This week Miranda speaks with journalist and author Holly E. J. Black to talk about her wonderful new book, The Story of Printmaking: A Global History of Art.
If you've ever wished there were a single book that told the story of printmaking, from its origins in East Asia to the contemporary artists pushing the medium forward today, this is that book. Holly manages to tell thousands of years of history without losing sight of what makes printmaking so compelling in the first place: the people, the processes, and the stories behind the prints.
Holly isn't just an art historian or an author. She trained as a printmaker herself, and that practical knowledge comes through on every page. They talk about why printmaking is so difficult to define, the forgotten printers and publishers who shaped art history, Renaissance lawsuits over copied prints, propaganda, politics, Paula Rego, Robert Blackburn, Atelier 17, and why understanding how a print is made is often just as important as understanding why it was made.
They also end up taking a detour into AI, journalism, and why there's something deeply satisfying about reading a book written by someone who clearly spent years in libraries, archives, and print studios rather than asking a chatbot to summarize the internet.
Holly's Substack
Holly's Website
Holly's Instagram
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