"What is a Print? " History and Techniquies

Press Release, March 2006

Exhibition

13 March - 20 August 2006

National Gallery of Ireland (Print Gallery).
Admission Free.

"What is a print?"..."How is it made?" These are just a few of the questions addressed in the National Gallery's forthcoming spring exhibition, 'What is a Print? History and Techniques', which opens in the Print Gallery on Monday 13th March and continues until Sunday 20th August 2006. Admission is free.

Through a diverse selection of over fifty prints, including examples of tools and printmaking equipment, the exhibition aims to show the development of printmaking and the changing role and appearance of prints from the 16th to the 20th centuries. Techniques such as woodblock, line engraving, mezzotint, etching and lithography are featured, complemented by consideration of a wide range of topical subjects: political caricature, portraits, topography, and religious imagery.

The exhibition includes works by artists and printmakers such as Piranesi, William Hogarth, James Malton, Stanley William Hayter and Mabel Annelsley, supplemented by a number of notable Old Master prints from the Madden-Arnholz collection on loan from the Irish Museum of Modern Art. Also on view are a selection of Elizabeth Rivers woodblocks, a mezzotint plate from the National Library's Prints and Drawings collection, and print-making tools from the Graphic Studio.

An accompanying illustrated brochure is available from the Gallery Shop (€2). A series of public lectures, as well as family and school print workshops are scheduled for April (telephone 01-663 3505). See Spring Programme.

For further information, & images, contact:
Valerie Keogh
Press & Communications Office National Gallery of Ireland
Telephone (01) 661 5133
Email press@ngi.ie

Gallery opening hours: Monday 9.30am-5.30pm; Thursday 9.30am-5.30pm; Sunday 12.00pm-5.30pm. Closed Good Friday (14 April 2006)

"What is a Print? History and Techniques"
-Exhibition Talks & Workshops-

APRIL 2006
2 Sunday
3.00 An Introduction to the Exhibition 'What is a Print?'
Lecturer Anne Hodge

4 Tuesday
10.30 How Prints are Made
Lecturer Niall Naessens

11 Tuesday
10.30 The Foundations of Printmaking: Dürer, Rembrandt and Goya
Lecturer Andrew Folan

EASTER WEEK

16 Easter Sunday
3.00 Print in Focus: Henri Matisse Ballet Dancer Reflected in the Glass
Lecturer Kate Betts

17 Monday
3.00-4.00 Family Print Workshop.
Atrium Workspace.
Places limited to 35

18 Tuesday
10.30 The Irish Printmaking Tradition
Lecturer Brian Lalor

3.00-4.00 Family Print Workshop.
Atrium Workspace.
Places limited to 35.

19 Wednesday
3.00-4.00 Family Print Workshop.
Atrium Workspace.
Places limited to 35.

20 Thursday
3.00-4.00 Family Print Workshop.
Atrium Workspace.
Places limited to 35.

21 Friday
3.00-4.00 Family Print Workshop.
Atrium Workspace.
Places limited to 35.

25 Tuesday
10.30 Highlights of the Madden Arnholz Collection
Lecturer Catherine Marshall

30 Sunday
3.00 Daniel O'Connell: A Popular Image in Print
Lecturer Fergus O' Ferrall