The Kruizenga Art Museum at Hope College will feature two new print exhibitions, “Drawing with Light: Mezzotint Prints from the Rossof Collection” and “Salvador Dali: Memories of Surrealism” beginning later this semester.

The exhibitions will open for students, faculty and staff of the college on Tuesday, Jan. 19, and for the public on Thursday, Feb. 25.  Admission is free.

 “Drawing with Light: Mezzotint Prints from the Rossof Collection” offers a chronological survey of mezzotint printmaking from the 17^th century to the present day. The term mezzotint literally means “half-tone” and refers to a printmaking technique that uses tones rather than lines to depict forms and define spaces. For centuries, artists in Europe and America used mezzotint techniques to mimic the subtle shading effects of paintings and drawings. In more recent decades, artists have explored the full expressive potential of mezzotints to create images that are moody, illusionistic and often surreal.

“Drawing with Light” was organized by the Kruizenga Art Museum and was made possible through the generosity of Arthur and Kristine Rossof of Douglas, who donated or lent the great majority of prints featured in the exhibition. The exhibition will run through June 26, 2021.

Salvador Dali was a leading figure in the Surrealist art movement from the 1920s to the 1970s. “Salvador Dali: Memories of Surrealism” is a focus exhibition featuring 12 lithographic prints created by Dali in 1971 as a reflection on his long artistic career. French art critic Pierre Restany interviewed Dali about the prints and used the artist’s words to create an accompanying text for each image. Those accompanying texts are reproduced in the labels of this exhibition to convey the full Surrealistic effect of Dali’s art.

The prints on display in “Memories of Surrealism” were donated to Hope College by alumnus Orville C. Beattie ’39. The focus exhibition will also run through June 26, 2021.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Kruizenga Art Museum’s hours and visitor guidelines have changed. All visitors to the museum are required to wear masks, and to remain at least 6 feet apart from other visitors and museum staff.  Additional information about current museum hours and guidelines is available through the museum’s website (hope.edu/kam) or social media.

The Kruizenga Art Museum functions as an educational resource for Hope College and the greater West Michigan community. The museum features two public galleries as well as a classroom and climate-controlled storage space for its 5,000-object permanent collection. It is named in honor of a leadership gift from Dr. Richard and Margaret Kruizenga, both of whom graduated from Hope in 1952.  Margaret Kruizenga died in April 2013, and Richard Kruizenga died on Aug. 15, 2020.