Sheets of paper serve as a surface for all kinds of art and print applications from commercial printing to fine printmaking. Paper manufacturers of fine art papers have developed standardized archival paper for every type of surface, absorbency, and printing need, from lithography to photography to letterpress. Most standardized papers are produced in a limited selection, whereas hand papermakers can produce smaller quantities of custom-designed paper for each technical requirement and aesthetic specification. Dieu Donné has worked with numerous artists, printers, and publishers to create artist-designed paper for a wide range of projects from fine print editions to limited editions of artists’ books. Fine art prints and artists’ books published by Dieu Donné Press and by Dieu Donné Papermill, or in collaboration with other publishers, are conceived from the paper up.
Robert Blackburn,Sunday Afternoon (Signed Proof), 2000.
Collaborators: Pat Almonrode and Lee Running.
Robert Blackburn was one of the early print pioneers at ULAE (Universal Limited Art Editions) and the founder of what is now called EFA Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop. As a mentor, he championed young artists at the Printmaking Workshop and young papermakers at Dieu Donné. As a master printer and collaborator, he printed historic works with landmark artists such as Robert Rauschenberg. In this printed edition of his own art, Blackburn worked with Dieu Donné collaborators to design custom paper to complement his etching.
Published by Dieu Donné Papermill. Printed by Kelly Driscoll and Aleksandar Duravcevic (D2 Press, Brooklyn).
Edition of 75.
Courtesy of Dieu Donné Papermill, NY.
Robert Gober,Untitled,2000-2001.
Collaborator: Megan Moorhouse.
Robert Gober commissioned the custom handmade paper for the prints Untitled, his edition of news headlines. Dieu Donné collaborator Megan Moorhouse fabricated the paper to look like newspaper clippings with specific creases, folds, coloring, and torn edges.
Published by the artist. Printed by Todd Norsten.
Edition of 15.
April Gornik,Halang Bay,2004.
Collaborator: Megan Moorhouse.
Working at Dieu Donné, April Gornick designed linen pulp painted washes on cotton base sheets as “underpaintings” to enhance her etched landscape in Halang Bay.
Printed by Julia D’Amario, assisted by Kathy Kuehn.
Edition of 75, 4 AP.
Richard Polsky,Untitled,2002.
John Shorb,Thom’s Letters,2023.
In Thom’s Letters, John Shorb plays with the idea of printed versus handwritten text as a visual element on paper. Instead of writing or printing with ink on a dry surface of paper, his letters are hand painted with pulp, wet into wet, on a fresh base sheet so that the message and the messenger are one.
In the book Receiver, William Kentridge translated his iconic imagery into etchings, photogravures, and dry points. His imagery accompanies Nobel Laureate poet Wisława Szymborska’s poems on custom designed translucent and opaque abaca paper.
“Often the paper insists it is not just a receiver of the plate, but an interlocutor,” says Kentridge. For him, paper is not a passive surface—it plays and partners directly with numerous printmaking methods that he employs in the book.
Published by Dieu Donné Press with Galamander Press. Images printed by Randy Hemminghaus, assisted by Paul Loughney and Kristen Cavagnet (Rutgers Center for Innovative Print and Paper).Typography and letterpress by Ruth Lingen.
Edition of 50 + 25 proofs.
Frederic Amat, Mark Strand, Robert Wilson,Seven Days,2013.
Collaborators: Susan Gosin and Paul Wong.
Artists Frederic Amat and Robert Wilson responded to Mark Strand’s poem “Seven Days.” Robert Wilson wrote the poems in his signature calligraphic writing, which was turned into a font to be letterpress printed on custom Dieu Donné paper. Frederic Amat designed vibrantly colored painted interpretations of the poem that were reproduced as oil-based silkscreen prints.
Published by Dieu Donné Press, Inc. Silkscreen by Oriol Treserra and Xavier Todó (Taller Valirana, Barcelona).Letterpress by Peter Kruty.Typeface (Strand Serif) by Russell Maret.Design by Susan Gosin and Estela Robels.Bound by Ángels Arroyo.
Edition 15 of 35 + 15 AP.
Abby Leigh,One Evening,2012.
Collaborators: Susan Gosin and Paul Wong.
Abby Leigh worked with Laura Oxendine to custom design a “smoke” font to illuminate lines of Auden’s poem. She worked with Randy Hemminghaus to create evocative images printed on the translucent abaca paper.
Images printed by Randy Hemminghaus and Kristen Cavagnet (Brodsky Center for Innovative Editions). Letterpress by Peter Kruty and Sayre Gaydos. “smoke” text designed by Laura Oxendine. Bound by Barabara Mauriello.
Edition of 30 + 10 AP. Published by Dieu Donné Press, Inc.
