In s3e6, Platemark host Ann Shafer talks with Bill Hall, master printer (retired) at Pace Prints for nearly thirty years. His earliest years in New York were spent working at the legendary Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop. After his arrival at Pace Prints, his intaglio skills were honed under the tutelage of Aldo Crommelynck, the legendary printer of many of Picasso’s late prints. At Pace, he was in charge of the intaglio area bringing those talents to bear on prints by legendary artists like Jim Dine, Helen Frankenthaler, Chuck Close, Robert Mangold, and Tara Donovan. Bill is a soft-spoken, southern gentleman and an artist in his own right. Now retired from Pace, Bill and his wife, Sara, live in Asheville, NC. His work is represented by Momentum Gallery in Asheville.

Robert Blackburn, 1987 (photo by Peter Bellamy).

Marjorie Van Dyke and artist Richard Giglio at VanDeb Editions, 2021.

Robert Blackburn (American, 1920–2003). Heavy Forms (Pink Version), 1958. Color crayon and brush and tusche lithograph. Sheet: 565 x 483 mm. (22 1/4 x 19 in.); image: 498 x 400 mm. (19 5/8 x 15 3/4 in.). Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD.

Robert Blackburn (American, 1920–2003). Heavy Forms (Brown Version), 1961. Color crayon and brush and tusche lithograph. Sheet: 489 x 562 mm. (19 1/4 x 22 1/8 in.); image: 403 x 498 mm. (15 7/8 x 19 5/8 in.). Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD.

Robert Blackburn (American, 1920–2003). Woodscape, 1984. Color woodcut. Sheet: 486 x 613 mm. (19 1/8 x 24 1/8 in.); image: 305 x 384 mm. (12 x 15 1/8 in.). Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD.

Printer Joe Wilfer at John Chamberlain’s studio in Sarasota, FL, 1990 (photo by Bill Hall).

Jim Dine (American, born 1935). Published by Pace Editions. Raven on Lebanese Border, 2000. Softground etching and woodcut with white hand coloring. Sheet: 781 × 864 mm. (30 3/4 × 34 in.); plate: 676 × 768 mm. (26 5/8 × 30 1/4 in.). Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD.

Left–right: Aldo Crommelynck, Bill Hall, Pep Crommelynck, Ruth Lingen, Julia D’Amario, and Clemins Buntig.

Jim Dine (American, born 1935). Published by Pace Editions. The Five Hammer Études, 2007. Etching, drypoint, aquatint, and power tools on five joined sheets of paper. Sheet: 751 x 2564 mm. (29 9/16 x 100 15/16 in.); plate: 593 x 2420 mm. (23 3/8 x 95 1/4 in.). Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD.

Bill Hall pulls out a Jim Dine matrix at Pace Prints, 2008 (photo by Ann Shafer).

Tara Donovan (American, born 1969). Published by Pace Editions. Untitled, 2006. Relief print from rubber band matrix. Image: 36 3/4 x 25 in. (93.3 x 63.5 cm.); sheet: 38 1/2 x 25 1/2 in.  (97.8 x 64.8 cm.). Krakow Witkin Gallery, Boston, MA.

Bill Hall pulls out a Tara Donovan matrix at Pace Prints, 2008 (photo by Ann Shafer).

Tara Donovan (American, born 1969). Published by Pace Editions. Untitled, 2004. Etching from bubbles. Plate: 12 x 12 in.; sheet: 14 x 14 in. Greg Kucera Gallery, Seattle, WA.

Tara Donovan (American, born 1969). Published by Pace Editions. Untitled, 2006. Relief print from rubber band matrix. Sheet: 978 × 660 mm. (38 1/2 × 26 in.); image: 927 × 629 mm. (36 1/2 × 24 3/4 in.). Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD.

Chuck Close (American, 1940–2021). Published by Pace Editions. Emma, 2002. Woodcut in the Ukiyo-e style. 43 x 35 in. (109.2 x 88.9 cm.).

Printer Yasu Shibata at Pace Prints.

Chuck Close (American, 1940–2021). Published by Pace Editions. Self Portrait/Scribble/Etching, 2000. Color softground etching. Sheet: 18 3/10 × 15 1/5 in. (46.4 × 38.7 cm.).

Arturo Herrera (Venezuelan, born 1959). Richard, 2012. Published by Pace Editions. Collage with elements of relief, etching, digital, collograph, pochoir, and screenprint on felt. 141.8 x 121.4 cm.

Chuck Close (American, 1940–2021). Published by Pace Editions. Self Portrait/Pulp/Pochoir, 2000. Paper pulp and pochoir. Sheet: 25 3/16 x 19 5/16 in. (64 x 49 cm.). Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Chuck Close (American, 1940–2021). Published by Pace Editions. Self Portrait/Spitbite, 1988. Spitbite etching. Sheet: 20 ½ x 15 5/8 in.

[DETAIL] Chuck Close (American, 1940–2021). Published by Pace Editions. Self Portrait/Spitbite, 1988. Spitbite etching. Sheet: 20 ½ x 15 5/8 in.

Printers Bill Hall and Julia D’Amario working on a Chuck Close spitbite etching at Pace Prints.

Artist Chuck Close working at Pace Prints.

| James Turrell (American, born 1943). Published by Pace Editions. Suite from Aten Reign, 2014. Set of three aquatints. Sheet (each): 34 ¾ x 22 in.

Ghada Amer and Reza Farkhondeh (Egyptian, born 1963; Iranian, born 1963). Published by Pace Editions. Waiting for Tarzan, 2008. Woodcut and linoleum cut with silk tissue papers (unique). Sheet: 37 x 49 in.; image: 36 x 48 in.

Helen Frankenthaler (American, 1928–2011). Published by Pace Editions. Book of Clouds, 2007. Aquatint etching, woodcut, and pochoir with hand coloring. Sheet: 35 5/8 x 68 1/4 in.

Robert Mangold (American, born 1937). Published by Pace Editions. Plane/Figure Series, Folded I–IV, 1993. Set of four etching, softground etching, and aquatints. Sheet (each): 22 ½ x 30 in.

Bill Hall (American, born 1947). Shake the Table. John C-II, 2022. Etching and collage. 11 x 8 in. Momentum Gallery, Asheville, NC.

Bill Hall (American, born 1947) and Amy Pirkle with poems by Sara Hughes. Close to Home, 2011. Bound volume with aquatints (Hall) reduction linoleum cuts (Pirkle) and letterpress text (Hughes).9 ½ x 11 in. Combo Press.

Artist Jim Dine with printers at Pace Prints, 2010, left–right: Kathy Kuehn, Ann Aspinwall, Jim Dine, Bill Hall, Justin Israels, and Mae Shore.

USEFUL LINKS

Bill’s website: www.billhallartwork.com

Bill’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bill_is_in/

Bill’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bill.hall.5

Video of Bill Hall and Sarah Carpenter talking about printing etchings for James Turrell.