Max Kalish’s bronze sculptures of American workers blew away their presale estimates.

MIDDLETOWN, CONN. – Wesleyan University has received a major gift of 192 photogravures from the noted American painter, sculptor, printmaker and performance artist Jim Dine. In addition to this gift, Dine will give Wesleyan an impression of every photogravure he makes in the future, creating at the Davison Art Center a complete repository of his photogravures. The collection is to be designated the “John R. Jakobson Collection of Jim Dine Photographs.” John R. Jakobson (BA, Wesleyan 1952, Trustee Emeritus) is one of the most important benefactors of the DAC collection and a close friend of the artist.

Dine began making photographs in 1995. His photogravures use a copper plate printing process that begins with a traditionally made negative. They are beautifully printed with rich surface tone and texture achieved through a direct printing process that is akin to traditional etching. The images in many of these photographs are similar to those Dine explores in his paintings and graphic works, and include portraiture and common objects that he photographs with the intention of making them seem to come alive. The Davison Art Center collection includes approximately 150 Dine prints, dating from 1965 to the present. In combination with the photogravures, these holdings provide a comprehensive view of the artist as a printmaker and photographer.

A small exhibition of Dine’s prints and photogravures will be on view at the Davison Art Center through October 11. This will be followed by a major exhibition, scheduled for 2003, of Jim Dine’s photographs. This exhibition will be accompanied by a catalogue raisonne of the artist’s photographs, published jointly by the Davison Art Center and the Maison Europeenne de la Photographie in Paris.