Michael Rothenstein Artist Printmaker

About

The Albany Gallery is delighted to present a unique collection of prints of the work of Michael Rothenstein, who was perhaps the most experimental British graphic artist of the 20th century. The exhibition has been curated by Rothenstein’s estate holder, the Goldmark Gallery. The exhibition is accompanied by a major new illustrated book, written by Mel Gooding and published by Goldmark.

Mike Goldmark founder of the Goldmark Gallery adds. “We are delighted that Cardiff will see this quite exceptional international class exhibition. These prints embody the same excitement and daring that galvanised their production: rich in colour and spectacularly textured, they represent an artist exploding the boundaries of traditional printmaking. This will be an exciting exhibition.”

Michael Rothenstein [1908-93] was the son of artist Sir William Rothenstein and his brother John was Director of the Tate Gallery. He studied art at Chelsea Polytechnic and the Central School of Arts before settling in rural Essex. Rothenstein produced landscape watercolours and drawings throughout the 1920s. The combination of a rare glandular illness, which stayed with him until 1940, and debilitating depression meant that Rothenstein exhibited very little at this time and his stylistic development came slowly. It was in the late 1940s that he turned to print making and it was to become his abiding obsession until his death. 

In the 1950s Rothenstein attended the avant-garde Atelier 17 print studio in Paris and his work was constantly evolving through the 1960s and beyond. He made numerous mixed media prints, often using abstract symbols, and his colour woodcuts and linocuts won international recognition. This, combined with his outstanding lithographs and screen prints, confirmed Rothenstein’s position at the very forefront of the 20th century British printmaking renaissance.

Michael Rothenstein’s work is held by many important public collections including the Tate Gallery, the Victoria and Albert Museum, The British Museum and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. A Royal Academician and respected lecturer, Michael Rothenstein died at his Essex home in 1993 and the Goldmark Gallery administers his estate.