s3e41 Art in Print editor Susan Tallman on loving amiguity in art

Platemark: prints and the printmaking ecosystem

In Platemark s3e41, host Ann Shafer talks with Susan Tallman, an art historian and essayist who co-founded the journal Art in Print and served as its editor for its entire run, 2011–2019. A regular contributor to New York Review of Books and The Atlantic Monthly, she has authored and co-authored many books, most recently No Plan At All: How the Danish Printshop of Niels Borch Jensen Redefined Artists Prints for the Contemporary World, as well as the new catalogue raisonné of prints by Kerry James Marshall.

Ann and Susan talk about the word "original" as an unhelpful term to describe fine art prints, last summer's blockbuster Vermeer exhibition at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, Gerhard Richter's 2020 exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, and the state of the state of the print world. In the end you'll understand why Susan loves ambiguity in art.

William Kentridge (South African, born 1955). Triumphs and Laments: Mantegna, 2016–17. Relief printed from 13 woodblocks and 1 linoleum block. Overall: 76 ¾ x 78 3/8 (195 x 199 cm.). Published by David Krut Projects, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Julie Mehretu (American, born Ethiopia, 1970). Treatises on the Executed (from Robin’s Intimacy), 2022. 10-panel etching and aquatint from 50 plates. 93 1/2 x 173 1/8 in. (237.5 x 439.7 cm.). Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles.

Edvard Munch (Norwegian, 1863–1944). The Vampire, 1895. color lithograph and woodcut with watercolor [trial proof]. sheet: 38.9 × 55.7 cm (15 5/16 × 21 15/16 in.). National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Susan Tallman. The Contemporary Print from Pre-Pop to Postmodern. London and New York: Thames and Hudson, 1996.

Jasper Johns (American, born 1930). Target, 1960. Lithograph. 12 1/16 x 12 3/16 in. (30.7 x 30.9 cm.); sheet: 22 13/16 x 17 13/16 in. (57.9 x 45.2 cm.). Published by ULAE. Museum of Modern Art, NY.

Jasper Johns (American, born 1930). Target, 1961. Encaustic and newpaper on canvas. 167.6 × 167.6 cm. (66 × 66 in.). Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago.

Susan Tallman. Kerry James Marshall: The Complete Prints. New York: Ludion/D.A.P., 2023.

Vermeer. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. February 10–June 4, 2023.

Johannes Vermeer (Dutch, 1632–1675). Allegory of the Catholic Faith, c. 1670–72. Oil on canvas. 45 x 35 in. (114.3 x 88.9 cm.). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Johannes Vermeer (Dutch, 1632–1675). Woman with Pearl Necklace, c. 1664. Oil on canvas. 55 × 45 cm. (21 5/8 × 17 3/4 in.). Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen, Berlin.

Johannes Vermeer (Dutch, 1632–1675). Woman Holding a Scale, c. 1664. Oil on canvas. 42.5 x 38 cm (16 3/4 x 14 15/16 in.). National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Kouros, c. 530 B.C. Getty Museum, Los Angeles.

Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon.

Terra Cotta Warriors: Guardians of China’s First Emperor. National Geographic Museum, Washington, D.C. November 19, 2009–March 31, 2010.

Paolo Veronese (Italian, 1528–1588). The Wedding at Cana, 1563. Oil on canvas. 6.77 × 9.94 m (267 × 391 in.). Louvre Museum, Paris.

Paolo Veronese (Italian, 1528–1588). The Wedding at Cana, 1563. Factum Arte digital copy. 6.77 × 9.94 m (267 × 391 in.). San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice.

Rembrandt (Dutch, 1606–1669). The Hundred Guilder Print: Christ with the Sick around Him, c. 1648. Etching, drypoint, and engraving on Japanese paper. 280 x 394 mm. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471–1528). Knight, Death, and the Devil, 1513. Engraving. Sheet (trimmed to platemark): 9 5/8 x 7 1/2 in. (245 x 190 mm.). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Anonymous Andean painting hanging in Susan’s home.

Jan Wierix (Netherlandish, 1549–1615), after Martin de Vos (Netherlandish, 1532-1603). Annunciation, 1549-before 1585. Engraving. Plate: 265 × 197 mm. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

Gerhard Richter: The Birkenau Paintings. Met Fifth Avenue. September 5, 2020–January 18 2021. Credit: Charlie Rubin for The New York Times.

Stanley William Hayter (British, 1901–1988). Père Lachaise from the portfolio Paysages urbains, 1930. Engraving and drypoint. Sheet: 283 × 381 mm. (11 1/8 × 15 in.); plate: 208 × 268 mm. (8 3/16 × 10 9/16 in.). Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore.

Edge of Visibility. IPCNY, New York. October 4–December 2018.

USEFUL LINKS

Susan's website: https://www.susan-tallman.com/

Art in Print on Jstor: https://www.jstor.org/journal/artprint

The Getty’s Paper Project: https://www.getty.edu/projects/paper-project/

New York Public Library. The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints, and Photographs. https://www.nypl.org/locations/schwarzman/wallach-division/print-collection

Factum Arte: https://www.factum-arte.com/pag/38/a-facsimile-of-the-wedding-at-cana-by-paolo-veronese