We talk to Tamie Cornwall-Jones about the rich history of Petersburg Press

It was through Mark that Paul met David Hockney, then a student at the Royal College of Art but already a presence on the London art scene. When Paul was invited to see the 16 etchings he was working on titled ‘A Rake’s Progress’ he asked Hockney if he could publish them in an edition of 50, offering the then princely sum of £5000 which enabled Hockney to live in California for a year. 

Today this group of work is one of his most highly prized. Other projects ensued with British painters and sculptors such as Richard Hamilton, Eduardo Paolozzi, Allen Jones, Richard Smith and Robyn Denny. Paul’s interest then expanded to include young American artists with whom he began to work including Jim Dine, Claes Oldenburg, Frank Stella and Roy Lichtenstein. In parallel with this program Alecto was publishing British topographical artists and printmakers. In 1967, there was a parting of the ways as Studholme and other executive directors did not wish to pursue the artists Paul had introduced to the program.

Paul had no plans to continue publishing, but artists began asking if he would help them complete projects which had been abandoned by Alecto as well as to work together on new projects. Hence Petersburg Press was born.

Q: Was it a collaborative process between the artists and the Press?

A: Absolutely. Artists were invited to work and potential projects were discussed. Careful attention was paid as to which collaborative printer would best suit a particular artist as well as to the environment in which the artist would feel most comfortable, or indeed challenged to make new work. Petersburg had its own studios in London and New York but in addition set up dedicated studios for individual artists: in the case of Frank Stella, in his house in New York City and for Jim Dine, in Vermont. Lithography master printer Maurice Sanchez worked exclusively for James Rosenquist in Rosenquist’s studio in Easthampton. 

Many also worked under our auspices elsewhere. In 1973, when Picasso died, Aldo Crommelynck, the etching printer with whom Picasso had worked exclusively for years, left his studio in Mougins, near Picasso in the south of France, returning to his studio on the rue de Grenelle in Paris. Richard Hamilton asked Paul if he could work with Crommelynck on an etching he planned as a homage to Picasso. This was arranged, and soon thereafter other artists including David Hockney, Jim Dine and Howard Hodgkin also visited the studio and created etchings, which we published.

When Petersburg approached Jasper Johns in 1975 proposing he make images to accompany Samuel Beckett texts Paul also suggested that he collaborate with Crommelynck. At that time Johns had been working almost exclusively in the medium of lithography, so this was new territory for him.

Crommelynck, described by The Guardian at the time of his death as ‘the pre-eminent printer’ of the second half of the twentieth century, and Jasper Johns, one of the most acclaimed artists of the same period, worked well together and forged a strong working relationship. Foirades/Fizzles 1976, which included 33 etchings, was the result, and is considered today as one of the most important post war livres d’artiste books. It was exhibited and acquired by multiple museums worldwide.

In 1982 when David Hockney began to create photo collages we set up a studio in Los Angeles convenient to where Hockney was living. We had a team of 5 who were printing and assembling each of the series of 42 images which were then simultaneously exhibited in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, London and Tokyo.

The contribution of the printer is often underestimated but is key to enabling the artist to execute a work to his or her vision. Artists such as Rene Ricard, Michele Zalopany, Francesco Clemente and Michael Hurson were given free rein in Petersburg’s New York studio on Lafayette Street to create work in multiple mediums.

Q: The Press set an impeccable standard for lithographic print, could you tell us about your ethos?

A: I think the ethos was to provide the artist with the best possible facilities and highest quality of materials; then promote the work to the widest possible audience, arranging exhibitions in museums and galleries.

We considered it essential to allow the artist to take the time needed for the best outcome. There was no scheduling of the studios. Frank Stella’s series of ten ‘Polar Co-ordinates’, 1980 took two years and required the assistance of two or three printers throughout the project.

Collaborative printers were key. Their technical mastery was essential, but so were their problem-solving capabilities; their creativity in determining how the artist could attain his/her desired effect. During the development of Francesco Clemente’s ambitious book, ‘The Departure of the Argonaut’, 1986, a printer spent days formulating how best to achieve a watercolour-like luminosity for many of the images, even working in his own kitchen to experiment with melting the pigments together. In one of the lithographs Clemente was looking to devise a snakeskin texture, and in a stroke of genius, a printer ran down to a wallet-maker on another floor of the building and secured a scrap of snakeskin leather. The texture was transferred with graphite to mylar on which Clemente then drew and painted.

Petersburg took the view that prints were important to promoting the artist. Whereas painting or sculpture could be seen only in a very few galleries, the nature of prints as multiples (and at a more affordable price) could be more easily seen and acquired internationally. In order to achieve this our sales team travelled extensively across Europe, the U.S., East Asia, South Africa and Australia carrying prints in portfolios to show to galleries, collectors and museums which led to reaching a new audience, placing work in museum collections and organising museum and gallery exhibitions.