The Museum of Printing History presents The Workshop of Ernest F. de Soto, Master Printer, open through March 5, 2011. Ernest F. de Soto was the first Mexican American printer to be awarded the honor of Tamarind Master Printer.
Alejandro Colunga, Autobus, 1980; 25 x 35 3/4 in., 6 Color Lithograph
Beginning in the late 1960’s de Soto, operated a series of well-known lithography workshops that became very popular with an emerging generation of now world-famous Mexican artists. Based in San Francisco from 1967 to 1993, Collector’s Press Lithography Workshop, Editions Press, and the de Soto Workshop worked with the finest of Mexico’s artists on what has become an important post-war lithography collection. With over 50 years of experience specializing in contemporary Latin American and American lithographs, fine prints and etchings by some of the best-known Latin American and American artists of our time, Master Printer Ernesto F. de Soto has created a significant collection and national treasure.
Prints included in the exhibition include collaborations with artists Rodolfo Abularach, Thomas Akawie, Terry Allen, Edmundo Aquino, Robert Baxter, Alejandro Colunga, Jerry Concha, Jose Luis Cuevas, Roy De Forest, Jose Fors, David Gallegos, Byron Galvez, Rupert Garcia, Luis Granda, Luis Jimenez, Leonard Koscianski, Lionel Maciel, DeLoss McGraw, Lowell Nesbitt, Gustavo Rivera, Richard Shaw, Alfredo Varela, Ulfert Wilkee, Adja Yunkers.
Many prints in the exhibition are on view courtesy of the Ernest F. do Soto Collection, Mexic-Arte Museum, Austin, Texas.
The Museum of Printing History was founded in 1979 by Raoul Beasley, Vernon P. Hearn, Don Piercy, and J. V. Burnham, four printers with passions for preserving their vast collections and sharing them with the community. It was chartered in 1981 and had its official opening in 1982 with Dr. Hans Halaby, Director of the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz, Germany, cutting the ribbon.
The mission of the Museum is to promote, preserve, and share the knowledge of printed communication and art as the greatest contributors to the development of the civilized world and the continuing advancement of freedom and literacy.
The Museum of Printing History 1324 W. Clay Street, Houston, Texas 77019
www.printingmuseum.org