Most of the time, exhibitors want gallery-goers focused on artists’ finished products, not their processes. Often, there are no preliminary sketches next to the finished piece, no photos of the work in process, no abandoned canvases to compare. But with the National Gallery of Art’s new exhibition, “Yes, No, Maybe: Artists Working at Crown Point Press,” process is everything. Collecting working proofs and final editions made at the influential San Francisco-based Crown Point Press between 1972 and 2010, “Yes, No, Maybe” gives viewers a glimpse into the mix of chance and precision that occurs with the intaglio procedure, a technique where images are cut into the surface of a print plate in a variety of ways. The 125 works by John Cage, Chuck Close, Richard Diebenkorn (shown), Sol LeWitt, Julie Mehretu, Mamma Andersson, Jockum Nordström, Amy Sillman, and Laura Owens reveal the evolution of their prints, allowing viewers to become fully steeped in the process of process.

The exhibit is on view Mondays to Saturdays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. to Jan. 5, 2014 at the National Gallery of Art West Building, 6th Street and Constitution Avenue NW. Free. (202) 737-4215. nga.gov

Richard Diebenkorn, Touched Red (working proof 10), © The Estate of Richard Diebenkorn