Linking Collections, Building Connections

Printmaking—the many techniques that result in multiple copies of identical (or nearly-identical) work—is prominently featured in each of the five collections making up the Hudson Valley Visual Art Collections Consortium (HVVACC).

An example of printmaking from each collection sheds light on the reasons behind the prevalence of printmaking in this region. Jennifer Grimyser’s Paper Works shows how Women’s Studio Workshop supports the exploration of the book arts by giving artists the opportunity to immerse themselves deeply in the politics and poetics of printing and papermaking. Ellen Carey’s Untitled, Self Portrait photo silkscreen combines distinct techniques that reflect the Center for Photography’s interdisciplinary approach to photography in art practice. Famous Japanese woodcut artist Hiroshige’s Station of the Tokaido Road, donated to the Dorsky by professor Hugo Munsterberg, represents the small, modestly priced works that an upper-middle-class professional is able to collect. The presence of intimate, delicate prints by Zulma Steele in the collections of both the Woodstock Artists Association and Museum and the Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild speaks to the immediacy and utility of prints and to their circulation among artists, collectors, and friends.