A Bestiary
1990
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portfolio of thirty-six relief prints on Somerset paper
Classification
Portfolio
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Richard Susel
Accession Number
1998.124.1-36
Art Historical Context
**A Bestiary** (1990) is a captivating portfolio of thirty-six relief prints on luxurious Somerset paper, created by various artists. Housed in the National Gallery of Art's Department of Modern Prints and Drawings (CG-W), work draws its title from the medieval tradition of bestiaries—illustrated compendiums of real and mythical creatures imbued with symbolic meaning. Produced at the cusp of the 21st century, it reflects a contemporary revival of this theme through printmaking, blending artistic imagination with technical precision. Relief printing, one of the oldest print techniques dating b...
About the Artist
Various Artists
"Various Artists" is not the pseudonym of a singular figure in art history but rather a cataloging convention employed by museums, auction houses, and galleries to attribute works created by multiple collaborators, anonymous makers, or participants in group projects. This term facilitates the documentation of collective endeavors where individual contributions blur or are intentionally undifferent...