Styles & Movements

Printmaking in the 70s

Although fine art printmaking has been practiced by artists since the fifteenth century, during the sixties and seventies printmaking began to be considered a truly democratic way to disseminate cultural materials, especially with the rise of screen-printing and offset lithography. In addition, small presses such as Crown Point, Gemini G.E.L., and Tamarind were at their height, and many artists of the seventies were pushing the limits of the medium through various experimentations. It is impossible to name all the artists who were making unique and/or innovative print series during the era; some include Jasper Johns, Ed Ruscha, Agnes Martin, Robert Motherwell, and many of the artists associated with Pop and Op Art, movements that were still going strong well into the seventies.