Back in the day, when this writer was studying printmaking at university (you all knew that by now, I am certain) there was this monster of a printing press in the print room. It was orange and it had a Huge wheel on it and a lovely large steel bed with which to make large and complicated prints. It was called the Alps press and it dominated the print room at Miami University.
Our print professor, Mr. Robert Wolfe, told us it was designed by a printmaking teacher at University of Washington, Glen C. Alps. We all put that press through its paces, trying to print all manner of materials and images and sizes of images on it. It was a beast, and it helped us produce terrific prints. It took a beating and kept on printing....
As for the history lessons Mr. Wolfe gave us, he included the work and process of Mr. Alps, and his contributions to 20th century printmaking. As one can see from the images included here, the man combined shape and color and with rich textures. The work included roosters and bird, but it equally included an exploration into textures and multiple plate printings. I will venture into Alps' process for this one article because it truly defines his work and his expertise as a teacher.
Glen Earl Alps (American 1914-1996) was a printmaker and educator who was born near Loveland, Colorado. He attended Colorado State College of Education (today the University of Northern Colorado) in Greeley, Colorado, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1940. After graduation he worked as an art instructor in the Greeley County school system until 1942, then he took a job in publishing at the Culver Aircraft Factory, in Wichita, Kansas.
In 1945, Alps attended the University of Washington in Seattle, where he was received a Master of Fine Arts in 1947. He also studied one summer with the noted printmaker Mauricio Lasansky at the University of Iowa. He began teaching in the Art Department of the University of Washington while he was still a graduate student there. In 1947 Walter F. Jacobs invited Alps to teach classes at the school. After graduation he continued to teach at the university. He received tenure in 1954 and became a full professor in 1962. He was named Professor Emeritus upon his retirement from teaching in 1984. A respected professor of art, Alps personally taught hundreds of students during his tenure at the University of Washington.
His early work was affiliated with the realism of American Regionalists Thomas Hart Benton and Grant Wood, but by 1947 his subjects turned toward abstraction and wild color. His favorite motif was the circle in a square.
Alps is credited with having developed a collage-like technique, on which various textures are glued onto a flat surface. The plate may be inked as either an intaglio or relief, and then is printed onto paper. Collagraphic processes have been around since the 19th c., but the 20th c. development of collage as an art form led printmakers to explore the process more thoroughly. Alps began working in the technique at the University of Washington, which he shared with his students. He asserted that "...the first concern of the printmaker is the development of the plate, where the individuality of the artist has its chance to take form."
In 1960 Alps received a fellowship to the Tamarind Institute in New Mexico. In 1988 he was an artist-in-residence at Pilchuck Glass School.
Alps also designed and manufactured about thirty fine art printing presses. The Glen Alps Press was reputed to be durable, versatile and easy to operate.
An original Alps press. See, I told you it was a monster.
Public collections:
Art Institute of Chicago
Bibliothèque Nationale
Harvard University Art Museum
Library of Congress
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Loveland Museum of Art
Museum of Modern Art
Portland Art Museum
Seattle Art Museum
Yale University Art Gallery
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