FEBRUARY 26

In 1955, Maurice Grosman had a heart attack, leading his wife Tatyana to start casting about for alternative sources of income for their family. The cottage industry she settled on, Universal Limited Art Editions, has since grown into a world-famous print studio, hosting such contemporary masters as Robert Motherwell, Helen Frankenthaler, Barnett Newman, Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, and James Rosenquist. “Proof Positive: Forty Years of Contemporary American Printmaking at ULAE, 1957-1997” celebrates Grosman’s achievement with roughly 180 works produced in the studio she started out of her house in West Islip, N.Y. Tonight, Rosenquist, who worked at the studio from 1964-87, will offer reminiscences of Grosman and his experiences at ULAE. Among the editions he made there is Expo 67 Mural—Firepole (pictured), which, although fairly conventional by the artist’s standards, took sixfold advantage of Grosman’s expertise in multiple-plate printing. Such techniques were tailor-made for the rich image overlays of the signature works of Rosenquist and his pop peers. In the exhibit it is possible to see his 29-plate lithograph Off the Continental Divide (1973-74), round the corner, and examine Johns’ 1987 The Seasons portfolio, which apparently drew its recurring motif of primary shapes from faint forms in the earlier work. In this tribute to Tatyana Grosman, who died in 1982, Rosenquist illustrates his talk with slides of his ULAE output, as well as more recent work. At 7:30 p.m. at the Corcoran Gallery of Art’s Hammer Auditorium, 17th & New York Ave. NW. $25. For reservations call (202) 639-1770. (Glenn Dixon)