Friday, February 4, 2011

A Scholar Discusses Printmaking and Matisse

Multi-lingual

Members of two venerable Parisian institutions got together two nights ago to hear an art historian discuss the current exhibit at the Mona Bismarck Foundation in the 16th arrondissement. Both have their offices there, and so, theoretically at least, have first dibs on what goes on in the gallery space.

The American Wives of Europeans (AAWE) and the Association of Americans Resident Overseas (AARO) were fortunate enough to get deeper insight into the current exhibit "Another Language - Matisse as Printmaker" when Madeleine Fidell-Beaufort explained different printmaking techniques and provided a glossary of French-to-English printmaking terms, fleshed out how Matisse came to making prints along with painting ("By this time he was well-established, wealthy and famous, and so was doing it only to please himself..."), gave us some suggestions for further study, and highly recommended the exhibition's catalog.

Dr. Beaufort has lived in Paris since 1971 and is a long-time member of AAWE. Besides being an art historian who has written articles about art collecting in the U.S., American artists in Paris, and her doctoral dissertation on the French landscape painter Charles François Daubigny, she has made prints herself and so could easily describe the various processes and the effect and results of acid on copper, for example.

The Museum of Modern Art in New York's interactive explanation and description is a good way to understand it all, and fun:

http://www.moma.org/interactives/projects/2001/whatisaprint/print.html 

And our speaker also recommended another resource in the Print Council of America:

Print Council of America:   www.printcouncil.org/


Shown above, from the exhibit:

Nu dans les ondes (Nude in the Sea), 1938
Linocut 22.1 x 35 cm,
On wove paper with G. Maillol.

"Another Language - Matisse as Printmaker"
until February 15th.

Mona Bismarck Foundation
34, avenue de New York
PARIS 16

More about the show:


http://www.monabismarck.org/current.html











3 comments:

suzun hughes said...

Grace - Thanks for the MOMA link. It is good to be reminded of the sources of great information available on the
internet. suzun

chezgraceparis said...

Dear Suzun, You are quite welcome. I had fun with that one!

Parisbreakfasts said...

BONJOUR Grace!
Ca va bien j'espere oui :)
xxCarolg