Hockney to Himid: 60 Years of British Printmaking
[ Exhibition )
Six decades of British art through one versatile medium.
Including works by Edward Bawden, Peter Blake, Tracey Emin, Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, Chris Ofili, Grayson Perry and Rachel Whiteread, amongst others, this extraordinary exhibition featured over 100 prints by 90 different artists.
From wood engravings and etchings to lithographs and screenprints, printmaking enabled artists to expand their practice and explore new creative possibilities. Showcasing a wide range of artists, styles and techniques, this exhibition celebrated the extraordinary upsurge of printmaking from the 1960s to the present day.
Emerging from the post-war period, printmaking underwent a marked elevation in status and transition from specialist medium to one widely adopted by some of the foremost names in contemporary art – including Tracey Emin whose etching Move (2016) will be on show, along with Chris Ofili’s lithograph Afro Harlem Muses (2005). The exhibition charted how Britain emerged from the postwar years in the early 1960s, navigated the social changes of the 1970s and 1980s, and saw the ascendency of contemporary British art from the 1990s to the present day.
The majority of works featured in the exhibition were drawn from the Golder – Thompson Gift, the result of a unique twenty-year partnership between Pallant House Gallery and collectors Mark Golder and Brian Thompson. Both Golder and Thompson are teachers who have donated over 500 works to Pallant House Gallery for the enjoyment by the broadest possible audience.
★★★★ The exhibition exemplifies the spirit of free exchange between tradition and rebellion, individuality and collaboration that have made artists’ prints such fertile ground in the postwar period and beyond.
Florence Hallet, The i
Highlights from the Exhibition
The exhibition was kindly supported by Marlborough Galleries and Julian Page Fine Art.
Order the catalogue
Accompanying the exhibition, this book celebrates the extraordinary upsurge of printmaking in Britain from the 1960s to now.
With beautiful prints on almost every page, it showcases a wide range of artists, styles and techniques, charts how Britain emerged from the post-war years, thrived in the early 1960s, navigated the social changes of the 1970s and 1980s, and saw the ascendency of contemporary British art from the 1990s to the present day.
It makes a wonderful gift.
Read more from the Perspectives blog
Art in Focus: ‘Kaisarion in All His Beauty’ by David Hockney
Our director Simon Martin explores David Hockney’s Kaisarion in All His Beauty (1961) one of the most intriguing prints in our new exhibition Hockney to Himid.
