Director's Foreword

As the National Gallery of Art has grown, so have the opportunities to present our collection and research to a broader audience through new technologies that grow more efficient and sophisticated every day. Our earliest efforts to cultivate viewers beyond the Gallery's walls were anything but virtual. In the 1940s, they took the form of "paper" catalogues, reproductions, or exhibition loans of art. However, the Gallery began to create educational multimedia in the 1950s when the extension programs department began to disseminate slide collections and other teaching resources without cost to individuals and institutions throughout the country. The development of 16mm film programs in the 1960s and 1970s expanded this educational commitment through a medium that was even more engaging to a public of all ages and backgrounds. In the middle of the 1980s the first of three image collections on videodisc appeared, offering more efficient storage while making the distribution of our outreach efforts more effective. Two subsequent videodiscs published during the 1990s enjoyed even more success because they used digital color images of over 9500 artworks from the permanent collection. In 1995 our Micro Gallery, an interactive computer system available here at the Gallery, explored new digital possibilities by offering visitors an orientation around the collection while enriching their experience with historical and technical studies that deepened their appreciation of the works. By 1997, our research and development in digital technology enabled the construction of an innovative World Wide Web site to represent the National Gallery. Its electronic pages included a database listing the works of our collection augmented by information about special exhibitions, online studies and tours, as well as many other resources. The emergence of the Internet marked a breakthrough in art education because leading institutions such as the National Gallery were able to offer free, up-to-date, encyclopedic information around the clock at the convenience of the viewer. As of mid-2001, the National Gallery's highly acclaimed Web site serves more than 25,000 remote visitors a day, bringing the celebrated treasures of the museum into millions of homes, offices, and schools each year.

With the launch of our first online catalogue raisonné, documenting the celebrated prints and sculpture produced at Gemini G.E.L. between 1966 and 1996, we begin a new phase in a digital tradition that is well established at the National Gallery of Art. The story of this catalogue begins with the 1978 opening of the National Gallery of Art's East Building and the development of a program to collect and exhibit contemporary art, including works on paper, which came to play a pivotal role. One of the seminal events leading to the birth of the contemporary collection was the initial donation in 1981 of 256 prints and sculpture editions by twenty-two contemporary American artists working at Gemini G.E.L. of Los Angeles. This gift from Sidney B. Felsen and Stanley Grinstein, owners of Gemini, became the foundation for the Gallery's Gemini G.E.L. Archive. Simultaneously, the donation preserved the history of this important workshop and recorded currents of contemporary art by committing one example of each of Gemini's published editions to the National Gallery's collections. The archive collection has now grown to number more than twelve hundred works, establishing the Gallery as a primary research center in the field of contemporary graphic art and edition sculpture.

Our deepest thanks go to Sidney B. Felsen and Stanley Grinstein. Their continued generosity and vision has made this catalogue raisonné of Gemini G.E.L. publications a reality. We also celebrate their unflagging commitment to the National Gallery, an attitude that has been critical to the blossoming of our contemporary holdings. For their support of the archive collection, I am also indebted to Elyse Grinstein, Joni Moisant Weyl, and Rosamund Felsen, as well as to all of the artists who have worked at Gemini.

At our own institution, The Circle of the National Gallery of Art deserves tremendous gratitude for funding the image scanning for this catalogue. In addition, there are many individuals who have been key contributors at the National Gallery of Art, Gemini G.E.L., and at other organizations. Their contributions are recognized in the curator's acknowledgments. However, special thanks go to Ruth E. Fine, curator of modern prints and drawings. Twenty years ago, she planted the seed for this volume and has overseen its realization since that time. In addition, among the many who gathered and entered data, Claude L. Elliott deserves special thanks, both as an intern and a department member, for spending two years tirelessly organizing information and collecting images. Building on his contributions, Charles Ritchie, assistant curator of modern prints and drawings, coordinated the organization of the digital information, compiled the accompanying texts, and managed the complex details of bringing the National Gallery's electronic catalogue raisonné to completion. Andrew Robison, Andrew W. Mellon senior curator of prints and drawings, offered his support throughout this process.

With many beneficial forces coming together at the National Gallery, we enjoy a continually expanding collection of contemporary art and celebrate our growing role as an education and study center for contemporary graphic arts. These eloquent prints and edition sculpture are certain to educate, delight, and enlighten for generations to come as the Gemini G.E.L. Archive continues to play a visible role not only in Washington, but now also on the Internet, expanding through the new horizons provided by this online catalogue.

Earl A. Powell III
Director
National Gallery of Art

Curator's Acknowledgments

My foremost appreciation goes to the artists who have collaborated with Gemini G.E.L. Their work provides the essential impetus for this catalogue raisonné and is a constant source of visual enrichment to staff and visitors alike. I also deeply appreciate the extraordinary generosity of Sidney B. Felsen and Stanley Grinstein, who have contributed profoundly to the National Gallery's collection of contemporary art by establishing the Gemini G.E.L. Archive. Stanley's interest and enthusiasm was a continually motivating force, while Sidney lavished great attention on my persistent requests for information and generously supplied his wonderful documentary photographs of Gemini through the years.

I want to thank Joni Moisant Weyl for her enthusiastic support. In addition, a deep bow of appreciation goes to many members of the Gemini G.E.L. staff for their extraordinary contributions. In particular, Nancy Ervin, who cheerfully gathered images and information and supplied much background about the works, as well as James Reid, master printer, who consistently provided thoughtful technical insight into the Gemini oeuvre. Many other Gemini staff assisted over the course of this project with important contributions made by Talia Avisar, Suzanne Felsen, Dorothy Halic, Philip Martin, David McDaniel, Ronald McPherson, Octavio Molina, Rebecca Ratzkin, Tom Schirtz, Fran Salomon, Carmelita Seaman, Claudio Stickar, Karin Strelioff, and Ashley Teplin. A special thanks also goes to Doug Parker, the long-time Gemini photographer who has shaped our view of many of the atelier's works. My heartfelt thanks also go to others of the staff who have contributed both directly and indirectly to the realization of this undertaking. I would additionally like to thank Michael Ester at Luna Imaging, Inc. for the beauty of the scans his organization provided. Members of his staff provided fine assistance. Among these, Jordan Lane was extremely helpful during production, as was Lori Richmeier, who gave additional support.

At the National Gallery I thank Earl A. Powell III, director, Alan Shestack, deputy director, and Andrew Robison, Andrew W. Mellon senior curator of prints and drawings. They have strongly supported this project. Ruth E. Fine, curator of modern prints and drawings, has been a constant source of expertise, information, energy, and encouragement. She has been actively involved in every aspect in the formation of this resource. I would also like to thank other members of our staff for their help: Carlotta J. Owens, assistant curator of modern prints and drawings, made a substantial contribution in sustaining much of the day-to day department operations while this catalogue came to fruition. Tom Coolsen, Mary Lee Corlett, Victoria Foster, Ava Lambert, Jane O'Meara, Judy Szypa, and Ani Bedrossian, present and former department members, contributed in myriad ways to this achievement. The interns who have worked with the Gemini G.E.L. Archive have been many, but an especially great debt is owed to Claude L. Elliott, who during his tenure with us did much to structure this manuscript and image collection. Other important intern contributors were Kimberly Bockhaus, Susan Funkenstein, Ilaria Fusina, Mikka Gee, Amy Gotzler, Vanessa Jones, Maria Los, Eileen McKiernan Gonzales, Alison Pace, Katja Zigerlig, and Elizabeth Zopf.

For guidance with the production of this catalogue, I thank Judy Metro, the National Gallery's Editor-in-Chief for her steady support, as well as Frances Smyth-Ravenel, who was editor-in-chief when the project began. The sensitive and intelligent production by Web manager Phyllis Hecht has been an essential ingredient in the success of this endeavor, as has the impeccable design of our very talented Melissa Front, and the astute editorial guidance of Clare Parsons. In addition, I want to thank Ric Foster for sharing his remarkable abilities with computer software; he has made this task far easier than it would have been without his insight and invention. I also thank Judith Walsh for the invaluable contribution she made in reviewing and researching the many papers and other supports used for printing by Gemini. In addition, I am deeply grateful to former editors Tam Curry Bryfogle, Amy Pastan, and Jane Sweeney for their help with various portions of this project, and I thank Leo Kasun of our extension programs department for his editorial comments. I also thank Mark Rosenthal, former curator of twentieth-century art. During his tenure, the sharing of his expertise and thoughts on Gemini were extremely useful. I am grateful as well to The Circle of the National Gallery of Art for providing funds for the image scanning for this catalogue.

In the National Gallery's department of photography and digital imaging services there are many gifted individuals to thank who provided photographs of the Gemini works over the years. These include Richard Amt, Ricardo Blanc, Dean Beasom, Philip Charles, Lorene Emerson, Lee Ewing, Bob Grove, José Naranjo, and William Wilson. For administrative assistance with photography from our visual services department, I also want to thank Ira Bartfield, Barbara Bernard, Sara Sanders-Buell, Peter Huestis, Sarah Sibbald, Nancy Stanfield, and Barbara Goldstein Wood. In addition, outside the National Gallery, I would like to thank the Image Applications Department at IBM's Watson Research Center that provided the code used to reduce and sharpen images for the thumbnail production process that was used to produce this catalogue.

And finally I thank Virginia Ritchie and our daughter Samantha for their endless patience, love, and support.

Charles Ritchie
Assistant Curator
Modern Prints and Drawings

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