June Wayne, the Art of Everything

Book excerpt: Since her first solo exhibition in 1935 at the age of seventeen, June Wayne has achieved legendary status among twentieth-century American artists. Best known today for her work in and influence on printmaking and fine-art lithography, one of her most renowned achievements was the founding of the Tamarind Lithography Workshop in 1959. Under her direction, this workshop became one of the most important focal points of a general revival of printmaking in the United States - a revival that gave many other famous artists, including Willem de Kooning, Louise Nevelson, and Ed Ruscha, an opportunity to experiment in this format. Her own spectacular prints earned her the estimable title the incontestable pioneer of contemporary lithography. But Wayne's artistic accomplishments are even richer than that. Throughout her career, she boldly explored a variety of media and aesthetic concepts.