9 August 2013

Modern Masters in Print: Matisse, Picasso, Dali and Warhol

* media previews available Thursday August 22nd
* images and interviews available in advance

Exhibition: Friday 23 August to Sunday 17 November 2013
The McManus: Dundee's Art Gallery and Museum.

Prints by Picasso, Dalí, Matisse, and Warhol - four of the 20th century's greatest artists - go on display in Dundee this month in an exhibition from the V&A.

'Modern Masters in Print: Matisse, Picasso, Dalí and Warhol' is the latest in a series of exhibitions being held at The McManus: Dundee's Art Gallery and Museum leading up to the opening of V&A at Dundee.

'These 'modern masters' each had a profound influence in the art world, but also beyond. Their legacy pervades our culture,' said V&A curator Gill Saunders. 'All four were also accomplished printmakers, using the medium to reach a wider audience.

'Together, these four artists spanned a 75-year period that saw the birth of the modern age. They employed a wide range of techniques, and their work represents one of the most creative and diverse periods of printmaking in the history of western art.'

Drawn from the V&A's outstanding collections of prints, posters and artists' books, Modern Masters showcases their work in print. The exhibition will highlight the different ways in which each of these four artists used the medium of print.

For Matisse and Picasso, printmaking was one of the many artistic media they employed, and one which they used to explore themes and motifs from other areas of their work. For Dalí, printmaking was an exercise in experimentation, through which he developed many imaginative new processes. Warhol's prints were his primary means of expression and central to his work. His screen-prints based on mass-produced images challenged the concept of the 'original' print.

The exhibition will run from Friday 23 August to Sunday 17 November 2013 at The McManus: Dundee's Art Gallery and Museum.

The exhibition is one of a series of city-wide events coinciding with the prestigious international print conference 'Impact 8', which is being hosted by the University of Dundee.

Additional information:

Henri Matisse
Matisse came to painting comparatively late in life, and to printmaking even later. Although for Matisse in his paintings colour was all important, most of his prints are masterpieces of fluent line and subtle tones achieved purely in black and white. They also show his preoccupation with the nude, a genre he constantly reworked.

Matisse's prints reveal his continual desire to create works that would offer the viewer an experience of peace and tranquillity, without the distraction of the bright palette of his oils.

Pablo Picasso
Picasso had no formal training in printmaking but he quickly learned through a process of trial and error, mastering numerous printmaking techniques with ease. As prolific in the printed medium as he was in the many other media he practised, Picasso produced over 2000 prints ranging from etchings to linocuts. He took full advantage of the opportunities offered by diverse printmaking techniques, employing different modes of impression to suit different themes. Picasso's continuously evolving style can be charted in his prints. The etchings and aquatints of his maturity are confident and spirited, reiterating themes from his painting and sculpture in a manner both playful and profound.

Salvador Dalí
Dalí was experimental in his printmaking, perhaps placing an even greater emphasis on exploring techniques than on developing compositions. One of his innovative approaches involved setting off a bomb filled with nails and keys next to an engraving plate, which when printed would give the impressions unique markings. Dalí made fine art prints, but also designed posters, such as the vibrant surrealistic 'collages' used to promote the French railways in the 1960s.

Andy Warhol
Warhol's prints were his main creative output, one from which his other artistic activities took their cue. His practice was informed by his early career as a commercial illustrator, when he conceived designs for mass-reproduction in magazines and newspapers. His screenprints appropriate symbols and icons from North American popular culture. For Andy Warhol, the use of a repeated motif was fundamental to every aspect of his work, with even his paintings incorporating printed imagery. Screen-printing - initially a commercial print process - was well-suited to his practice of appropriating images he found in advertising, the cinema, on television, and in the press, whether it was the iconic face of Marilyn Monroe, the figure of Jackie Kennedy, or graphic footage of Civil Rights protests.

USE OF IMAGES:
DACS (Design and Artists' Copyright Society)
Press use is considered to be moderate use of images to report a current event or to illustrate a review or criticism of the work, as defined by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 Chapter 48 Section 30 Subsections (1) - (3). Reproductions which comply with the above do not need to be licensed.

Reproductions for all non-press uses or for press uses where the above criteria do not apply (e.g. covers and feature articles) must be licensed before publication. Further information can be obtained at www.dacs.org.uk or by contacting DACS licensing on +44 207 336 8811.

Due to UK copyright law only applying to UK publications, any articles or press uses which are published outside of the UK and include reproductions of these images will need to have sought authorisation with the relevant copyright society of that country.

Notes to editors
The V&A is the world's leading museum of art and design with collections unrivalled in their scope and diversity. It was established to make works of art available to all and to inspire British designers and manufacturers. Today, the V&A's collections, which span over 2000 years of human creativity in virtually every medium and from many parts of the world, continue to intrigue, inspire and inform.

V&A at Dundee
V&A at Dundee will be an international centre for design, housed in a world-class building at the heart of Dundee's revitalised waterfront. It will host major exhibitions, celebrate our design heritage, inspire and promote contemporary talent, and encourage design innovation for the future. Unlike any other museum in Scotland, V&A at Dundee will focus on design - not design as a separate discipline, but its everyday impact - how it can delight, make things work and ultimately change lives. V&A at Dundee aims to do what every good museum does - to inform, educate and entertain - but also explicitly, through its wider programmes, intends to generate new creativity and innovation across Scotland.

V&A at Dundee is being delivered by Design Dundee Ltd, a ground-breaking partnership between the Victoria and Albert Museum - the world's greatest museum of art and design - and Dundee City Council, the Universities of Dundee and Abertay Dundee, and Scottish Enterprise.

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) awarded it a first round pass of up to £9.2m, including £200,000 development funding, in May 2102. The Scottish Government has committed £15m in capital towards the project's £45million budget.

www.vandaatdundee.com.

The McManus is operated by Leisure & Culture Dundee, working in partnership with Dundee City Council. www.mcmanus.co.uk.

Dundee is a creative, vibrant city and winning a place on the UK City of Culture 2017 shortlist celebrates our strengths. Back the bid at: wedundee.com

EXHIBITION DETAILS:
Admission free
Opening hours:
Mon - Sat 10am - 5pm
Sun 12.30 - 4.30pm
Reception: 01382 307200

For media enquiries contact:
Roddy Isles
Head, Press Office
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384910
E-MAIL: r.isles@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07800 581902