Printmaking Methods/Stencil

Andy Warhol, Campbell's Soup Can (Tomato), 1965, synthetic polymer paint and silkscreen ink on canvas, Stoddard Acquisition Fund and partial gift from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc., 1993.89

September 8 – November 25, 2007

The fourth in a series of exhibitions on printmaking techniques, this show studies the stencil printmaking process including pochoir and screenprint. The French term pochoir is commonly used to describe the simple method of making multiple objects by applying liquid pigment through stencils. This method is often used in conjunction with other techniques to add color to printed linear images. Screenprint is the generic term used to describe the related method of printing through fabric stencils stretched across a frame. Artists began using this commercial printing technique for creative prints in the late 1930s, and christened it with the new, legitimizing name serigraphy, literally “silk printing.” Nowadays, nylon and fine metal mesh are often used for printing screens. Using fine examples and technical material drawn from the permanent collection, the installation exhibition will explain the materials and procedures of stencil printing. Among the artists whose work will be included are champions of the process from the 1930s, like Harry Gottlieb and Guy McCoy, Op and Pop artists from the 1960s, like Victor Vasarely and Andy Warhol, and artists whose complex precision prints are often created from scores of overprinted screens, like Richard Anuskiewicz, Richard Estates, and Robert Cottingham. This exhibition will be accompanied by an illustrated, didactic pamphlet, distributed free to the public, and funded by a gift from the Bernard G. and Louise B. Palitz Fund.

Related Events

Artist Demonstration: Stencils
Sunday, October 14, 12-3PM
Lancaster Lobby
Join artist and Worcester Art Museum instructor Randy LeSage as he demonstrates the artistic techniques used in the exhibition Printmaking Methods: Stencil. Free with Museum admission.