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Lutheran Art > The Collector & the Medium
The Collector & the Medium
About the collector
The person behind the collection is art connoisseur and respected private collector Richard Hillstrom. A retired Lutheran pastor, he approached Lutheran Brotherhood in 1982 with the idea of starting a corporate collection. "A corporate art collection would demonstrate Lutheran Brotherhood's commitment to the cause of education and culture," Hillstrom argued persuasively. "Besides being a sound investment, it would be a source of enjoyment and spiritual enrichment to its viewers."
Hillstrom built the Thrivent Collection as carefully and frugally as he had built his own collection. He sought the advice of experts and looked for quality pieces to come to market. By limiting the collection to original works on paper—drawings, etchings, engravings, aquatints and lithographs—he was able to assemble a remarkable collection in a corporate setting. Rev. Hillstrom has retired from the collection. Curator Joanna Reiling Lindell is committed to carrying on all that Rev. Hillstrom built. Employees and visitors to the Thrivent corporate headquarters in Minneapolis can enjoy many of the works by visiting the Gallery of Religious Art.
About the medium
The prints in the collection are all original and encompass many centuries within the history of printmaking. An original print, in the technical sense, is any one of multiple impressions made on paper from the same plate, block or stone. Individual prints are called "proofs" and all are classified as original when printed from the plate or block on which the artist worked.
Many techniques are employed in print making. Among the most common are etching, engraving, wood cutting and lithography.
- Etching – An etching needle is used to draw the design into a wax ground applied on a metal plate, usually copper. The plate is then subjected to a series of acid baths, biting into the etched lines. The plate is then cleaned of wax, inked, and wiped, the ink being held in the etched lines. A sheet of moistened paper is laid over the plate and run through a press.
- Engraving – Essentially the same process is used as in etching except that the lines are incised directly into the plate with a burin or engraver tool.
- Woodcut – A flat block of soft wood, cut with the grain, is incised with a cutting tool. The raised parts carry the image and are carefully inked with a roller. The block is then run through a press and the image transferred to the paper.
- Lithograph – This is a process that depends on the antipathy of grease and water. The design is drawn on a block of limestone with a greasy crayon. The stone is then wetted with water and coated with an oily ink which clings to the greasy design and is repelled by the wet areas. The same principle is applied in modern commercial offset printing.
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