in.

High-Wire Act, Date unknown Watercolor on heavy wove paper, 23 1/2 x 30 3/8 in.

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Clare W. Gargalli and Robert B. Waterhouse in memory of Dr. Robert B. Waterhouse, 1983

Gift of Claire W. Gargalli and Robert B. Waterhouse in memory of Dr. Robert P. Waterhouse, 1983

Clown Alley, c. 1934 Lithograph on heavy woven paper, 14 3/8 x 19 3/8 in.

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Clare W. Gargalli and Robert B. Waterhouse in memory of Dr. Robert B. Waterhouse, 1983

High Trapeze 2, c. 1934 Lithograph on woven paper, 8 1/2 x 7 in.

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Clare W. Gargalli and Robert B. Waterhouse in memory of Dr. Robert B. Waterhouse, 1983

On Stage Four, c. 1934 Lithograph on woven paper, 14 3/4 x 18 7/8 in.

THOMAS VANCE American, born 1972 Untitled, 2011 Relief, etching, and chine-collé, 15 x 18 in.

Printed with Second State Press Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Philagrafika, 2015

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Clare W. Gargalli and Robert B. Waterhouse in memory of Dr. Robert B. Waterhouse, 1983

On the Lot, c. 1934 Lithograph, 17 3/4 x 12 1/8 in.

Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 2012

Tumblers, c. 1934 Lithograph on heavy woven paper, 14 3/8 x 19 in.

ROBERT RIGGS American, 1896–1970 Center Ring, 1933 Lithograph, 14 3/8 x 19 3/8 in.

Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 2016

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WOODMERE ART MUSEUM

Woodmere Art Museum: Gift of Clare W. Gargalli and Robert B. Waterhouse in memory of Dr. Robert B. Waterhouse, 1983

Elephant Act, c. 1935 Lithograph, 14 1/4 x 9 5/8 in.

Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 1943

Trained Horse Act, Date unknown Watercolor on heavy wove paper, 24 x 30 3/4 in.

Gift of Clare W. Gargalli and Robert B. Waterhouse in memory of Dr. Robert B. Waterhouse, 1983

RAPHAEL SABATINI American, 1898–1985 Title Page, 1927 Lithograph, 15 x 12 in.

From the portfolio Seven Shots from the Spot-Light Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 2015

Strutter, 1927 Lithograph, 11 x 7 3/4 in.

From the portfolio Seven Shots from the Spot-Light Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 2015

Trapeze, 1927 Lithograph, 11 x 7 3/4 in.

From the portfolio Seven Shots from the Spot-Light Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 2015

Black-Bottom, 1927 Lithograph, 11 x 7 3/4 in.

From the portfolio Seven Shots from the Spot-Light Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 2015

Get Thee from Behind Me Satan, 1927 Lithograph, 11 x 7 3/4 in.

From the portfolio Seven Shots from the Spot-Light Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 2015

Ponies, 1927 Lithograph, 8 x 10 3/4 in.

From the portfolio Seven Shots from the Spot-Light Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 2015

Shuffling, 1927 Lithograph, 11 x 7 ¾ in.

From the portfolio Seven Shots from the Spot-Light Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 2015

Card Board Tragedy, 1927 Lithograph, 11 x 7 ¾ in.

From the portfolio Seven Shots from the Spot-Light Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 2015

BENTON MURDOCH SPRUANCE American, 1904–1967 Touchdown Play, 1933 Graphite, 12 x 19 in.

Promised gift of Philip Jamison

Touchdown Play, 1933 Lithograph, 11 9/16 x 16 1/2 in.

Promised gift of Philip Jamison

Call Me Ishmael, 1968 Lithograph, 22 x 16 in.

From the portfolio Moby Dick: The Passion of Ahab

Man Against Monster, 1968 Lithograph, 22 x 16 in.

From the portfolio Moby Dick: The Passion of Ahab

The Rose-Bud, 1968 Lithograph, 16 x 22 in.

From the portfolio Moby Dick: The Passion of Ahab

Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 2016

Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 2016

The Whiteness of the Whale, 1968 Lithograph, 16 x 22 in.

From the portfolio Moby Dick: The Passion of Ahab

The Samuel Enderby, 1968 Lithograph, 16 x 22 in.

From the portfolio Moby Dick: The Passion of Ahab

Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 2016

Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 2016

Strike Through the Mask, 1968 Lithograph, 22 x 16 in.

From the portfolio Moby Dick: The Passion of Ahab

The Bachelor, 1968 Lithograph, 16 x 22 in.

From the portfolio Moby Dick: The Passion of Ahab

Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 2016

Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 2016

The Albatross, 1968 Lithograph, 16 x 22 in.

From the portfolio Moby Dick: The Passion of Ahab

The Rachel, 1968 Lithograph, 16 x 22 in.

From the portfolio Moby Dick: The Passion of Ahab

Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 2016

Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 2016

The Town-Ho, 1968 Lithograph, 16 x 22 in.

From the portfolio Moby Dick: The Passion of Ahab

The Delight, 1968 Lithograph, 22 x 16 in.

From the portfolio Moby Dick: The Passion of Ahab

Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 2016

Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 2016

The Jeroboam, 1968 Lithograph, 22 x 16 in.

From the portfolio Moby Dick: The Passion of Ahab

The Burning Harpoon, 1968 Lithograph, 22 x 16 in.

From the portfolio Moby Dick: The Passion of Ahab

Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 2016

Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 2016

The Jungfrau, 1968 Lithograph, 16 x 22 in.

From the portfolio Moby Dick: The Passion of Ahab

The Sphynx, 1968 Lithograph, 22 x 16 in.

From the portfolio Moby Dick: The Passion of Ahab

Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 2016

Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 2016

Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 2016

COMPLETE SET

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The Blue Whale, 1968 Lithograph, 22 x 16 in.

From the portfolio Moby Dick: The Passion of Ahab

Ahab in the Jaws, 1968 Lithograph, 22 x 16 in.

From the portfolio Moby Dick: The Passion of Ahab

The Death of the Pequod, 1968 Lithograph, 16 x 22 in.

From the portfolio Moby Dick: The Passion of Ahab

Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 2016

Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 2016

Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 2016

The Spirit-Spout, 1968 Lithograph, 16 x 22 in.

From the portfolio Moby Dick: The Passion of Ahab

The Death of Fedallah, 1968 Lithograph, 16 x 22 in.

From the portfolio Moby Dick: The Passion of Ahab

The Last Thrust, 1968 Lithograph, 16 x 22 in.

From the portfolio Moby Dick: The Passion of Ahab

Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 2016

Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 2016

Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 2016

Ahab Aloft, 1968 Lithograph, 22 x 16 in.

From the portfolio Moby Dick: The Passion of Ahab

Ahab and Starbuck, 1968 Lithograph, 22 x 16 in.

From the portfolio Moby Dick: The Passion of Ahab

The Vortex, 1968 Lithograph, 16 x 22 in.

From the portfolio Moby Dick: The Passion of Ahab

Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 2016

Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 2016

Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 2016

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WOODMERE ART MUSEUM

Sky Hawk, 1968 Lithograph, 22 x 16 in.

From the portfolio Moby Dick: The Passion of Ahab Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 2016

Epilogue, 1968 Lithograph, 22 x 16 in.

From the portfolio Moby Dick: The Passion of Ahab

RON TARVER American, born 1957

LEFT TO RIGHT: The Bachelor, The Albatross, and The Whiteness of the Whale, 1968, by Benton Murdoch Spruance; from the portfolio Moby Dick: The Passion of Ahab (Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 2016)

Mr. Hackney’s School, 2011 Series of thirteen archival pigment prints, dimensions vary Courtesy of the artist Photographs © Philadelphia Inquirer

Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 2016

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Woodmere Art Museum receives state arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.

Š 2016 Woodmere Art Museum. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission of the publisher.

Photography by Rick Echelmeyer unless otherwise noted.

Support provided in part by The Philadelphia Cultural Fund.

Front cover: LEFT TO RIGHT: Shuffling, Strutter, and Black-Bottom, 1927, by Raphael Sabatini; from the portfolio Seven Shots from the Spot-Light (Woodmere Art Museum: Museum purchase, 2015)

9201 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19118 woodmereartmuseum.org

COMPLETE SET

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