Portland Public Library hosts “Master Prints and Master Printers” exhibit presented by Don Gorvett Galleries on May 5 through 27 in the Lewis Gallery.

Opening: Friday, May 5 from 5:00-8:00pm

“Print making remains the chamber music of the visual arts” Don Gorvett.

Maine artist and master print maker Don Gorvett along with master printer Robert Townsend will be exhibiting selected contemporary prints at the Lewis Gallery at the Portland Public Library May 5 - 27. This exhibition is organized through Mr. Gorvett’s Perkins Cove Gallery in Ogunquit, ME. Included in the show are the prints of Don Gorvett, Alex Katz, Yvonne Jacquette, Jim Dine, Peter Milton, Aaron Fink, Sidney Hurwitz, Liz Shea as well as the monumental linocuts of New York artist Karen Whitman and the etchings of Richard Pentell. The exhibition will illustrate the span and breadth of contemporary print making at its best. 

Mr. Gorvett arrived in Ogunquit Maine is 1968. He spent his initial summers painting outdoors and making prints on his small portable etching press, which was brought with him from his winter residence in Gloucester Ma. In 1990 Mr. Gorvett became a year round resident in Ogunquit. It was at this time his interest in making woodcuts became paramount to his creativity. Much of Don’s work revolves around the waterfronts and he soon began drawing excursions to the near-by river city of Portsmouth, NH. He opened his first gallery, Piscataqua Fine Arts, in Portsmouth in 2006 and a few years later, Black Bear Gallery in Ogunquit. Mr Gorvett is a long standing member of the Barn Gallery in Ogunquit and several of his works are in the permanent collection of the Ogunquit Museum of American Art.

Both Piscataqua Fine Arts and Perkins Cove Gallery have an active internship program with regional colleges and universities. Mr Gorvett holds workshop and provided instruction and lectures at schools. His large color woodcuts maybe found in the Addison Gallery of American Art, The Boston Athenaeum, Currier Museum of Art, The Farnsworth Art Museum, The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge University, The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, The Peabody Essex Museum, Smith College Museum of Art, Worcester Art Museum and other public and private collections. 

Over the years, Mr Gorvett has developed a close working relationship with master printer Robert Townsend of RE Townsend Studios of Georgetown Ma. Bob Townsend has spent decades of collaborating with artists and exploring a wide variety of printing techniques. His early career was spent at Impressions Workshop in Boston and in the early 80’s he opened his own studio in Georgetown MA. He has been a visiting instructor at the Fine Arts Works Center in Provincetown, Graphics Studio at University of South Florida, Carpenter Center at Harvard University and other schools.