President’s letter
In my first letter I mentioned Il Bisonte. ”Il Bisonte” is a graphic arts school located in Florence where traditional printing methods are taught. The Il Bisonte building is in the Oltrarno (meaning “across the Arno”). It offers long and short courses. An acquaintance of mine told me that she booked a one day course a few weeks ago (although having done so, she then wagged school because she wanted to see the horse race in the square in Siena).
The school was established in the 1959 by Maria Luigia Guaita a woman who was active in the Italian resistance movement in WW2. If you Google her name there is a You Tube clip of her. She died in 2007. In the 1960’s the building was badly damaged in the Arno flood. The refurbishment was supported by a number of international artists…Picasso and Henry Moore to mention just two. Lithographic stones drawn by those two are hanging casually, not to say carelessly, one in the open courtyard and the other in the foyer which is often open to the street.
I went to Il Bisonte in April this year. One of the studios had been hired by the Sydney printmaking sisters Annie Day and Robin Ezra. They are great artists, great printmakers, great teachers and great fun. Over two weeks, under the sisters tutelage, the small group of Australians in the class mastered the technique of “ waterless” lithography, non toxic etching and, equally important, the technique of ordering lasagne and mellanzane from a nearby Forno during the lunch break. I particularly liked the walk to work each morning which took me past Perseus holding up the head of Medusa, along the banks of the Arno and across the Ponte della Grazie looking back at the Ponte Vecchio. I preferred it to my usual journey to work along Stirling highway.
Below is a lithograph printed on one of the Il Bisonte presses from an aluminium plate. I will mention something about the waterless lithography technique in a future newsletter.
Il Bisonte has a website. See www.ilbisonte.it.
Annie Day and Robin Ezra have their own excellent website.
See www.annieday.com.au
Until next time, happy printmaking
Chris Pullin
