cover image The Contemporary Print: From Pre-Pop to Postmodern

The Contemporary Print: From Pre-Pop to Postmodern

Susan Tallman. Thames & Hudson, $50 (304pp) ISBN 978-0-500-23684-0

Concentrating on North America and Europe, Tallman, who has written extensively on contemporary art, surveys the history of printmaking from the revival that began in the late 1950s with the establishing of professional collaborative lithographic print shops to current experimental trends that include photography and digital technologies. Her readable text focuses on the works of more than 170 artists and covers the major movements of four decades, including pop, multiples, op, minimalism and photo-realism. The 334 illustrations (161 in color) are aptly chosen, although some of the b&w reproductions do not adequately show all the fine points of works that depend on nuance for effect. Overall, however, this is a masterful treatment of a complex subject, providing a wealth of information about artists, techniques and the relevance of printmaking to late-20th-century culture. Artists' biographies, a history of workshops and publishers, a bibliography and a glossary of terms used in printmaking are included. (July)