Press Release for PRESSED ON PAPER: FISH RUBBINGS AND NATURE PRINTS

The renewed interest by American artists in the ancient art of nature printing is celebrated in an exhibit opening at (venue location) on (start date). The exhibit continues through (end date).

Nature prints are produced by applying ink or pigment to a plant, leaf, fish, shell, rock or other natural history object and then placing a piece of paper over the object and rubbing the paper. The result is a striking image that simply and precisely captures the subtle and graceful beauty of nature.

The 55 works on view, representing 26 printmakers from the United States and Canada, was organized by the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History and the Nature Printing Society. It is the largest and most comprehensive selection of nature prints by American artists ever assembled. The exhibit is being circulated throughout the United States under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES).

Impressions of plants and fishes have been produced for centuries in all parts of the world. Plant printing flourished in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries when the method was used to illustrate herbals and other books on plant life. The techniques of fish printing, or gyotaku, were developed in the Orient in the early 1800s as a means of recording a fisherman's catch.

With the invention of the halftone process and the advent of photographs, many nature printing techniques were lost and forgotten. But in recent years, techniques have been discovered and refined into a highly sophisticated and unique American art form.

SITES is a program activity of the Smithsonian Institution that organizes and circulates exhibitions on art, history, and science to institutions in the United States and abroad. For further information, please contact: SITES (202) 357-3168.

See the original poster for the show.

(original itinerary)
Booking Periods and Locations

North American Tour

1981
April 4 - May 31
National Museum of Natural History
Smithsonian Institution, Wash., D.C., USA

June 27 - September 13
American Museum of Natural History
New York, New York, USA

October 3 - November 1
Bell Museum of Natural History
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

1982
February 27 - March 28
Carnegie Museum of Natural History
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

April 17 - May 16
Museums at Sunrise
Charleston, West Virginia, USA

July 24 - August 22
Minnesota Zoo
Apple Valley, Minnesota, USA

September 11 - October 10
National Museum of National Sciences
Ontario, Ontario, CANADA

October 30 - November 28
Gordon Library, Worcester Polytechnic
Worcester, Mass., USA

December 18 - January 16, 1983
Texas Memorial Museum
Austin, Texas, USA

1983
February 5 - March 6
Guild Hall Museum
East Hampton, New York, USA

March 26 - April 24
University of Minnesota, Fine Arts Ctr.
Morris, Minnesota, USA

May 14 - June 12
Science Museum of Virginia
Richmond, Virginia, USA

July 2 - September 18
California Academy of Sciences
San Francisco, California, USA
(see the original article from the museum magazine)

October 8 - December 25
Pacific Science Center
Seattle, Washington, USA

1984
January 14 - February 12
University of Alaska
Fairbanks, Alaska, USA

March 3 - April 1
Monongalia Arts Center
Morgantown, West Virginia, USA

April 21 - May 20
Toledo Zoo
Toledo, Ohio, USA

July 28 - August 26
Provincial Museum of Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta, CANADA

September 15 - October 14
Natural History Museum of L. A. County
Los Angeles, California, USA

November 3 - February 23, 1985
Boston Museum of Science
Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Australian Tour

1985
June – August
Australia Museum
Sydney, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA

September – November
Museum of Victoria
Melbourne, Victoria, AUSTRALIA

1986
January – February
Northern Territory Museum of Arts & Sciences
Darwin, Northern Territories, AUSTRALIA

April – June
Western Australian Museum
Perth, Western Australia, AUSTRALIA

July – August
Tasmanian Museum & Art Gallery
Hobart, Tasmania, AUSTRALIA

September – October
Queen Victoria Museum & Art Gallery
Launceston, Victoria, AUSTRALIA

no. of pieces: 80
weight: 975 lbs.
running meters: 65 est. (200 ft. est.)
no. of crates: 2