Cataloging the Corcoran Collection: The Story of American Print Publishing

Mason McClew, prints and drawings cataloger for the Corcoran Collection, department of American and modern prints and drawings. Traditionally, print publishers in the United States have been relegated to ancillary positions in art-historical discussions concerning the production of multiples by artists and printers. Mason McClew traces the development of fine art publishing through his experience cataloging the American works on paper recently acquired from the Corcoran Gallery of Art, illuminating little-known, yet influential figures who encouraged consumers to collect prints. In this lecture on November 5, 2018, as part of the Works in Progress Lecture Series at the National Gallery of Art, McClew discusses the rise of American print publishers in the art market from the Federalist era to the present by contextualizing significant examples from the Corcoran Collection with other notable works in the Gallery’s permanent collection.