Graphicstudio's annual sale lets collectors get their hands on works by renowned contemporary artists and helps out the workshop, too.
By LENNIE BENNETT
Published October 23, 2003
[Images courtesy of Graphicstudio]
James Rosenquist, The Kabuki Blushes, 1986, lithograph/monoprint, copyright James Rosenquist, licensed by VAGA, New York, N.Y.
Robert Mapplethorpe, Orchid, 1985, photogravure and screenprint with aluminium photogravure.
TAMPA - For those who believe you have to go to a New York City gallery to buy great contemporary art, I have one word: Graphicstudio. For 35 years, the workshop has been a laboratory for some of the biggest stars of the art world who come to collaborate with artisans and master printers to create fine art prints and sculpture multiples.
The limited editions are sold to a small group of collectors who subscribe annually for the opportunity to purchase, at relatively low prices, the series produced by that year's invited artists. And the National Gallery, as well as other museums, snaps up one of every edition.
But over the years, Graphicstudio has kept an archive of its production, both for its permanent collection and to use for its annual fundraising sale.
Friday, the studio offers more than 100 works by names such as Robert Rauschenberg, James Rosenquist, William Wegman, Lesley Dill, Kiki Smith, Ed Ruscha, Graciela Iturbide and Robert Mapplethorpe, all discounted from 10 percent to 60 percent. Don't think this is a fire sale, though. Some works are available for several hundred dollars, but most sell for at least several thousand. Shown above, Rosenquist's The Kabuki Blushes, for example, is listed for $16,000 with a 10 percent discount that night. (Another print from that edition is part of the Rosenquist retrospective now at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City, if you need its credentials.)
Another rare gem on sale will be the late Robert Mapplethorpe's Orchid, also shown. Its list price is $25,000 with a 20 percent discount. Among the works with less intimidating prices is Abraao Batista's boxed book of eight woodblock prints and letterpress text, A Brazilian in Florida, created in 1998 and available for $320.
The sale is from 7 to 10 p.m. Patrons may also buy raffle tickets for William Wegman's Souvenir, not one of his Weimaraner images but a color lithograph of Tampa's Plant Park. The drawing for it is at 9 p.m.
PREVIEW
The fifth annual benefit sale is from 7 to 10 p.m. Friday at Graphicstudio, the Institute for Research in Art on the University of South Florida campus, 3702 Spectrum Blvd., Suite 100, Tampa. For information, call (813) 974-3503.
