Spencer honors late professor with exhibit

The Spencer Museum of Art will honor the memory of the late John Talleur, professor emeritus of art and honorary curator of prints at the museum, with an exhibition that spans more than 500 years of artistic production. The exhibit also draws extensively from the bequest to the museum made by Talleur together with his daughter, Ann.

“Teaching from Prints: The Legacy of John Talleur” celebrates the art of printmaking and the life of one of its greatest advocates. The exhibition, organized by Stephen Goddard, curator of prints and drawings, will be on view Nov. 15 through Jan. 18 in the Kress Gallery.

The exhibition features a large selection of the prints Talleur collected, select examples of his own prints, and works the museum has received in his memory. Many prints from the John and Ann Talleur Collection were given to the museum in 1991, and most of the remainder was bequeathed to the museum after Talleur passed away in November 2001.

The Talleur Collection ranges widely over 500 years of print history but is unified by its focus on the technical and aesthetic possibilities of various print media. In effect, the collection is lovely to behold and, just as important, is a rich resource for teaching the special qualities of etching, engraving, lithography and woodcut.

This exhibition strives to convey this joy of looking and to introduce the surprises of print history that Talleur loved to share with students when they visited his collection.