James Rosenquist
Maurice Sanchez, printer
1984-1985
Workshop dates: November 12-16, 1984
The Smith College Print Workshop began when Dwight Pogue asked Harnish Visiting Artist Fred Wessel about the print workshops he started at the Hartford Art School. Encouraged by what he heard, Pogue asked Wessel for assistance, and together they decided to invite noted Pop artist James Rosenquist and lithographic printer Maurice Sanchez, with whom Rosenquist had frequently worked in the past, to conduct the first workshop. Rosenquist attended the University of Minnesota and began his career as a commercial billboard painter. He emerged on the New York art scene in the 1960s and became a leading member of the American Pop movement. Rosenquist’s mature style juxtaposes deliberately fragmented images of advertising and popular culture. His large canvases combine enigmatic, narrative, and abstract painting. A graphic artist as well as a painter, Rosenquist had his first one-man exhibition at the Green Gallery in New York in 1962 where every painting sold. Since then he has been represented in numerous exhibitions, one-man shows, and museums. He lives in New York City and Florida.
During this workshop, Rosenquist and Sanchez used airbrush and air erasure techniques to add to the hand-drawn lithographic plates. This prompted Dwight Pogue to introduce these techniques into his printmaking courses at Smith.
James Rosenquist. American, 1933 –
