Glen Alps

Although the inventor of the process is not known, Alps made collagraphy his primary art form and coined the word "collagraph" in 1956. He disseminated the techniques he developed for making collagraphs during his long career as both an artist and a teacher.

• Name — Glen Alps • Born — June 20th, 1914 • Birthplace — Loveland, Colorado • Died — November 3, 1996 • Place of death — Seattle, Washington • Other Names — Glen Earl Alps, Glen E. Alps • Known for — Developing the collagraph • Occupation — Artist, educator

Alps was born in 1914 on a farm near Loveland, Colorado. He attended Colorado State College of Education (today University of Northern Colorado) in Greeley, Colorado, where he received the Bachelor of Arts in 1940. After graduation he worked as an art instructor in the Greeley County school system until 1942, when he took a job in the publishing department of Culver Aircraft Factory in Wichita. In 1945 he returned to school at the University of Washington in Seattle, where he was awarded the Master of Fine Arts in 1947. During that summer Alps studied with printmaker Mauricio Lasansky (b. 1914) at the University of Iowa. Alps's early work in printmaking was in keeping with the realism of American Regionalists Thomas Hart Benton and Grant Wood, but by the end of 1947 his work had turned toward abstraction and vivid color, judiciously used. The excitement of printmaking for Alps was in the creative process. He preferred small editions to large ones, and was prolific in his production. At this time he worked in lithography, screenprinting and etching. A favorite abstract motif was the circle in a square which, according to arts reviewer John Voorhees, became a type of "trademark" for the artist that he often used in his work.

Writers on the subject of collagraphy are careful to point out that while Glen Alps developed the artform and coined the term "collagraph" to describe it, he did not "invent" collagraphy. Elementary collagraphic techniques can be detected in prints dating from the 19th century, and the development in the early 20th century of collage as an art form led to the idea that objects (including bits of paper, fabric, metal and sand) collaged on to a printing plate could be inked and printed for textural effects. Artists who predated Alps in the use of this concept include the Norwegian Rolf Nesch and the Americans Boris Margo (1902–1995), Edmond Casarella (1920–1996) and Roland Ginzel (b. 1921). Alps began working in the technique in the fall of 1956, when he was an associate professor in the School of Art at the University of Washington. He was investigating art techniques that would stimulate creativity and, as he wrote, "...dramatically release the inner-most quality of being" of the artist. Alps shared the idea with his students at that time, and they became his colleagues in experimenting with the new art form. It became evident to Alps early on in his development of the process that he needed a name for it. The word that he coined,"collagraph", is a union of the words "collage" and "-graph." Artists who later created notable works in collagraphy include Dean Meeker (1920–2002), Edward Stasack (b. 1929), John Ross (1921 - 2017), Claire Romano (1922 - 2017) and Samuel Maitin (1928 - 2004). Alps, along with Romano and Ross were all members of Society of American Graphic Artists. Maitin (also a student of Mauricio Lasansky's in Philadelphia) formerly ran the Design Lab at the Annenberg School of Communications at the University of Pennsylvania and taught printmaking at the Print Club in Philadelphia.

Alps was actively engaged in promoting as well as producing collagraphs. The first exhibition to show collagraphs by Alps and his students was a competitive print exhibition held in 1957 at the University of Washington's Henry Gallery. The first national exposure of a collagraph came in 1958, when Alps's "Chickens, Collagraph #12" was exhibited in the Brooklyn Museum's National Print Annual. In 1966 he demonstrated techniques used in making collagraphs in a 20-minute film titled "The Collagraph." Alps produced collagraphs throughout the remainder of his career. He exhibited his collagraphs widely, recognizing that their inclusion in national exhibitions helped to spread awareness of the art form. A respected professor of art, Alps personally taught collagraphy to hundreds of students during his tenure at the University of Washington.

In 1960 Alps received a fellowship to the Tamarind Institute in New Mexico, where he created a group of lithographs. In the 1970s he originated the technique (which is no longer practiced) of pouring automotive lacquer over a Masonite plate and selectively burning away the lacquer with a jeweler's torch. The plate was then inked and printed. Alps used the technique in combination with collagraphy. In 1988 Alps was an artist-in-residence at Pilchuck Glass School. During this time he met glass artist Harvey Littleton, who introduced Alps to vitreography. Assisted by Littleton's printer at the time, David Wharton, Alps created a vitreograph titled "Pilchuck Summer." Alps also designed and manufactured about thirty fine art printing presses. The Glen Alps Press was reputed to be durable, versatile and easy to operate.

Glen Alps married Ruby Surber, a fellow student at Colorado State College of Education, in 1939. She preceded him in death in December, 1995. The couple had no children.

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Prints by Glen Alps can be found in the collections of the Bibliothèque Nationale [Paris], Art Institute of Chicago, Harvard University Art Museums, Library of Congress, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Loveland [Colorado] Museum/Gallery, Museum of Modern Art [New York], Portland Art Museum (Oregon), Seattle Art Museum, and Yale University Art Gallery, among many others.