Master Prints & Master Printers, Exhibit August 19 - October 13
July 24, 2019
Master Prints & Master Printers
from the studios of Don Gorvett and Robert Townsend
August 19 – October 13
Portsmouth Public Library
Reception: Thursday September 19 | 6:30 – 8:30 PM
Don’t miss this fabulous exhibit of selected contemporary prints by Portsmouth artist and master printmaker Don Gorvett, along with master printer Robert Townsend. Portsmouth Public Library will host “Master Prints & Master Printers” in the Levenson Community Room August 19 – October 13. This exhibition is organized through Piscataqua Fine Arts Studio and Gallery. A reception and artist talk will be held on Thursday, September 19, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. The talk begins at 7 PM. The focus of the discussion will be the collaboration of Robert Townsend with Don Gorvett on the making of the new large gravure etching, “Harbor Fantasy.” “Harbor Fantasy”is presently on view at Piscataqua Fine Arts at 123 Market Street in Portsmouth, and will be transported to the library for the night of the talk.
Mr. Gorvett arrived in Ogunquit, Maine is 1968. He spent his first summers painting outdoors and making prints on his small portable etching press. In 1990 Mr. Gorvett became a year-round resident in Ogunquit Maine, and his interest in making woodcuts became paramount to his creativity. Much of Don’s work revolves around the working waterfront, and he soon began drawing excursions to the near-by river city of Portsmouth, NH. He opened his first gallery, Piscataqua Fine Arts, in Portsmouth in 2006.
Over the years, Mr. Gorvett has developed a close working relationship with master printer Robert Townsend of R.E. Townsend Studio of Georgetown, MA. Bob Townsend has spent decades of collaborating with artists and exploring a wide variety of printing techniques. His early career was spent at Impressions Workshop in Boston, and in the early 80’s he opened his own studio in Georgetown, MA. He has been a visiting instructor at the Fine Arts Works Center in Provincetown, MA, Graphics Studio at the University of South Florida, Carpenter Center at Harvard University, and other schools.
It has always been an interest of Don Gorvett to show work of outstanding artists known regionally and nationally. Thus, the collaboration of Don Gorvett Woodcuts and RE Townsend Studios is natural. Included in the exhibit are the prints of Jim Dine, Don Gorvett, Alex Katz, Sidney Hurwitz, Michael Mazur, and Sean Hurley. We are also exhibiting two new large ballpoint pen drawings of Ralph Gorvett.
Piscataqua Fine Arts has an active internship program and workshop schedule. Don’s large color woodcuts are in the permanent collections of the Addison Gallery of American Art, The Boston Athenaeum, Currier Museum of Art, The Farnsworth Art Museum, The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge University, The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, The Ogunquit Museum of American Art, The Peabody Essex Museum, Smith College Museum of Art, Worcester Art Museum and other public and private collections.
Note: this exhibition is on view in the Levenson Room, and may be inaccessible when other programs are being held in the room. Please check our calendar or call 603-427-1540 to make sure the room is open when you wish to view this exhibit.
