All forty of my Actaeon prints has 'IMP' after the signature. Few, if anyone, will know what that means. It means not only did I hand engrave the plate, I "hand" printed it as well. I warmed it on a hot plate, slathered the stiff ink carefully over it with a spatula, wiped all the surface ink off starting with a starched piece of gauze and ending by wiping it off with the palm of my hand. This resulted in a shiny metal surface covered with a network of ink-filled engraved lines. A damp piece of thick handmade paper is laid on top, and then run through the steel rollers of a hand press at terrific pressure. The pressure is so great that 100 prints later there's not much left to print.
These will only be sold as part of a "special edition" of forty catalogues also containing prints by Jamie Paxson, Jeff Schaller and a clay multiple by Rhoda Kahler. The forty lucky people that buy this catalogue will have a piece of history as well as art.
In the late 60's, my father gave me a half a dozen issues of Alfred Stieglitz's early 20th century art magazine "291." In one issue was a photogravure of The Steerage. H.W. Janson described it in his monumental History of Art as, " the first time that documentary photography reached the level of art in America." After my first marriage broke up, I sold it to a famous museum and bought an MG sports car. It had a padded roll bar and twin SU's. Ported and polished with a turbo exhaust, it was about as race prepared as a street legal car could be.
I'm just saying if you see a Lamborghini or Maserati in your future, buy this catalogue. Reasonably priced at a few hundred dollars - it's the best investment that you will ever make.
Adrian
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