Prentiss Taylor (1907-1991)
Prentiss Taylor is probably best known for his surreal composition through the medium of lithography. He was born in Washington, DC and early in his career lived in New York City. There he began a collaboration and friendship with the poet Langston Hughes, illustrated several of Hughes's works and himself participated in the Harlem Renaissance movement. He also began an association with the master printers George Miller & Son who printed most of Taylor's stones. He returned to the Washington, DC area to live in 1935. Taylor traveled extensively and his work reflected a regional character. He spent a great of time in the Charleston, SC area and produced a group of prints that captured the feel and mystique of the time. His work in the American Southwest depicts a grandness of scenery coupled with his usual quasi- realistic mystery. His work is in the collections of numerous institutions, a few of which are: The Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of American Art; The Phillips Collection; Gibbes Museum of Art; Museum of New Mexico; The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Whitney Museum of American Art and Greenville County Museum of Art.
Towards Santa Fe. Lithograph & Lithotint. 11 7/8 x 15 3/4. 1958. Edition 25. Rose & Quiroz 98. Reproduced in Printmaking in New Mexico, 1880-1990 by Clinton Adams.
Morelia Aqueduct. Lithograph 11 x 15. 1942. Ed. 35 Pencil signed, titled, dated March 1942, noted 35 prints, inscribed ' PT-24'. Rose & Quiroz 62.Wove paper.Illustrated in Albert Reese's, American Prize Prints of the 20th Century p. 198, it depicts a well-known aqueduct in the colonial town of Morelia, Mexico.It was included in the 1948 Smithsonian Institution exhibition entitled Lithographs of Prentiss Taylor.
Shrimp Boats, Ocracoke. Lithograph. 11 x 15 3/4. 1958. Edition 25. Pencil signed, titled, and dated. Inscribed '25 prints'. Rose & Quiroz 97.Wove paper. Ocracoke is one of the barrier islands on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
Saint Helena's Beaufort. Lithograph. 13 3/4 x 11 1/8. 1934. Edition 25. Pencil signed, titled, and dated. Inscribed ‘25 prints’. Rose & Quiroz 38. Wove paper. Reproduced in the April 1939 issue of Coronet Magazine, and included in the 1948 Smithsonian Institution exhibition Lithographs of Prentiss Taylor. Also reproduced in Art in South Carolina 1670-1970, Carolina Art Association, 1970 # 273 p. 93. Carl Zigrosser selected this print for a Civil War exhibit, considering it a typical representation of South Carolina's sea island region.
