THE KADDISH SERIES: PRINTS BY MAURICIO LASANSKY
On view April 15 - June 3, 2012
In response to the recent death of internationally known master printmaker, Mauricio Lasansky, the Muscatine Art Center will host an exhibition of his art from the permanent collection entitled, "The Kaddish Series", beginning Sunday, April 15 and continuing through June 3, 2012.
Mauricio Lasansky was born October 12, 1914 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where his father worked as a banknote engraver. At the age of 19, he began to study painting, sculpture and printmaking at the Escuela Superior of Bellas Artes (Superior School of Fine Arts), Buenos Aires. In 1943 Lasansky came to the United States on a Guggenheim Fellowship and spent a year studying the print collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. In 1945 he was appointed lecturer in printmaking at the University of Iowa, where he established the first Master of Fine Arts in printmaking program in the country. In 1961 Time magazine called the University of Iowa the "printmaking capital of the United States."
As a printmaker, Mauricio Lasansky was known for the grand scale of his images, his vivid color, and the complex layering of multiple print techniques, including engraving, etching, lithography, drypoint, electric stippling and aquatint, in a single work.
In the 1970's, after two decades of work that focused on the horrors of Nazi Germany, Lasansky began working on the eight images that comprise the Kaddish Series. While still very much concerned with the Holocaust, the Kaddish Series focuses on it's aftermath and the ways those who survived deal with the experience. One part of the Kaddish prayer, which is often recited as part of Jewish funeral services, is a request for peace. The images in this series reveal the artist's belief that finding even a small amount of peace on this earth often comes at a terrible price.
Each of the eight Kaddish prints includes a number from 6,102,301 to 6,102,308, representing the number of Jewish victims of the Nazis, and each image also includes a dove, the universal symbol of peace.
The Kaddish Series was purchased directly from the artist by the Muscatine Art Center in 1979, and is part of collection that includes 25 of his prints.
Mauricio Lasansky was one of the few modern artists who limited their work almost exclusively to the graphic media. Due to his early contributions in the development of graphic techniques and his dedication to teaching printmaking, Lasansky is considered to be a forerunner in the evolution of printmaking as a critical art form and is internationally recognized as one of the "fathers" of 20th Century American printmaking.
Please contact Barbara Christensen, director, with any questions or concerns at 563-263-8282 or by email at bchristensen@muscatineiowa.gov
The Muscatine Art Center is open to the public Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from
10 AM to 5 PM, Thursday from 10 AM to 7 PM and Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 5 PM Admission is FREE.
