Artist and arts educator Dr. Natalie Schifano will discuss the surprising array of printmaking techniques in the next Arts Live lecture at 3 p.m. May 7, in the Mamaroneck Public Library at 136 Prospect Ave., Mamaroneck.
Do you know what makes one print a relief and another an intaglio? Do you know the significance of the numbers in the bottom corner of a print? Schifano, a former faculty member at Teachers College of Columbia University and other schools, will explain it all in the talk, which is sponsored by the village of Mamaroneck Arts Council.
“If you think printmaking is a simple topic, this is the lecture for you,” said Solange De Santis, chair of the arts council. “There are more ways to print than you might imagine, and each way creates different effects and offers different possibilities. Dr. Schifano’s talk will be a fascinating look at this versatile art form.”
(To answer one question: A relief prints all but the recessed areas of a surface; in an intaglio, the etched lines hold ink that prints onto dampened paper.)
The lecture will cover the history of printmaking as well as the various methods artists use to produce both unique prints and multiples. Schifano, a Cortlandt Manor resident, got the idea for the talk when she led a gallery walking tour in Manhattan and found that the participants were unaware of the variety of printmaking methods.
“A lot of people didn’t know the difference between an etching and a monoprint and a wood cut,” she said.
That may seem odd when you consider that prints are everywhere, including your back pocket. Cash bills, the singles, fives and $20 bills in your wallet, are prints. So are the famous 1958 Pablo Picasso lithograph “Bouquet of Peace” and Andy Warhol’s 1962 silkscreen images of Marilyn Monroe.
“Rembrandt is very famous for his etchings, and Mary Cassatt made wood blocks in the Japanese style,” Schifano said.
Schifano teaches courses at the Collegium for Lifelong Learners, a program of Westchester Community College, and has also presented art history lectures throughout Westchester. With a doctorate in art education from Teachers College, Columbia University, she has served on the faculty of Teachers College, The School of Visual Arts and Manhattanville College.
The talk is the latest in the lecture series that is part of the arts council’s Arts Live project, enriching the village’s cultural life with increased exposure to art and art education.
