News & Reviews: Highlights

FORUM Gallery, That Eighties Show, July 15 - September 18, 2021 Forum Installation, Girders II >

FORUM Gallery, Drawing Inspiration, March 25 – April 24, 2021 Installation Views >

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, New York Inspired, January 21 – April 26, 2021, Robert Wood Johnson Jr. Gallery, selections from the department of Drawings and Prints celebrating The Met's 150th anniversary. The Met, New York Inspired >

The Frick Art Museum, Pittsburgh, PA,The Frick Reflects: Looking Back, Moving Forward, November 8, 2020 - February 7, 2021. McPherson’s mezzotint ET2 (2014) is being shown and featured on the museum site. The Frick Reflects >

The Frick Art Museum, Pittsburgh, PA, 2019 acquisition, “Clairton, From the Hill,” 2006, exhibited in Art + History, with illustrated articles online and in The Frick Pittsburgh, Fall/Winter 2019-2020 magazine. The Frick Pittsburgh, McPherson, Recent Acquisition >

Fondation Custodia, Terra Museum for American Art, Paris, France, Le Reve Americain: du pop art a nos jours, Estampes du British Museum, 2 June - 2 September, 2018. The American Dream: pop art to the present, exhibition organized by The British Museum with a fully-Illustrated catalogue. Le Reve Americain >

Bernard Heller Museum, Hebrew Union College, New York, NY, September 6, 2018 – June 2019, Print Club of New York presentation prints 1992-2017. Articles with illustrations of McPherson’s mezzotint, NY Water Tunnel 2009, appear in the PCNY.org Fall 2018 newsletter and online communication.

Mark Arts, Mary R Koch Arts Center, Wichita, KS, January 5 - March 25, 2018 inaugural exhibition.

The Gallery at CCE, West Palm Beach, FL, February 8 - March 17, 2018. Phipps/McPherson/Helander curated by Bruce Helander, CM mezzotint ET2 illustrated in the West Palm Beach News.

The British Museum, London, England, The American Dream: Pop to the Present, March 9 – June 18, 2017 "Trace the creative momentum of a superpower in this special exhibition." "The exhibition includes works by the most celebrated American artists -- from Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg to Kara Walker and Julie Mehretu – all boldly experimented with printmaking." British Museum, American Dream 2017 >

Craig McPherson released Girders II, a mezzotint edition with pastel, 23 ¾” x 35 ½”, printed by the artist on Rives BFK wove paper, 2017, edition of 30.

Forum Gallery, New York, NY, Forum Gallery Celebrates 55 Years of Modern and Contemporary Art, February 18 - March 18, 2017

Forum Gallery, New York, NY, 20/21 Twenty 21st Century Visionary Artists, August 16 – September 24, 2016

Virginia Museum of Fine Art, Richmond, VA, Nightfall: Prints of the Dark Hours, Old Master to contemporary prints from the collection of Frank Raysor, October 17, 2015 – February 22, 2016. VMFA has also acquired a McPherson for the collection. VMFA, Nightfall 2016 >

Forum Gallery, New York, NY, 2016 American Views,

Art in Print, Prints of Darkness: Four Centuries of Mezzotint, July-August 2015, Vol 5, No 2. Exhibition review by Julie Warchol, with illustration of Yankee Stadium at Night.

Centre Historique Minier (The Mining History Center), Nord-Pas de Calais, Lewarde, France, At the Heart of Progress, an exhibition of graphic works from the John P. Eckblad collection, August 31 – December 31, 2015. Exhibition PDF >

Forum Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, An Eye for Detail, July 27 – September 15, 2015.ArtDaily.com >

Art Miami, New York, NY, Katrina Rich Perlow Fine Arts, May 14 – 17, 2015. Catalog pages >

Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, Burnishing the Night: Baroque to Contemporary Mezzotints from the Collection February 21, 2015 - May 31, 2015. AIC Installation >

Craig McPherson has moved to a new studio where he's completed a series of mezzotint engravings: ET2, 23 1/2 x 39 3/4”; Hemp Lines I, 11 1/4 X 23 1/4”; and Memento Mori, 13 1/2 X 16 1/2”. ET2 is his second version of the Edgar Thomson steel mill. It is the largest mezzotint he has attempted, requiring over two years to complete. Memento Mori, a stripped car in the snow, was created during the economic crisis of 2008-9 and is a commentary on the near demise of the American automobile industry. Hemp Lines I is the first of three variations on this theater subject to be completed. The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England, has acquired all of the new mezzotints for their collection.

Museums that have added his work to their collections recently include: The Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MS; The Montclair Museum of Art, Montclair, NJ; The Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL. The National Gallery of Art and The Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

Art on Paper, New York, NY, March 5 – 8, 2015, Pier 36, Forum Gallery.

IFPDA Print Fair, New York, NY,, November 6 - 9, 2014, Park Avenue Armory. Mezzotints exhibited at Ryan Lee Gallery, New York as well as Forum Gallery, New York and Paul Proute, Paris.

The Washington Print Quarterly, Summer/Fall 2013, About the Cover Artist, Craig McPherson, includes a detailed article by Jenny Freestone on McPherson’s career, print methods and philosophy. It includes three illustrations: Edgar Thomson, Braddock and a trial proof of the soon-to-be released ET2.Article (PDF) >

The mezzotint, Edgar Thomson, on loan from Emprise Bank, Wichita, KS, is part of an exhibition in the US House of Representatives, Committee on Energy & Commerce, Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC.

Talking Walls, Murals Now panel discussion, Cityspace, Charlottesville, VA, September 21, 2012 featured artists Craig McPherson, Lincoln Perry, William Woodward and Ross McDermott discussing the protocols, obstacles, technical processes and the impact of mural painting in public spaces.

Four steel-related mezzotints were included in At the Heart of Progress: Coal, Steel, and Steam since 1750, Industrial Imagery from the John P. Eckblad Collection exhibition that toured from 2011 to 2012. The venues were: The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, North Yorkshire UK; Le Bois du Cazier, Charleroi, Belgium, in connection with their UNESCO World Heritage Site award; and Les Dominicaines, Pont-l'Eveque, France. Illustrated catalogues in English and French accompanied the exhibition. PDF, Bowes Museum >

ET2, a new mezzotint, was created for The Heart of Progress opening in the UK. The show also included Edgar Thomson, Braddock, Clairton and The New York Water Tunnel. Printmaking Today reviewed the show in Vol 21 2012 Issue 4, Winter, December 2012

Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, A Passion for Prints: The John Bonebrake Donation exhibition, October 2, 2011 - January 29, 2012.

Five Decades: Art and Artists of Forum Gallery 1962-2012, New York, NY

Wichita Art Museum, Wichita, KS, 75 Years of American Art, November 14, 2010 - July 24, 2011. A museum-published book features one acquisition for each of its 75 years, McPherson's artworks F.D.R Drive and Furnace #2, Electrodes are illustrated.

Salon International de l'Estampe et du Dessin 2011, Grand Palais, Paris, April 29 - May 1, 2011, represented by gallery Paul Proute.

Columbia Pictures, Spiderman movie 2012, two McPherson paintings were selected for the production.

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, Robert Wood Johnson Gallery, July 13 - October 3, 2010, group exhibition, works from the permanent collection.

Palmer Museum of Art, Penn State University, State College, PA, At the Heart of Progress: Coal, Steel, and Steam since 1750, October 19, 2010 - January 23, 2011, traveling exhibition. McPherson Lecture: Road Work, November 4, 2010, catalogue with illustration of mezzotint, Clairton.

LVR Industriemuseum, Oberhausen, Germany, Feuerlander (Fire Countries) - Regions of Vulcan, July 25 - November 28, 2010, group exhibition; 544-page illustrated catalogue. Feuerlander Exhibition Website >

5th International Printmaking Biennial, Douro, Portugal, August 10 - October 31, 2010, 16 exhibitions, 74 countries, 360 artists. Douro Gravura Exhibition Website >

Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, At the Heart of Progress: Coal, Steel, and Steam since 1750, January 22 - March 21, 2010, traveling exhibition reviewed by The New York Times February 5, 2010 and Art Daily.

The New York Times, Art Review, A Revolution Indeed, and Bathed in Smoke, February 5, 2010, by Benjamin Genocchio.
New York Times Review >


Portsmouth Museum of Fine Arts, Portsmouth, NH
, Sacred and Profane, January 21 - April 24, 2010, group exhibition including Titans (Grisaille), reviewed by Yankee Magazine.

Woodward Gallery, New York, NY, Big Paper Winter, January 16 - February 27, 2010, 9th Annual exhibition of works on paper.

Wichita Art Museum: 75 Years of American Art, co-authored by curators Novolene Ross and Steve Gleissner, 244-page illustrated history and collection catalogue, published January 2010. McPherson artworks illustrated -- F.D.R. Drive, Furnace #2 Electrodes.

Society for Industrial Archeology newsletter, IA in Art, Craig McPherson and Pittsburgh Industry, Winter 2009, with illustration of Edgar Thomson pastel.

Print Club of New York commissioned mezzotint edition, NY Water Tunnel, presented in October 2009.
NY Water Tunnel >

Thirsty, a novel by Kristin Bair O'Keeffe with artwork by Craig McPherson, published by Swallow Press, October 1, 2009.
Thirsty website >

Frick Art Museum, Pittsburgh, PA, Steel: Pittsburgh Drawings by Craig McPherson, March 8 – June 8, 2008, a one-man exhibition celebrating the 250th anniversary of the city of Pittsburgh in 2008. A fully illustrated catalogue was published by the Frick; images from the exhibition are posted online. The Steel show was reviewed by NPR, Pittsburgh Post Gazette, Pittsburgh Tribune Review, various regional and specialty papers, and illustrated in Harper’s Magazine, July 2008.
Frick Art Museum >

NPR-WQED Pittsburgh, PA, radio interview March 24,2008, with Steve Baum.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 6, 2008, Art Preview: Craig McPherson's drawings capture soot, sweat and might of the mills, by Mary Thomas.
Post-Gazette Review >

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Opinion: Art of Steel, April 18, 2008, editorial.

Ackland Art Museum, Chapel Hill, NC, At the Heart of Progress: Coal, Iron and Steam since 1750, Industrial Imagery from the John P. Eckblad Collection, January 24 – May 17, 2009, group show; catalogue with illustration of McPherson's mezzotint, Clairton.

Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, AR, 40th Collectors Show, December 5, 2008 – January 4, 2009, group show.

Muzeumgornictwa, Zabrze, Poland, Born of Fire, September 11 - December 4, 2009, traveling exhibition.

Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn Harbor, NY, Art & Entertainment From Toulouse Lautrec to Red Grooms, November 5, 2007 – February 3, 2008; catalogue with full-page illustration of McPherson's painting, Rehearsal.

Wichita Art Museum, Wichita, KS, The Art of Emprise, January 27 – March 23, 2008, group show.

Saxon Museum of Industry, Chemnitz, Germany, Born of Fire, September 6 -November 30, 2008, traveling exhibition.

Forum Gallery, New York, NY, The Fine Art of Drawing: Modern & Contemporary Works on Paper, September 6 – October 6, 2007, group show.

Forum Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, An Eye for Detail: Works by Selected Artists, July 27 – September 15, 2007, group show.

Forum Gallery, New York, The Contemporary Landscape, June 28 – August 31, 2007, group show, reviewed by The New York Sun.

Gallery of Contemporary Art, Sacred Heart University Fairfield, CT, The Elements: Fire, September 17 – October 26, 2007, group show. Article in university newsletter, September 2006, includes illustration and text reference to McPherson's painting, Agni.

Forum Gallery, New York, Recent Works by Gallery Artists, June 11 - June 22, 2007, group show.

Rhineland Industrial Museum (Rheinisches Industriemuseum), Oberhausen, Germany, Born of Fire: The Valley of Work, February 4 – May 1, 2007, traveling exhibition with fully-illustrated book.

Forum Gallery, Los Angeles, Modern and Contemporary Landscapes, January 12 – February 24, 2007, group show.

Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA, Mezzotints in 18th Century Life, March 3 – June 10, 2007; McPherson’s work exhibited in conjunction with historic show.

Bruce Museum, Stanford, CT; Center for Contemporary Printmaking, Norwalk, CT; City Gallery of Contemporary Art, Raleigh, NC; and Aldrich Museum, Ridgefield, CT: Black & White Since 1960, traveling group show, September 1989 - January 2007, organized by the Dave and Reba Williams Print Research Center; catalogue with full-page illustration. In conjunction with the show, McPherson gave a lecture at the Bruce Museum on December 8, 2006 on the art of printmaking, print techniques and 20th century master print makers. Lecture Announcement (PDF) >

Westmoreland Museum of Art, Greensburg, PA, Born of Fire: The Valley of Work, June 11 – August 27, 2006, group exhibition and book by curator Barbara L. Jones. The show traveled to the Rhineland Industrial Museum (Rheinisches Industriemuseum), Oberhausen, Germany, February 4 – May 1, 2007, and is scheduled to tour various museums in Europe from 2008 – 2010. An illustrated book, Born of Fire: The Valley of Work, was published by the Westmoreland Museum of Art and distributed by Pittsburgh University Press, 2006, includes views of McPherson’s work with accompanying text on his 25-year fascination with steel imagery.

Rubin Museum of Art, New York, KAAM Artist Talk, December 1, 2006, Members of KAAM in Conversation with Four Contemporary Artists: Leslie Dill, Peter Drake, Tom Fruin and Craig McPherson.

Forum Gallery, New York, Steel/Stage, April 21 – May 27, 2005, One-man exhibition of paintings, pastels, drawings and mezzotints, reviewed by Art in America and The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Catalogue available. Forum Gallery >

Art in America, Craig McPherson at Forum, November 1, 2005, review by Gerard McCarthy with illustration.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sunday Magazine, The Great 'Scape: Braddock's industrial past is captured in dying art, May 15, 2005, by Lillian Thomas, with photos by Steve Mellon. Post-Gazette Article >

Art Interview Online Magazine, No. 004. Interview with Craig McPherson, September 15, 2005.

Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, FL, The New York Yankees and The American Dream, group show, 2005.

Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge University, England, Altered States, group show, 2005.

Montclair Museum of Art, Montclair, NJ, A Celebration: Selected Works from the Hyman Collection, October 16, 2005 – January 8, 2006, group exhibition.

Harper’s Magazine, article w/ image of McPherson drawing, Empty Stage (Westbury), July 2005 Harpers Magazine >

New York Historical Society, New York, Impressions of New York: Prints from the New York Historical Society, November 9, 2004 – March 20, 2005. 200th anniversary exhibition and catalogue, published by Princeton Architectural Press(304 pages, 170 illustrations), with text by independent curator and art historian Marilyn Symmes, including.full-page illustration of McPherson’s mezzotint, FDR Drive.

McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, TX, From Goya to Johns: Fifty Master Prints from the McNay Art Museum, group show and illustrated book, 2004, with full-page illustration and text reference to McPherson's mezzotint, Yankee Stadium at Night.

Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Museum of Art, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, The Color of Night, group show, 2004.

Forum Gallery, New York, Contemporary Landscapes, group show, 2004.

Bronx Museum of the Arts, New York, Subway Series: The New York Yankees and the American Dream, July 23 – December 31, 2004, group exhibition with catalogue.

Forum Gallery, New York, Contemporary Works on Paper, group show, 2003.

Mary Ryan Gallery, Craig McPherson: Pastels, November 30 – January 27, 2001, one-man exhibition with illustrated catalog, reviewed by The New York Times.

The New York Times, Weekend/Arts Guide, January 19, 2001, Galleries: 57th Street, Craig McPherson, review by art critic Ken Johnson.

Davison Art Center, Wesleyan University, CT, March 27 – May 27, 2001, Origins & Techniques of European Printmaking, group exhibition.

Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, A Decade of Collecting: Recent Acquisitions of Prints and Drawings 1940 – 2000, group show, June 3 – August 27, 2000. Annoucement >

Painting the Town: Cityscapes of New York. Paintings from the Museum of the City of New York, book published by MCNY, Director Jan Seidler Ramirez, Yale University Press, 2000, with full-page illustration of the painting, Autumn, and text description.

Wichita Art Museum, Wichita, KS, New York, New York: Lester Johnson and Craig McPherson, two-person exhibition, 2000.

Pittsburgh-Post Gazette, February 10, 2000, Here’s How the Curators Decided on Their Artists; Linda Bates, associate curator of Fine Arts, Carnegie Museum of Art, selects Craig McPherson. Post-Gazette Article >

The Philbrook Museum, Tulsa, OK; The Davenport Museum, Davenport, IA; and The Ringling Museum, Sarasota, FL: Green Woods and Crystal Waters: The American Landscape Tradition Since 1960, traveling group exhibition, 1999-2000, curated by art historian John Arthur, with illustrated catalogue.

Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England, January 13 – March 15, 1998, Darkness Into Light: Craig McPherson and the art of mezzotint, one-man retrospective of mezzotint engravings, reviewed by The Financial Times, London, and Cambridge Times. 80-page illustrated catalogue by art curator Craig Hartley, published by Cambridge University Press, 1998. (catalogue available)Catalogue (Amazon) >

The Financial Times, February 24, 1998, Medium for the Night: William Packer finds urban America portrayed in mezzotint, review of The Fitzwilliam Museum’s “Darkness Into Light” exhibition including half-page illustration of McPherson's mezzotint, Braddock.

The Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, University of Glasgow, Scotland, Darkness Into Light: Craig McPherson and the art of mezzotint. McPherson retrospective traveled to Scotland, July 4 – September 19, 1998, local reviews.

Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, MN, New Acquisitions, September 1998 - April 1999.

The Financial Times, February 24, 1998, Medium for the Night: William Packer finds urban America portrayed in mezzotint, review of The Fitzwilliam Museum’s “Darkness Into Light” exhibition including half-page illustration of McPherson's mezzotint, Braddock. PDF, Financial Times >

In 1996, McPherson works were shown at the San Francisco Museum of Fine Art; New Orleans Museum of Art; Katonah Museum of Art, NY; Beth Urdang Gallery, Boston; Microsoft Gallery, Redmond, WA; HBO Corporate Gallery, NY; and in Japan, in Osaka, Kokura, Fukuoka, Toyuyama, Yamaguchi, and Himeji and Hyogo Prefectures.

Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, Recent Acquisitions, 1995.

Museum of the City of New York, New York, Now: Contemporary Cityscapes, group painting exhibition, 1995.

Mary Ryan Gallery, New York, Craig McPherson: Smoke and Shadows, one-man exhibition, 1995.

In 1995, McPherson also exhibited in group shows at the Montclair Art Museum, NJ; Ackland Art Museum, Chapel Hill, NC; Mary Ryan Gallery, ACA Galleries and Katarina Rich Perlow Gallery, in New York; and Scarabb Gallery, Cleveland, OH.

Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge University, Cambridge, England; The Hunterian Art Gallery, Glasgow, Scotland; Kunsthalle Bremen, Bremen, Germany; traveling exhibition, 1994 – 1995, New York, New York: Prints of the City 1980 – 1990 from the collection of Dave and Reba Williams. Catalogue with full-page illustration and text.

Mary Ryan Gallery, February 3 – March 6, 1993, Craig McPherson: Paintings and Works on Paper, one-man show with illustrated catalogue, reviewed by Artforum, Ronnie Cohen.

In 1993-94, McPherson also exhibited at the Palm Beach Community College Museum of Art, FL; Heuser Art Center, Peoria, IL; Cline Fine Art Gallery, Santa Fe, NM; Garth Clark and Mary Ryan Gallery in New York.

In 1992, McPherson's works were shown in gallery exhibits in New York and Istanbul, and museums including the Art Institute of Chicago and Stadthalle Dusseldorf, Germany.

Diamonds are Forever: Artists and Writers on Baseball, 1990-1992, was a themed exhibition that originated at the New York Public Library. It traveled to ten museums and galleries including the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; Albright-Knox Museum, Buffalo, NY; Denver Art Museum, CO; Southeastern Center of Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, NC; La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, CA; Scottsdale Center for the Arts, AZ; Skydome, Toronto; Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taiwan; and Seibu's Yurakucho Art Forum, Tokyo, Japan; among others.

In the late 80's and early 90's, while McPherson was completing mural commissions, work was shown at the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, Palace of Legion of Honour; McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, TX; Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, CT; City Gallery of Contemporary Art, Raleigh, NC; Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR; National Academy of Design, NY; Center for the Arts, Vero Beach, FL; American Academy of Arts and Letters, NY; Davison Art Center, Wesleyan University, CT; The Arts Council of Great Britian's City Museum and Art Gallery, Bristol, DLI Museum and Arts Centre, Durham, and Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield, in England; Monique Knowlton Gallery, Mary Ryan Gallery and Sylvan Cole Gallery, in New York City.

Dateline, American Express, New York, November 1988. illustrated article on McPherson's Harbors of the World mural cycle as a work in progress.

In 1985, McPherson exhibited work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC; Forum Gallery, A.M. Sachs Gallery and Associated American Artists in New York.

A.M. Sachs Gallery, New York, Craig McPherson, New Work, one-man exhibition, 1984, reviewed by The New York Times.

The New York Times, January 27, 1984, Art: Craig McPherson, review by Grace Glueck.

McPherson's early work was shown at the Weatherspoon Museum, Greensboro, NC; American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York; Coe Kerr Gallery, Miriam Perlman Gallery, Mary Ryan Gallery and Bayard Gallery, in New York; Dreyfus Gallery, Ann Arbor, MI and Gallery G, Wichita, KS.