Call Number:

Item 0195

Repository:

University of Delaware Library Special Collections

Extent:

1 item (1 portfolio, 8 pages)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

MSS 0097 Item 0195, Donald Robert Lettis, "Intaglio Method of Printmaking" manual, Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware.

Date:

between 1951-1987 (inclusive)

Creator:

Lettis, Donald Robert, 1925-2014

Form:

Manuals (instructional materials), Portfolios (containers), Etchings (prints), Engravings (prints), Engraving (printing process), and Aquatint (printing process)

Abstract:

Donald Robert (Bob) Lettis (1925-2014) was an American artist and educator who taught printmaking and art education at Massachusetts College of Art in Boston from 1966 to 1987. "Intaglio Method of Printmaking" is a portfolio handcrafted by Lettis of his manuscript instructions for creating engravings, etchings, and drypoint prints. The manual contains descriptions of seven intaglio processes and incorporates the author's own printing plates and prints as examples.

Donald Robert (Bob) Lettis (1925-2014) was an American artist and educator. Lettis was born and raised in Cooperstown, New York. After graduating high school in 1943, he enlisted in the United States Army and served in Europe in World War II. After his honorable discharge in 1946, Lettis returned to Cooperstown and enrolled in the Art Education Program at Syracuse University. He married Grace Annamay (Gae) Carlsen in 1947. In 1950, he was called back to the Army during the Korean Conflict and served in Germany. After his second discharge from service in 1951, Lettis taught art in Worcester and Schenevus Central Schools and Cooperstown Central School in New York until 1964. He received his Master of Fine Arts degree from Pratt Institute in New York City in 1966. Lettis taught printmaking and art education at Massachusetts College of Art in Boston for the next twenty-one years where he served as Vice President of Academic Affairs and Chairman of the Art Education Department. He retired as Professor Emeritus in 1987. He received numerous awards as an artist during his lifetime, including second prize at a 1966 Westchester Art Association show in New York, the 1967 purchase prize at the Cooperstown Art Association in New York, and the 1982 Best in Show award at the Hull Art Festival in Massachusetts.

Donald Robert Lettis (born July 29, 1925), American artist, educator | World Biographical Encyclopedia. Accessed October 28, 2020. https://prabook.com/web/donald_robert.lettis/769189 Donald Lettis | Obituary | The Daily Star. Accessed October 28, 2020. https://obituaries.thedailystar.com/obituary/donald-lettis-733230462

"Intaglio Method of Printmaking" is a portfolio handcrafted by Lettis of his manuscript instructions for creating engravings, etchings, and drypoint prints. The manual contains descriptions of seven intaglio processes and incorporates the author'sLettis' own printing plates and prints as examples. The processes described in the manual include relief etching, engraving, drypoint, hard ground etching, soft ground etching, aquatint, and lift ground etching. The manual consists of eight boards loosely bound in a portfolio cover engraved on the interior with an additional print by Lettis.