Playing with States: A Conversation with Local Printmakers

This event was recorded. Please view the talk on our Vimeo or Youtube channel.

Using the exhibition States of Play: Prints from Rembrandt to Delsarte as a starting point, curator Elizabeth Rudy and conservator Christina Taylor will lead a dynamic conversation about printmaking with a group of Boston-area printmakers.

The speakers will discuss the role of revision, correction, and adjustment in the printmaking process. Each artist will present an example of how they’ve reworked one of their projects, and the group will explore how editing and change play a fundamental role in the creation of fine prints.

Spanning four centuries, the works in States of Play unveil the layers of creative revision behind finished prints. Central to this process is the concept of a “print state,” which traditionally refers to a version of a print that precedes the final product. By decoding creative choices that the artist pursued or abandoned in each successive step, the exhibition helps uncover the full breadth of experimentation and demystifies printmaking terminology and techniques.

Led by:
Elizabeth Rudy, Carl A. Weyerhaeuser Curator of Prints, Division of European and American Art
Christina Taylor, Assistant Paper Conservator, Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies

Printmakers:
Cicely Carew
Susan Denniston
Catherine Kernan
Debra Olin
Rebecca Leopoldina Torres
Christopher Wallace

This talk will take place online via Zoom. The event is free and open to all, but registration is required. To register, please complete this online form.

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The Harvard Art Museums are committed to accessibility for all visitors. For anyone requiring accessibility accommodations for our programs, please contact us at am_register@harvard.edu at least 48 hours in advance.

Support for this program is provided by the M. Victor Leventritt Fund, which was established through the generosity of the wife, children, and friends of the late M. Victor Leventritt, Harvard Class of 1935. The purpose of the fund is to present outstanding scholars of the history and theory of art to the Harvard and Greater Boston communities.

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