If you lived in a craftsman bungalow in 1914, where would you go to find something affordable, original and aesthetically pleasing to hang on your walls? The wood-block print was the answer, but where to find one? That need was rectified by Pasadena artist brothers Benjamin and Howell Brown when they formed The Print Makers Society of California as a way for printmakers to exhibit and sell their work and educate the public about the printmaking process as an art form. They were joined by fellow Pasadena artists the Gearhart sisters – Frances, May and Edna – and Harold Doolittle whose combined efforts grew their organization until by the 1920’s it mounted the largest annual international print exhibition west of the Mississippi at the Los Angeles Museum of History, Science and Art (later LACMA). Six annual touring exhibitions were also sent throughout the Midwest and western United States with all the art for sale at reasonable prices. Presenter Susan Futterman will discuss the art and lives of these Pasadena artists who celebrated the California landscape.
Susan Futterman is an independent researcher, who focuses on Pasadena print artists of the arts and crafts period and is the author of Behold the Day: The Color Block Prints of Frances Gearhart. Sign up here.
Thursday, April 29 • 5 p.m. • Zoom
