The board of the International Fine Print Dealers Association (IFPDA) has elected David Tunick to serve a three-year term as president.
With an eponymous New York gallery that specialises in Old Master and Modern prints, Tunick has been active in the trade for more than 50 years and intends to bring a evangelising energy to the 161-member organisation. "I want our members to declare loudly and widely that original prints are not poor second cousins of 'real art', but are as important as the paintings of the great artists of all periods, ranging from Dürer, Rembrandt, and Goya to Degas, Picasso, Matisse, Warhol, Johns and onward through Jacob Hashimoto and Mickalene Thomas today", Tunick says. "What I tell students is that prints represent a different means of expressing original ideas, just the way Shakespeare wrote plays and sonnets and Mozart composed operas and symphonies—all are masterpieces in different forms."
The executive director of the IFPDA, Michele Senecal, says, "David's gallery exemplifies the quality, range and diversity of the IFPDA, and we are excited to work with him on a year of programming culminating in our return to River Pavilion next fall."
The IFPDA's annual fair received 10,000 visitors between 26-29 October in its new venue at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York. Next year's edition will run 25-28 October.
