African-American artist Dox Thrash is in the spotlight on s3e60 of Platemark. Podcast host Ann Shafer speaks with Ron Rumford, director of Dolan/Maxwell, a private gallery in Philadelphia, which has a particular specialty in the prints of Stanley William Hayter and the associated artists of Atelier 17, as well as Black artists of the same era, such as Dox Thrash, Bob Blackburn, Norma Morgan, Elizabeth Catlett, Ed Clark, and more. Ron was eager to highlight an exhibition focused on Dox Thrash, which is on view at the African American Museum of Philadelphia through August 4, 2024.

 

They talk about Thrash and his invention of the carborundum mezzotint, Bob Blackburn’s Printmaking Workshop and its relationship to Atelier 17 and Hayter, the monumental importance of the WPA printmaking division, and Ballinglen, an artist residency and gallery founded by Peter Maxwell and Margo Dolan in Ballycastle, a tiny farming town in County Mayo, Ireland.

 

Dox Thrash (American, 1893–1965). Sunday Morning, c. 1939. Etching. Sheet: 12 5/8 x 10 5/8 in.; plate: 8 7/8 x 7 7/8 in. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

L-R: Krishna Reddy, Stanley William Hayter, Robert Blackburn, and friend, 1980s, at Reddy’s studio.

Hayter at the press with lithography press behind him, Atelier 17 in New York.

Photo of Pennerton West with fellow artists including Augusta Savage and Norman Lewis.

Pennerton West (American, 1913–1965). Troll in the Grain, 1952. State proof; color etching and lithography. Image: 14 ¾ x 17 ¾ in. Dolan/Maxwell Gallery, Philadelphia.

Pennerton West (American, 1913–1965). Troll in the Grain, 1952. State proof; color etching and lithography. Image: 14 ¾ x 17 ¾ in. Dolan/Maxwell Gallery, Philadelphia.

Dox Thrash (American, 1893–1965). Georgia Cotton Crop, c. 1944–45. Carborundum mezzotint. Plate: 8 7/16 x 9 7/8 in.; sheet: 11 ¼ x 11 3/4. in. Dolan/Maxwell Gallery, Philadelphia.

Dox Thrash (American, 1893–1965). Ebony Joe, c. 1939. Lithograph. Sheet: 10 5/8 x 8 7/8 in. Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis.

Dox Thrash (American, 1893–1965). Octoroon (Study for a Lithograph), c. 1939. Brush and ink wash over graphite. Sheet: 16 7/8 x 12 ¼ in. Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia.

Dox Thrash (American, 1893–1965). Octoroon, c. 1939. Lithograph. Sheet: 22 13/16 x 11 9/16 in. Collection of John Warren, Philadelphia.

Dox Thrash (American, 1893–1965). Charlot, c. 1938–39. Carborundum mezzotint. Plate: 8 15/16 x 6 15/16 in. Dolan/Maxwell, Philadelphia.

Michael Gallagher (American, 1895–1965). Lackawanna Valley, 1938. Carborundum mezzotint. Plate: 7 3/8 x 12 11/16 in.; sheet: 9 3/8 x 14 in. Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia.  

Hugh Mesibov (American, 1916–2016). Homeless, 1938. Carborundum mezzotint. Plate: 5 3/8 x 10 3/8 in. Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia.

Dox Thrash (American, 1893–1965). One Horse Farmer, c. 1944–48. Carborundum mezzotint. 9 x 6 in. National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

John Ruskin (British, 1819–1900). The Garden of San Miniato near Florence, 1845. Watercolor and pen and black ink, heightened with whie gouache, over graphite. Sheet: 13 7/16 x 19 3/8 in. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Stanley William Hayter (English, 1901–1988). Cinq personnages, 1946. Engraving, softground etching, and scorper; printed in black (intaglio). Sheet: 495 x 647 mm. (19 1/2 x 25 1/2 in.); plate: 376 x 605 mm. (14 13/16 x 23 13/16 in.). Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore.

Stanley William Hayter (English, 1901–1988). Cinq personnages, 1946. Engraving, softground etching, and scorper; printed in black (intaglio), and green (screen, relief). Sheet: 460 x 660 mm. (18 1/8 x 26 in.); plate: 376 x 605 mm. (14 13/16 x 23 13/16 in.). Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore.

Stanley William Hayter (English, 1901–1988). Cinq personnages, 1946. Engraving and softground etching; printed in black (intaglio), orange (screen, relief), and purple (screen, relief). Sheet: 510 x 666 mm. (20 1/16 x 26 1/4 in.); plate: 376 x 605 mm. (14 13/16 x 23 13/16 in.). Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore.

Stanley William Hayter (English, 1901–1988). Cinq personnages, 1946. Engraving, softground etching, and scorper; printed in black (intaglio), green (screen, relief), orange (screen, relief), and purple (screen, relief). Sheet: 488 x 668 mm. (19 3/16 x 26 5/16 in.); plate: 376 x 605 mm. (14 13/16 x 23 13/16 in.). Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore.

 

 

 

Ballinglen Arts Foundation, Ballycastle, County Mayo, Ireland.

USEFUL LINKS

Imprint: Dox Thrash, Black Life, and American Culture. African American Museum in Philadelphia, March 23–August 4, 2024.

https://www.aampmuseum.org/current-exhibitions.html

John Ittmann. Dox Thrash: An African American Master Printmaker Rediscovered. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2001.  https://archive.org/details/doxthrashafrican00ittm

Dox Thrash House, Philadelphia: https://doxthrashhouse.wordpress.com/

Ballinglen Arts Foundation: https://www.ballinglenartsfoundation.org/fellowship/

Dolan/Maxwell’s IG: @dolan.maxwell

Ron’s IG account: @ron.rumford

Ron’s artist website: www.ronrumford.com