Works on paper, including prints, watercolors, and drawings, compose about half of the western American art collection maintained by the Petrie Institute of Western American Art at the Denver Art Museum. Because they are light-sensitive, these artworks are infrequently displayed and are rotated more quickly than their painted and sculpted counterparts. This may partly explain why works on paper, especially prints, remain underappreciated in the greater scope of western American art. As an accessible medium that allows for broad experimentation and a rich array of aesthetic effects, printmaking merits deeper engagement: a goal that this digital publication helps achieve.
Barbara Thompson’s exquisite gift of fine art prints featuring the American Southwest enables the Petrie Institute to put printmaking back into the bigger picture of western American art. As someone who understands the inner workings of museums, Thompson went to extra lengths to facilitate this gift, having conservation done and professional photographs taken in advance. She also gave a significant portion of her library to the museum. These resources, many of them out of print and hard to find, have been integral to the research for this publication. She recruited her nephew Jason Elder to underwrite this volume. Thompson is the kind of donor that curators dream of, and I am grateful for all that I have learned from her.
Luckily for the Petrie Institute, curatorial assistant Meg Selig has a scholarly background in printmaking. She contributed the majority of the research and writing for this companion guide. I am deeply grateful for her diligent, thoughtful work. She also played an active role in the development of a temporary exhibition of the Thompson Collection held from June 2025 to June 2026. It is fitting that these beautiful representations of the American Southwest were on display close to our core collection of paintings by the Taos Society of Artists, many of which were given by donor Henry Roath. Roath’s and Thompson’s gifts stand as testimony to the long-term legacy of such visionary and transformative generosity.
Additional thanks are due to Chloe LeRoy, University of Denver Gwen Chanzit Intern, summer 2024; project manager Jesse Laird Ortega; Valerie Hellstein, Leslie Murrell, and Matt Popke on the publications team; registrars Karen Butler-Clary and Emily Kosakowski; works on paper conservator Sarah Melching; rights and reproductions manager Renée Miller; and librarian Andrea Hansen.