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MY FIRST TEN YEARS AT LITHOGRAPHY

PRINTS by PRENTIS TAYLOR

Howard University Gallery of Art
Founders Library Washington D.C.

From April 26 Through May 1942

THE LITHOGRAPHS of Printiss Taylor are very appealing to those of us who look for fine elements of design, subtle rhythms and well-balanced harmonies. He composes his pictures as a good architect designs a building, taking into consideration all of its component parts. The results are excellent.  His prints are both objective and descriptive. They strike at the essence of character.  With distinguished taste and selective power he chooses his motifs.  In his lithograph Paving Cutters' Tents limp canvas is played against heavy solid blocks, and sharp accents of perpendicular poles--with artistry which might be compared to music.  The dominant effect of brilliant sunshine sets a major key.  Supper in Port is composed with equal skill.  In this night scene a brilliant search light is directed on a dock before which fishing boats are at anchor.  The perpendicular piles and masts are contrasted by the curves of hanging nets and the rectangular hatches on the boats.  The composition is rich and in a minor key.

These two prints are dated 1937 and 1938.  Since then the artist has continued to grow, broadening his field of vision to include such varied subjects as The Service Club, In Whom I Am Well Pleased, and a number of characteristic Mexican scenes. 

His handling of the lithographic medium is effortless and competent.  His felling for tone and color is subtle and sometimes brilliant.  He never over-reaches the proper range of the surface print which is perfectly suited to this style.

Prentiss Taylor's style is very marked. He had learned from the neoromantics and from the surrealists, but he had digested rather than borrowed. His is a sincere, individual graphic concept, of true aesthetic worth

ADELYN D. BREESKIN, Curator
BALTIMORE MUSEUM OF ART

LITHOGRAPHS

NEGRO HEAD
ZULU CHIEF
NAMEPLATE
RUSTY & CORROSION
ZULU WOMAN
HAUTBOY HILL
TRIBAL DANCE
CIRCUS WAGON
CHRIST IN ALABAMA
TOWN OF SCOTTSBORO
JAGUAR IN CHICHEN ITZA
LOUISBURG SQUARE
NEW HAMPSHIRE BARN
CAROLINA LOW COUNTRY
HORLBECK ALLEY
ST. HELENA'S, BEAUFORT
MASSYDONY, A.M.E.
  Collection, Howard University Gallery of Art
ROXBURY FOUNDRY
SEDGWICK HOUSE & DETAILS
CONNECTICUT LIGHT & POWER
GWYNN'S RUN, BALTIMORE
SOUTHERN CROSS, ST. THOMAS
SUPPER IN PORT
PAVING CUTTERS' TENTS
THE SERVICE CLUB
CHRISTIANSTED PLAZA
PRELUDES TO FINDLAND
"PALETAS"
PULQUERIA
MORELLA AQUEDUCT

The Prints are for sale.  Prices will be given on request
ALONZO J. ADEN
Curator

GALLERY HOURS: 
Week days, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Closed Sundays