Ken's Corner

The Nahan's & Original Prints

For 38 years we published some of the world´s finest original prints. Working alongside our artists as they developed their original concepts, then helping bring their ideas to fruition as their exclusive graphics publisher and agent has been an exciting part of our lives. The graphics produced by Nahan artists are included in museum collections around the globe.

Photo Left: Paris, 1980. Max Papart and Ken Nahan discussing a new aquatint in production.

The Nahans worked in tandem with the most important printers in the world. Robert Dutrou, known for his collaboration with Joan Miro for over 25 years to produce his famous aquatints. Dutrou was a great friend of Max Papart and Theo Tobiasse and enjoyed working with both to produce his most complicated aquatints.

We worked closely with Atelier Mourlot in Paris together with Papart and other Nahan Artists. The world famous printers at Mourlot printed for the most important artists from France and from around the world including, of course, Picasso, Braque and Chagall. These beautiful hand printed lithographs were printed on flat bed presses more than 100 years old.

In addition to the aquatints and lithographs, we published fully textured Carborundum Gravures printed on hand-made paper. The paper was developed for us, almost one half inch thick, by Robert Duchene in France who named the paper Nahan-Duchene. The beautiful gravures created by Coignard, Papart and Tobiasse show the most sophisticated use of this technique . This technique was developed by Henri Goetz who taught it to his good friends Miro, Clave, Papart and Coignard.

The curator of the Bibliotheque Nationale de France called our print making some of the most important being produced in France at that time.

The Dutrous with Sherri and Max review new aquatint
Papart and Sherri celebrating Jacques Prevert Exhibition at Fondation Maeght in St Paul de Vence

What is an Original Print?

An original graphic is considered genuine when the artist has personally worked on the plates, or worked directly in technical collaboration with a printer to produce the print.