The female figure has been a subject genre in western art for three millennia. The Intaglio Figure is an exhibition of etchings executed in studios in San Francisco, New York, and Indianapolis by twelve modern and contemporary American artists. The variations of the processes utilized and styles of these printmakers, provides a look into the varied and intricate application of the etching process to the creation of the final print.
The Italian word “intaglio” ( in-TAL-ee-oh) which means “incised,” is the family of printing techniques in which the image is incised into a surface of a plate and the sunken area holds the ink. Etching, along with aquatint, engraving, drypoint, and mezzotint are all intaglio methods of creating plates from which fine art prints are made.
During the Renaissance etching which was initially developed for the decoration of armor and weapons became used by artists. One of the early practitioners of the use of etching in creating fine art images was Rembrandt van Rijn.
This collection of prints is on loan through the generosity of Bruce and Hope Campbell.