Leo Steinberg was the rare art historian who turned his inquisitive eye and captivating prose to both Renaissance and modern art. His astonishingly wide-ranging scholarship addresses such canonical artists as Michelangelo Buonarroti, Leonardo da Vinci, Peter Paul Rubens, Pablo Picasso, and Jasper Johns. While Steinberg’s significance to the field of art history is widely acknowledged, his activity as a print collector is less well-known. Beginning in the early 1960s with only the meager budget of a part-time art history professor, Steinberg amassed a collection that comprehensively illustrates the history of European printmaking. Akin to books on a shelf, Steinberg’s prints formed a visual library that shaped his scholarship in fundamental ways. Selections from his over 3500 prints will illuminate Steinberg’s insight that prints are the “circulating lifeblood of ideas,” disseminating compositions, motifs, and styles across geographic, material and temporal boundaries, while also presenting highlights of the European printmaking tradition.

Organized by Holly Borham, Curator of Prints, Drawings and European Art

The accompanying publication for the show The Circulating Lifeblood of Ideas: Leo Steinberg’s Library of Prints was awarded the 2024 IFPDA | International Fine Print Dealers Association Book Award. The award honors excellence in research, scholarship, and the discussion of new ideas in the field of fine prints. Copies of the publication, written by the curator Holly Borham, can be purchased in our Museum Store and online.

Marcantonio Raimondi and Agostino dei Musi called Agostino Veneziano,

cMarcantonio Raimondi and Agostino dei Musi called Agostino Veneziano, “Lo Stregozzo [The Witches’ Procession],” after Raphael or Giulio Romano, 1520s, engraving, 11 13/16 x 24 13/16 in., Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, The Leo Steinberg Collection, 2002

Henri Matisse,

Henri Matisse, “Profile of Madame Derain, I,” 1914, monotype, 5 1/2 x 7 3/8 in., Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, The Leo Steinberg Collection, 2002, © 2021 Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Josef Albers, Late, from

coJosef Albers, Late, from “Homage to a Square: Soft Edge – Hard Edge,” 1965, screenprint, 16 15/16 x 17 1/16 in., Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, The Leo Steinberg Collection, 2002, © The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, 2021

Pablo Picasso,

mpPablo Picasso, “Minotaure aveugle guidé par une fillette dans la nuit [Blind Minotaur Guided by a Young Girl in the Night],” plate 97 from the Suite Vollard, 1933, 13 3/8 x 17 5/16 in., Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, The Leo Steinberg Collection, 2002 © 2021 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Jasper Johns,

Jasper Johns, “Ale Cans Sheet,” 1964, Color lithograph from seven stones, 22 13/16 in. x 17 11/16 in., Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, The Leo Steinberg Collection, 2002, © 2021 Jasper Johns / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY

Raphael Morghen,

anyRaphael Morghen, “The Last Supper, after Leonardo da Vinci,” 1800, Etching and engraving, 25 13/16 in. x 40 11/16 in., Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, The Leo Steinberg Collection, 2002

Anonymous,

Anonymous, “La Robe de N.-S. Jésus-Christ, number 1851 from Imagerie d’Epinal,” Chromolithograph on newsprint, 11 5/8 in. x 15 1/2 in., Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, The Leo Steinberg Collection, 2002

Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn,

Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn, “The Raising of Lazarus,” 1642, Etching, 5 15/16 in.x 4 1/2 in., Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, The Leo Steinberg Collection, 2002

Pablo Picasso,

Pablo Picasso, “Seated Girl, frontispiece to Recordant el Doctor Reventós,” 1951, engraving and drypoint, 11 7/16 x 9 1/16 in., Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, The Leo Steinberg Collection, 2002 © 2021 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Jan Saenredam,

Jan Saenredam, “The Vanity of Worldly Possessions, after Abraham Bloemaert,” 1600, Engraving, 14 13/16 in. x 12 5/8 in., Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, The Leo Steinberg Collection, 2002

Martin Schongauer,

Martin Schongauer, “Christ in Limbo, from The Passion of Christ,” 1470-1482, Engraving, 6 9/16 in. x 4 13/16 in., Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, The Leo Steinberg Collection, 2002

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Press

Ars Longa, After Michelangelo, Past Picasso: Leo Steinberg’s Library of Prints

artnet, A New Show of Leo Steinberg’s Print Collection Reveals the Critic’s Deep Appreciation for the Medium’s ‘Circulating Lifeblood of Ideas’

The Art Newspaper, Unorthodox preacher: Leo Steinberg’s prints helped explore and explain his sometimes controversial theories

Austin Monthly, 5 Must-See Exhibits to Visit in February

CBS Austin, #TBT: Blanton Museum offers a chance to ‘time travel’ with 200 prints on display

Hyperallergic, How Leo Steinberg Saw the Profound Importance of Prints Before Most

The New York Review of Books, See More, Think More

Credit

After Michelangelo, Past Picasso: Leo Steinberg’s Library of Prints is organized by Holly Borham, Associate Curator, Prints & Drawings, Blanton Museum of Art.

Major funding for this exhibition and the accompanying catalogue is provided by the Getty Foundation through The Paper Project, with additional support from Leslie Shaunty and Robert Topp, the Scurlock Foundation Exhibition Endowment, and the IFPDA Foundation.