Jean-Paul Riopelle, Green Shadow, 1967, aquatint. Gift of Bruno and Ruby Cormier 2004 (47-004). Credit: www.bernardclarkphoto.com
Exhibitions
Impressions South / Mid-20th Century Canadian Prints
Frances K. Smith Gallery
14 August 2005 - 4 June 2006
A printmaking revival burgeoned in Canada during the mid-20th century. In major Canadian cities, artists well-known in other media tried their hand at printmaking. Producing editions of prints extended an artist's practice, provided relatively inexpensive artwork and attracted a new, enthusiastic group of middle-class collectors. Through printmaking, original works of art reached farther than ever before into Canadian communities and institutions. Some artists specialized in printmaking, but most undertook the creation of prints as a subsidiary practice alongside major initiatives in other spheres. It was a tumultuous, fecund period of artistic curiosity and experimentation.
Included in the exhibition are prints by Greg Curnoe, Yves Gaucher, Betty Goodwin, Rita Letendre, Guido Molinari, Gordon Rayner, Jean-Paul Riopelle, Michael Snow and Harold Town.
Dorothy Farr
Supported by the George Taylor Richardson Memorial Fund and Frances K. Smith, Art Centre curator emeritus.