Ghitta Caiserman-Roth

I began to study printmaking in New York when I was sixteen years old. I studied with Harry Sternberg at the Art Students League in New York City. His ideas of printmaking were focused on the social message. He believed that the vocabulary of shapes, lines and tones could be used for social messages. He made us look at the prints of Goya and Daumier and the broadsheets of Posada in Mexico. He showed us the works of Rivera, Sequeros and Orozco whose themes were the revolution. Coming from a middle class home, it was eye opening to hear about these socialist ideas.

In 1962, I joined a class that Albert Dumouchel was giving at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Montreal. He did not focus on technique although if you needed help he was there for you. He acknowledged all personal forms of expression, and he was able to make each person feel worthwhile. He was inspirational. We loved him.

In the late 60’s into the 70’s I worked with Jennifer Dickson at the Saidye Bronfman Centre in Montreal, Quebec. She believed in the dictum " the medium is the message ". She helped me to understand that an etching was not the same as drawing or any other medium..that the action of the acid on metal created a different kind of happening. She taught us how to cut metal plates, how to print from the found object. She taught us how to combine plates and to intermix media and to use unexpected materials to advantage. She showed us all the traditional ways of doing etchings, but she also introduced unconventional materials and techniques. She introduced photographic images into our prints. The year and a half I spent in her class was exciting and developmental for me.

As I look at printmaking today, I see a fading out of printmaking programs in universities and often private studios are taking over the scene. Some of these studios are subsidized and others exist through membership fees. There are at least five or six well equipped printmaking studios in Montreal, and there are several in Quebec City. The pure and traditional ways of printing like etching, lithography, wood block printing are slowly being invaded by "  corruptions " of these time honored techniques. Some of these techniques are Imprimer sur Carton, card printing, monotype, and computer art. The Emergence of photography as an art form has introduced photography into printmaking. Newspaper photographs, writing and advertising have found their way into traditional printmaking.

For a few centuries, prints have been produced by professional printers for individual artists. Today, some professional printers have become victims of the economic pressures within our society. However, there are still very good printers working in our larger cities. One benefit has been the printmakers' improved printing skills. Printmaking like any other art form is never "just" technique...although techniques in printmaking are difficult and demanding. What is the spirit behind the work ? What is the artist trying to say? What is the particular quality of that artist ? We can call it " content " what we mean of course is the emotional content. We can also call it the emotional content or meaning. We look for a fusion of how it is done with what it says. The tradition of printmaking going back to Rembrandt and remembering Hayter is a rich brew of past and present. However, rules are made to be broken, because this is how we push the frontiers out further...through deeper self knowledge and the occasional breakthrough into new forms and ways of doing things.

Ghitta Caiserman-Roth, RCA.