Credit: Pluto, 1988 (etching with hand-colouring in ink on Somerset Satin White wove), Freud, Lucian (1922-2011) Acquired through the Cultural Gifts Scheme, administered by Arts Council England / © The Lucian Freud Archive. All Rights Reserved 2025 / Bridgeman Images.
Studio Prints
Celebrating the Balakjian Collection
A major exhibition, featuring artworks acquired for Walsall’s Permanent Collection through the Cultural Gifts Scheme, administered by Arts Council England.
The works come from the archive of London based Studio Prints, which was established by the artist Dorothea Wight (1944-2013) in 1968. Wight, alongside her husband, Marc Balakjian (1938-2017), produced prints for world-renowned British artists for over 40 years.
As well as being master printmakers who worked alongside other artists, Dorothea and Marc were also extremely accomplished artists in themselves, particularly noted for their mastery of the difficult mezzotint technique.
The Gallery has had a close relationship with the Balakjian family since 2013, when they worked with Marc to celebrate the legacy of his late wife, whose work was already part of Walsall’s Permanent Collection.
Marc also had a particularly close relationship with Lucian Freud and supported him in the development of his etchings, helping to produce some of his most well-known and best regarded of Freud’s prints. Balakjian also contributed an essay to Freud’s print catalogue raisonné, listing all known print works by the artist, published in 2022. As well as Freud, prints by Auerbach, Balakjian, Conroy, Kossoff, Paul and Wight are included in this exhibition.
Alongside this major exhibition, we present a selection of prints from the Gallery’s Collections, including works by Christiane Baumgartner, Glenn Brown, Tracey Emin, Ken Kiff, Karen McLean and Chris Ofili.
Preview
Thursday 6 November, 6-8pm
Free, all welcome