This is another work by celebrated Scottish printmaker Jo Ganter (RSA) in my store. It is totally stunning - and would be a bit of a showstopper in a contemporary interior.
Like my other two works by her in the store - this is an exceptionally large and dramatic original print. It is an early work by her and dates to the late 1980s. The work is obviously influenced by Piranesi's Carceri or Prisons series. Her fine work at this time led to her being awarded a scholarship at the British School in Rome, the following year. This one looks to Piranesi's Plate 5 (The Lion Bas-Reliefs) and Plate 8 (The Staircase) for her initial inspiration.
The work shows a strange interior of a building - all the architectural elements form geometric shapes with a contrast in the dark sooty black drypoint areas and the dazzling white colour of the paper. The architecture is Gothic in feel and fits in with many gloomy Scottish interiors. Ganter's use of dark shadows fits in well with the haunting atmosphere in Piranesi's prisons. I love the big black globe which takes up most of the central section of the print. With so many details in this work - you will never get bored of looking at it.
This technically superb etching comes from a small edition. All the etched and thick drypoint lines are crisp and dark - and it is a beautiful example. These early pieces by Ganter are hard to find - and I can only find three similar works which are in the collection of Edinburgh University.
Dimensions: Image is 89.5 x 60 cm. Frame Size is 96.5 x 66.5 cm
Jo would regularly come in to view the fine set of Piranesi etchings in the Print Room of the National Gallery of Scotland, She brought in groups and used these works as teaching devices to show her students technical accomplishments by one of the greatest printmakers.
This one is currently FRAMED. But it can be removed from its frame if you wish it posted to you in the UK. There are no discounts if we have to spend time unframing - but unframed we will offer a free UK postage service. We can deliver to you FRAMED (as photographed) in the Edinburgh Area.
Jo Ganter was born in Yorkshire in 1963. In 1983 moved to Edinburgh to attend Edinburgh College of Art. She graduated in 1988 - the date of this print - which was probably one of her graduation works. The same year she received a John Kinross Scholarship to study for three months in Tuscany.
From 1989-1890, she was a Scholar at The British School of Rome. She returned to Scotland and continued her artistic career while teaching at the Glasgow School of Art before joining Edinburgh College of Art as a member of staff in 1995. In 1992, she became a member of the Glasgow Print Studio.
She received a Boise Scholarship and Fellowship from the KALA Arts Institute in 1994. These allowed her to travel and work in print studios in New York and Berkeley for six months. In 2003, she was elected as a full member of the Royal Scottish Academy.
She is a prestigious internationally respected artist - and has had many solo exhibitions, including A.I.R. Gallery in New York in 2000, The Talbot Rice Gallery in 2003, and the Academy Gallery, Vilnius, Lithuania in 2011.
In 2010 she was invited to work at George Mason University in Washington and at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where she was a professor in 2011.
Jo has published numerous articles in journals on printmaking and pedagogical issues surrounding craft and art.
This is an exceptionally rare and early artist's proof by the artist - the image goes right up to the edge of the paper sheet - so there is no room for a signature in the margin or edition number. It is in its original frame - with her name and address in Leith are quickly scrawled on the back, as photographed.
It is of museum quality and should be in a specialist collection as an important work in the history of Scottish contemporary printmaking. The price reflects its early date, its status as an artist's proof, and probably as a very rare survivor from a tiny edition. It is a very fair price for such a large and stunning contemporary Scottish artwork.
Jo's work is already in prestigious collections including the British Museum, in London, the Hunterian Gallery in Glasgow, New York Public Library, and the Ashmolean in Oxford.