R. S. JOHNSON FINE ART PRESENTS

Old Master Prints: 1475-1825

R. S. Johnson Fine Art, established since 1955 at 645 N. Michigan Avenue in Chicago, is opening a major exhibition: Old Master Prints: 1475 – 1825.  This exhibition explores the history of printmaking, through some of Western Art’s iconic artists.  These 103 exceptional works are rarely exhibited pieces of art history.

I. Italian Masters: Mantegna to Tiepolo.

II. Northern Masters: Schongauer to Rembrandt. 

III. Goya.

Andrea Mantegna together with his school (1431-1506), is among the most significant and influential artists of the Italian Renaissance, and was responsible for many innovative contributions to the development of Western Art.  A master of perspective and foreshortening, he is also considered to have introduced the concept of spatial illusionism, and innovation in the use of copperplate engraving.  A number of works from Mantegna’s Workshop will be on display in this exhibition, including, Adoration of the Magi, 1475-1480.

Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), a brilliant Northern Master who revolutionized printmaking in the sixteenth century, elevated what was at one time simple folk art, to a new and independent art form.  His innovations in the medium of woodcut, by expanding the dramatic range and including conceptual imagery and themes, have influenced every generation of printmaker since.  Several rare prints from Dürer, and his contemporary Schongauer will be on display, including a pristine impression of Dürer’s famous Knight, Death and the Devil from 1513.

Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn (1606-1669), is one of the most important artists in European history and more specifically of Holland’s “Golden Age”. He gained an international reputation for his spectacular etchings and printmaking techniques in the seventeenth century.  His innovations transformed a relatively new medium, and pushed etching to new expressive limits.  His technique was so amazing that some believed he had discovered a secret process.  Several of Rembrandt’s important etchings including Christ Driving the Money Changers from the Temple (1635), are included in the exhibition, allowing the visitor to see the artist’s innovation first-hand.