A Family Affair: Selections from the Zanatta Editions Archives

September 19, 2008 – January 3, 2009

Ruth Ann Wefald Gallery

Based in Shawnee, Kansas, Zanatta Editions is an independent publisher of artists’ prints, photographs, and multiples operated by Joe and Barb Zanatta. In 2004 the Beach Museum of Art acquired the Zanatta Editions Archives, which contains examples of Zanatta Editions publications and related material, such as working and trial proofs, preparatory drawings, and proofs from unrealized editions. This exhibition brings together a group of work from the museum’s Zanatta Editions holdings.

Zanatta Editions grew out of Joe Zanatta’s background in publishing and his interest in art. He worked in book publishing for twenty years, first with Macmillan Publishing and subsequently with his own company, Bon A Tirer Publishing. For ten years Bon A Tirer Publishing issuedContemporary Print Portfolio: A Guide to Contemporary Prints & Multiples at Auction, an annually published compilation of contemporary print auction results and an important reference for art dealers, collectors, and curators. This led Zanatta and his wife Barb to try their hand at publishing contemporary artists’ prints. Initially a family side business, Zanatta Editions is now a full-time endeavor.

In 1996 Zanatta Editions released its first publication, Jaune Quick-To-See Smith’s Survival, a suite of four lithographs printed by Mike Sims at Lawrence Lithography Workshop. Since that time, Zanatta Editions has published nearly fifty works of art, often working with Master Printer Maurice Sanchez at Derrière L’Étoile Studios in New York City. Works issued by Zanatta Editions include monotypes by William Christenberry; lithographs by Carey Maxon; and lithographs, monotypes, neon sculptures, and photographs by Renée Stout.