VISUAL ARTS

Uniting word and image in a project both intimate and monumental, 21 Etchings and Poems is a tour de force in the history of American printmaking. Featuring the work of 42 poets and artists, from Dylan Thomas to Frank O’Hara, and Helen Phillips to Willem de Kooning, this 1960 portfolio represents a landmark collaboration between the visual and literary arts. Each print closely integrates text and image, including a poem written in the hand of its author and imagery created through a wide range of innovative print techniques. Initiated by artist Peter Grippe, director of the renowned Atelier 17 print workshop, and the result of nearly ten years of effort, 21 Etchings and Poems is not only a milestone of mid-20th century American print publishing, but is unique in its inclusion of writers and artists from across the spectrum of 1950s cultural production. Recordings of the poems and images of the etchings are available on iTunes and at http://www.davismuseum.wellesley.edu/exhibitions/exhibitions_etchings_poems.html.