Il Bisonte - for the study of printmaking

MISSION

Il Bisonte is synonimuos of printmaking. With its preacious heritage of art, knowledge, craftsmanship and tradition to be transferred to the new generations of talents. Il Bisonte rappresents one of the highest education sites and the meeting point for artists from all over the world. Here, the treasures of knowledge are respected and handed down by educating young artist with an open, customized, and less  conformational didactic system. While losing them in their contemporaneity and showing them how to grasp the expressive outcomes of their time without staining the noblest tradition.

HISTORY

The foundation was established in order to keep alive and to teach the traditional printmaking techniques, promoting the taste for printmaking and art prints and contributing to the studies and research in this field. The school has inherited the tradition of the print workshop of the same name, which was founded in 1959 and is housed in the atmospheric ancient former stables of Palazzo Serristori in San Niccolò, one of the Oltrarno’s most picturesque and lively neighbourhoods. Situated in the historic city centre, it is just a short walk away from the Ponte Vecchio, the Uffizi Gallery and Piazzale Michelangelo. Following the 1966 Arno flood, which caused serious damage to the business, a series of international ties were forged, which were to last many years: Henry Moore, Alexander Calder, Jacques Lipchitz, Sebastian Matta, Graham Sutherland, Rufino Tamayo and Pablo Picasso were invited to work at Il Bisonte, using the ancient star-wheel presses now available for student use.  Objective of our courses is to impart to our students a command of art that combines “know how” with talent in a manner which allows them to utilise both their craftsmanship as well as their artistic gift, our teaching method is based on practical workshops, where the key theoretical notions are immediately rendered concrete under the supervision of the teacher. The teachers will help the students to refine their “tool-box” so to have the maximum freedom in expression thanks to a secure and experienced knowledge of the printmaking techniques.