The portfolio Ten Works x Ten Painters (1964) captures a defining moment in American printmaking. In the early 1960s, a national revival of printmaking - particularly screenprinting - coincided with the rise of Pop Art and Minimalism. These artistic movements shared printmaking’s interest in repetition as well as the dissemination of ideas through innovation in artistic mediums. Wadsworth Atheneum curator Samuel J. Wagstaff initiated Ten Works x Ten Painters as one of the first museum-sponsored print portfolios, conceived to broaden access to contemporary art.

The project brought together a group of ten blue-chip American artists who remain art historical touchstones today, including Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Ellsworth Kelly, Frank Stella, and Robert Motherwell. Each contributed a fine art print based on an earlier painting. All were silkscreen prints on paper, except for Lichtenstein’s silkscreen on Mylar and Motherwell’s silkscreen that incorporated collage - both firsts for the artists. Unified by their graphic immediacy, the prints reflect a range of artistic approaches, from the vibrant visual language of Pop Art to the restrained geometry of Minimalism.