Blue Sky Press's fourth portfolio addresses the reproductive print from the perspective of the 21st century. The eleven selected artists were asked to translate their choice of work, by artists of previous centuries from 16th to early 20th, staying true to the original but to approach the work with a contemporary eye.
The main purpose of reproductive engraving was to transcribe a painted image as truly as possible. In the 18th century, new collectors emerged from the middle class. Unable to afford an original painting or a rare print, they were drawn to the affordability of reproductive engravings. In the earliest years of reproductive engraving, the images were faithful translations of a source work. With time, collectors viewed an image more as a representation of the original source work than a true copy. Given free reign for this project, the Translations artists created unique interpretations, yet retain the intent of the original work.
Artists included in this portfolio and the works they are translating are Sherry Smith Bell / Whistler; Jean Burg / Pissarro; Ann Chernow / Le Brun; Eduardo Fausti / Durer; Xenia Fedorchenko / Bosch; Stephen A. Fredericks / Cole; Mitchell Friedman / Tintoretto; Yuji Hiratsuka / Munch; Alan J. Larkin / Hunt; Dan Miller / Durer; and James Reed / Boudin. The eleven prints and their accompanying inspirations (reprodcued using the giclee method and including the artist's statement underneath the image) are enclosed in a handbound clamshell box by Sabina U. Nies of SUN Book Arts. Accompanying the prints is a foreward by Ira H. Latour, Professor Emeritus, Chico State University, as well as a Curator's Statement by Sherry Smith Bell and Ann Chernow.