As you can see, works on Paper encompass a wide range of materials and techniques, but the creativity and imagination of the artists puts “the icing on the cake”.

I was flipping through invitations to gallery and museum exhibitions that I had saved and noticed that Philip Slein of the Philip Slein Gallery had recently held a large group Exhibition of works on paper featuring works of all sizes from nationally and locally renowned artists. The works featured both abstract and figurative works.

I started thinking about the types of works that would be included in the “works on paper” category and did some research.

Brigham Young University once presented an exhibit of works on paper and photographs and the description of the exhibit read, “Of the 18,000 works in the museum’s collection, the majority of the works on paper are various forms of Prints, Drawings and Photographs Works on paper in the collection include excellent examples by master printers such as Durer, Daumier, Rembrandt and famous Japanese woodcut artists.

The Louisiana State Museum has described works on paper in its collection as drawings, prints, newspaper illustrations, silhouettes, watercolors and pastels, postcards, and posters.

The LewAllen Galleries in Sante Fe, New Mexico recently presented an exhibition titled “Fritz Scholder: Works on Paper.” Scholder (1937-2005) was a central figure in American art history, credited with reinventing the representation of Indigenous peoples in contemporary art. Moving away from the traditional, romanticized stereotypes that had previously dominated American art, Scholder instead applied the visual languages ​​of German Expressionism and Pop Art to convey the contemporary reality of Indigenous peoples.

The gallery described these works on paper, “This exhibition highlights Scholder’s wide range of works on paper, including drawings, collages and paintings on paper, as well as examples of his contributions to printmaking in lithography, silkscreen, linocut, monotype, etching and aquatint.His audacity as an artist is on full display in his works on paper, which allowed him to experiment with subject, composition and process independently of his paintings. on Web.

The Toledo Art Museum has one of the best kept secrets. The collection of works on paper includes nearly 13,000 prints, drawings, photographs and artists’ books.

Recently, the Museum of Art of Saint Louis presented the exhibition “Impressionism and beyond”, an exhibition of post-impressionism on paper. The exhibition focused on the paths to modernity opened up by Impressionism. Artists such as Degas, Cassatt and Renoir also drew with pastels, pen and ink and experimented with lithography.

In fact, it is the period between approximately 1885 and 1905 that most interests the exhibition. The museum’s press release noted that “Mary Cassatt took color printmaking to new heights through her adaptation of the Japanese aesthetic that was taking Paris by storm in the 1890s, while fellow Impressionist Edgar Degas sought multiple avenues of experimentation in printing. Degas and other Impressionists also developed inventive drawing styles that allowed them to capture movement and the intense effects of color and light in their works.”

And, I found an article about the curation of PaperWest – 2nd National Works on Paper of 2019 which took place at the University of Utah. The juror, Judith Brodsky, said she was thrilled to be a juror and it was an exhilarating experience. She said, “The high quality of the work submitted and the wide variety of techniques and content was overwhelming at first. The question was how to develop a cohesive exhibition from such a diverse group of works. After a while, the works split into groups. – landscapes engraved on wood, surrealist collages, a surprising set of mezzotints, beautiful charcoal drawings, a large number of mixed techniques and a collection of artists’ books. While many works were based on photographic material, there were only a few straight photographs.

Nancy Kranzberg has been involved in the arts community for over forty years on numerous arts-related councils