Judith Brodie Bücher

Nearly 200 American prints, representing more than 100 artists, and dating from the colonial era to the present day, are brought together in this unprecedented volume from the National Gallery of Art to commemorate its collection and recent acquisitions. The artists featured range from Paul Revere through James McNeil Whistler, Mary Cassatt, Winslow Homer, Louise Nevelson, Romare Bearden, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Chuck Close, and Kara Walker. The works date from essentially every period in American history, so major art and historical themes running through the collection are readily visible. Lending context, twelve contributing authors discuss the varied themes in American art. Biographies of the artists and a glossary of printmaking terms are also featured. Since its founding in 1941, the National Gallery of Art has assiduously collected American prints with the help of many generous donors. The Gallery's American print collection has grown from nearly 1,900 prints in 1950 to more than 22,500 prints today. The collection was recently transformed by the acquisition of an extraordinary group of 5,200 American prints brought together by Reba and Dave Williams.

Masterpieces, the story goes, spring fully formed from the dark imaginings of temperamental geniuses moved by intuition, inspiration and epiphany. Such revelations can certainly fuel the creative process, but so too can auspicious accidents, false starts and even failures. In printmaking, occurrences ranging from mishaps to premeditated changes are typically recorded in preliminary impressions known as working proofs. Each proof offers an artist the chance to assess and adjust the course of the project; whether it represents the revelation of a crisis, a crossroads or a potential new direction, each proof demands a yes, no, maybe. Featuring 125 working proofs and edition prints produced by 25 artists between 1972 and 2010 at Crown Point Press in San Francisco, one of the most influential printmaking studios of the last half-century, Yes, No, Maybe goes beyond celebrating the flash of inspiration and the role of the imagination to examine the artistic process as a sequence of decisions. Among the artists represented here are those with long ties to Crown Point Press and its founder Kathan Brown--Richard Diebenkorn, John Cage, Chuck Close, Sol LeWitt, Pat Steir and Wayne Thiebaud--and those whose association is more recent, such as Mamma Andersson, Julie Mehretu, Jockum Nordström, Chris Ofili, Amy Sillman and Fred Wilson.

Katalog, odhalující rozsah a rozmanitost sbírky washingtonské National Gallery of Art, upozorňuje na zásadní vývoj amerického umění a dějin grafiky, který představuje prostřednictvím téměř 200 mistrovských grafik od koloniální éry po současnost. Zastoupeno je tu přes 100 umělců, od Paula Reverea po Jamese McNeilla Whistlera, Winslowa Homera, Mary Cassatt, George Bellowse, Romara Beardena, Andyho Warhola, Roberta Rauschenberga, Helen Frankenthaler, Chucka Closea a Kary Walker. Dvanáct příspěvků se zabývá různými motivy obsaženými v americkém umění a estetickou, historickou a kulturní hodnotou grafické tvorby, přicházející s novými interpretacemi. Katalog rovněž doplňují medailony umělců a glosář termínů z oblasti grafické tvorby.