Ann Zahn: Master Printmaker

Garden Journal X: On the Beach
White Line Woodcut, 1996

Assateague Ponies, Carousel Rides, Sugarloaf Mountain with Wooly Sheep, a Kauai Rooster, Goldfish and Koi Ponds, sea bearing vessels, vintage cars, beaches and landscapes, table scenes and garden scenes, portraits of old friends and neighbors, nude sketches and monkeys at the zoo. 

Zahn wrote numerous Artist Statements over her artistic career, but she never described herself as working in the figurativism style. A review of her work from her early art days to her death shows that the figure played an important role in her subject matter, whether in sculptural terra-cotta nudes displayed in her garden or in her prints. She used modern techniques and ideas to depict real-world subjects, including very recognizable human and animal figures. Sometimes, she would include landscapes to house her figures. Frequently, her garden scenes might take on more abstract elements, but she always included enough realism and imagination to allow for personal interpretations. 

I’m sorting out pictures from 30 years of printmaking to use in my retrospective - “I’ve finally gotten an insight into what makes a picture work for me.  First you get the subject or image into focus, color and composition wise and then let it go so that it has a life of its own in a way that breathes….”  Jan. 10, 2001

Zahn went through several art phases before fully embracing printmaking. She painted while working on her master’s thesis, experimented with low-fired clay, and later created papier-mâché sculptures. However, printmaking ultimately ruled her life. She was obsessed and driven, even until her final days. Her granddaughter, who lived with her, reported that she could often be found in the studio working, perhaps at times when she should have been resting. 

Zahn was born Ann Causey in Washington, DC, in 1931, and after her marriage she ended up living just blocks away from where she grew up in the Washington suburb of Bethesda, MD. Friends who knew her well described her as a free spirit. When it was time for college, she chose Duke University to study psychology. While at Duke, she was suspended for dancing on a tabletop. A new acquaintance agreed to take her back home to Bethesda, and that acquaintance, Ted Zahn, became her husband and partner for life. She finished her degree at Duke in 1953 and became a working psychologist. While using her expertise in Maine, she became interested in art. It was there that she began to draw landscapes, and within a year, she declared herself an artist. 

She married Ted in 1955, a psychologist at the National Institutes of Mental Health. Within the first six years of marriage, they had four children. She demonstrated her ability to multitask at a high level, integrating her artwork into daily activities. Her neighbors and friends described her as an independent soul. Her first art recognition came in the Montgomery County Sentinel, where she received Best of Show, Grand Prize, from the Rockville Art Gallery in 1961. This was a couple of years before she started her master’s thesis in art at American University. She studied painting under AU art professors Robert Gates and Ben Summerford. Her thesis, “The Use of Landscape Motif in Abstraction,” covered Washington metro area landmarks and was copyrighted in 1968. 

Left: “Great Falls” 20 X 20” - Above: “Rock Creek” 20 X 16”; Oil on Canvas, Signed and Titled on Reverse, Master Thesis Work

As she transitioned from painting to printmaking, she studied under Michael Pierce at Montgomery College in Rockville, Maryland, from 1972 to 1975. After these studies, she started the Printmakers Workshop in her Bethesda studio and was an originator of the Washington Area Printmakers Calendar, which began in 1972. She worked on the calendar until her death. 

Zahn opened “The Printmaker’s Workshop” in 1977. Her backyard studio became a community and gathering place for printmakers for the next 25 years. Washington, being an international city, attracted artists from around the world to her studio. Beyond noted printmakers, it soon became a learning environment where printmakers shared ideas and techniques and could use her printing presses. 

Most printmakers found “The Printmaker’s Workshop” by word of mouth or through Zahn’s other community art activities, including The Graphic Workshop at Glen Echo, which eventually relocated to Silver Spring, MD, and the printmaking activities of the Washington Women’s Art Center on Q Street in Washington. Zahn served as the in-house resident artist at Glen Echo Park for several years. 

While Zahn was teaching a woodcut class at American University in 1975, she explored the famed Japanese woodblock artist Katsushika Hokusai’s “100 Views of Mount Fuji.” It was then that she began her own “100 Views of Home” with a series of prints that paid homage to the legendary Japanese artist. The “100 Views of Home” was a tour de force using varying styles and media. Using this theme, Zahn started with the premise that home is the most sacred mountain of all, simple yet complex. Using home as a motif in her art, she literally and metaphorically began with her kitchen and backyard. Her curiosity led her to explore what most of us would overlook, allowing her to create images like the “Still-Life” print below, which focuses on the kitchen table with a lazy Susan. 

100 Views of Home #18
Aquatint Etching, 1977 

Likewise to her “100 Views of Home” (1975-1985), Zahn took on another subject matter in her backyard starting in 1988, creating “The Garden Journals.” An avid gardener, Zahn started the project with the intention of doing an etching impression of her garden every day. In an article by Faine, she describes a prediction that within 25 years, a quarter of the plant species would be extinct, thus inspiring her Garden Journals. Soon after this revelation, she met a woman from Mississippi who showed her how to make paper from various vegetables, leaves, and bark. Zahn began experimenting with irises, lilies, tulip leaves, and rhubarb. Additionally, she collected tree bark, boiled it in lye (Drano) overnight, washed it off with a hose, then put it through a blender with lots of water and poured it through a paper screen. Zahn reported that the results were a thin, textured paper that was umber-colored. 

Zahn was also known for recycling her prints that she did not like. She would tear them up and put them in the blender to make new paper. A neighbor once pointed out that when she considered a print artistically sub-sufficient, she would turn it into note cards for friends. 

Every once in a while, she stepped out from being a printmaker. The best example was when she joined eight other Washington area artists in 1979 to create a mask exhibit: “Masks for the Unmasking.” The exhibit was shown at the Folger Shakespeare Library’s Anne Hathaway Gallery. A Washington Post art critic singled out Zahn: “Zahn created a series of boxes with cabinet doors. One opens the doors to find inside a mask representing, variously, ‘childhood,’ ‘adolescence,’ ‘adult,’ ‘middle age,’ and ‘old age.’ Behind the masks are mirrors, so that by bending down one can peer through the eyes to look back at oneself as if wearing the mask.” 

Another story from the late 1980s was the art protest staged by the Washington Printmakers. The Washington Post covered the story, which was picked up by the Tulsa World. An exhibit of the Printmakers was hung at the International Monetary Fund, just blocks from the White House. One printmaker created a political print that the IMF found unpleasant and inappropriate for viewing. Several members decided that if the print was removed from the exhibit, they would also remove their work. The artists prevailed, and the controversial print stayed in the exhibit. This protest landed Zahn’s name in the Washington Post and Tulsa World newspapers along with some other artists. 

Art critics such as Mark Jenkins of the Washington Post praised her work and techniques. In one article, he called Zahn an action printmaker: “She carries linoleum blocks with her so she can carve images on the spot.” As a printmaker, she experimented with all types of media: woodcut, linoleum cut, etching, aquatint, drypoint, and lithography. 

David Tannous, in his essay “Look Again - On a Journey with Ann Zahn,” goes into detail describing her process and techniques. According to Tannous: “Zahn’s method is highly idiosyncratic (very much in keeping: her take on things is often oblique) - an unlikely combination of fast and slow, impulsive and meditative. She begins by drawing her images directly on the block, stone, or plate, usually without preliminary sketches and always at the scene.” 

He continues: “Working this way means that the lines and marks are both quick and layered. There isn’t the sense of premeditated certainty; rather, the overlapping, repetitive strokes give the impression of the artist responding to what she sees while we watch, a kind of folded time allowing us to look over her (invisible) shoulder while she coaxes the image into existence.” In the case of the Kauai Rooster below, she places a hot-colored bird on a black-and-white background with a golden foreground - the contrast is stunning. 

Kauai Rooster
Linoleum Cut, 1998

Fishing Vessels: Zahn inherited a summer cottage in the West Ocean City fishing harbor and visited there frequently. She was inspired by the soaring lines above, around, and below the bulky shapes of the boats, which she drew directly onto the etching plate, as seen in the boat image below. 

Lady Kim
Etching and Aquatint, 1990

Assateague Ponies: While using that summer cottage, Zahn took up another subject matter: Assateague Ponies. In this extended group of etchings, she frequently used vibrant colors such as pink skies, blue seas, and pink and yellow sand to suggest an atmosphere of innocence and tranquility. 

Assateague Ponies #1
Etching, 1985

Handmade Books: Zahn used her print series to create handmade books. One of her most popular books was “The Monkeys Have Gone to the Zoo.” A son described how she spent days at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park.  When she created these graphic books, they were frequently made in three distinct forms: books with a spine, books in the accordion style, and books as wall sculptures. Below are examples of her folding and accordion-style books.

The Dream
Etching and Collage, 2000

Glen Echo Carousel: Zahn served as the resident artist at Glen Echo Park, where she captured the carousel’s wooden animals, such as the pink pony shown below.  

Carousel III
Linoleum Cut, 1991

Portraits: Zahn created numerous large etching portraits. One notable example is “Garden Journal IX: Daphne, Portrait of a Cook,” an etching on Arches Cover Paper measuring 28” x 22” from 1988.  

Garden Journal IX: Daphne, Portrait of a Cook
Etching, 1998

Zahn did not stay cloistered in her studio. She was a founding member of the cooperative galleries “Creative Partners" and the Washington Printmakers Gallery, and each year she participated in the Washington Area Printmakers Calendar. For many years, she taught etching and woodcutting at area universities, galleries, and in her studio. 

Her artistic vision was celebrated in her lifetime and continues to be recognized posthumously. In 2002, the Washington Printmakers Gallery honored her legacy with an exhibition titled “Light, Flight and Paper Pulp Spanning Three Generations: Ann Zahn, Julie Zahn, and Sophie Schrader,” showcasing the artistic lineage and influence of her family. 

Her imaginative resources, resilience, and willingness to tolerate, indeed, invite the infallible and mysterious, are the strengths of herself and her work. She will continue to be celebrated as future generations continue to collect her work. 

Documentation and Research References: 

Ann Zahn Education: B.A. Duke University, - 1953 

MA American University, - 1967 

Employment/College Instructor:

University of Maryland, Adjunct Professor, - 1989 

American University, Adjunct Professor, - 1988-89 and 1975 

George Mason University, Adjunct Professor, - 1987 

Printmakers Workshop, Director, - 1977- 2008 

Graphics Workshop, Co-Director, - 1975-77 

Founding Member: 

Washington Area Printmakers 

Washington Area Printmakers Calendar 

Washington Printmakers Gallery 

Waverly Street Gallery, Bethesda, MD 

Was represented by: 

June Linowitz, Art Seen, Bethesda, MD 

Globe Gallery, Berlin, MD 

Works can be found in the following collections: 

• Georgetown University, Washington, DC 
• Library of Congress, Washington, DC 
• Montgomery County (MD) Government 
• Museum of Fine Art, Portland, OR 
• Museum of Modern Art, Buenos Aires, Argentina 
• National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 
• National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 
• National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 
• National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC 
• Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Rockville, MD 
• Psychiatric Institute of Montgomery County, Rockville, MD 
• Corcoran Gallery - Now George Washington University, Washington, DC 
• The Washington Print Club, Washington, DC 
• Federal Reserve Collection 

Solo Exhibits: Additional Prints/Artwork and Exhibition Announcements/Invites:

Post Card  Invitations
Terra-Cotta Sculpted Nudes	Oil on Canvas	Masks Exhibit
Prints		From the “Garden Journal” 1990

• Waverly Street Gallery, Bethesda, MD, “High Tide at the Beach” - 2014
• The Art League, Torpedo Factory, Alexandria, VA, “The Gravitational Pull of Memory” - 2011 
• Waverly Street Gallery, Bethesda, MD, “Artist Books” - 2010 
• Orchard Gallery, Bethesda, MD, “Etchings” - 2009 
• Alex Gallery, Washington, DC, “Garden Journal XIV” - 2006 
• Alex Gallery, Washington, DC, “Mini Retrospective” - 2004 
• Strathmore Hall Arts Center, Bethesda, MD, “The Deliquescence of Things” Retrospective exhibit of 30 years of printmaking - 2002 
• Creative Partners Gallery, Bethesda, MD - 1999 
• Washington Printmakers Gallery, Washington, DC, - 1996 and 1999 
• Studio Gallery, Washington, DC, - 1981, 83. 86, 91, and 94 
• Emerson Gallery, McLean, VA, - 1980 
• Wolfe Street Gallery, Washington, DC, - 1978 

Bibliography - Research Documentation: 

Writing about the master printmaker Ann Zahn is so different from my other reviews of artists. Normally I write about artists who have been forgotten because of time, changes in collectable style/fashion, or artists who were underrated due to gender bias. Yet Zahn is none of these things. She has been recognized over the years and had a major retrospective in 2002. Likewise, there are relentless articles that have covered her works from as early as 1961 through her Wikipedia page that was compiled after her death in 2020. Here is her extended selected bibliography: 

• Pinkerton Filson, Joan. In Memoriam: Ann Zahn and Her World. On Paper Journal of the Washington Print Club. Fall 2021 (Newsletter). Washington, DC. 
• Tannous, David. Ann Zahn, The Deliquescence of Things, 1972-2002. A Retrospective Exhibition of Etchings, Lithographs and Relief Prints (Exhibit Catalog) March 2 - April 13, 2002. 2002 - Spectrum Printing and Graphics, Bethesda, MD 
• Jenkins, Mark. Ann Zahn at Art League. Washington Post. June 24, 2011, Washington, DC. 
• Zahn, Ann, with contributions from other artists. Printmakers’ Workshop Retrospective, A Exhibition of Prints at Strathmore Hall, Bethesda, MD, September 5 - October 14, 2006. Spectrum Printing, 2006. Shaw-Eagle, Joanna. Experimental Printmaker - Zahn ranges from home. Arts & Culture Section, The Washington Times. August 21, 2004. Pages front section and B3. 
• Cannon, David.  Sentinel Arts Critic. The Diversity of One, at Strathmore Hall (Ann Zahn Exhibit Review). Arts & Entertainment Section of The Montgomery County Sentinel. April 4, 2002. Page 13. 
•  Shaw-Eagle, Joanna. Haunting, View and Stories, Ann Zahn’s 30-Year Retrospective is at Strathmore Hall. The Washington Times. March 9, 2002. 
• Lewis, Jo Ann. Here & Now - Ann Zahn (Strathmore Exhibit Notice). The Washington Post. March 31, 2002. 
• Schafer, Karen, Staff Writer. Artist Explores Life’s Pain and Pleasure (Art Review). Gazette Entertainment. Capital Gazette. Anne Arundel County. March 6, 2002. Page B-10. 
• Parmelee, Terry. “Ann Zahn: The Deliquescence of Things, “ A Retrospective Exhibition. The Washington Print Club Quarterly. Date Unknown. 
• Pizarro, Max. Printmakers Gallery Hosts Surrealist Exhibit. Northwest Current - On Exhibit. April 1999. 
• Ungar, Nancy. Arts Etc., On View (Art Review). Montgomery County Gazette. August 1996.
• Oda, Ken. Ann Zahn, at the George Meany Center for Labor Studies, Adm. Building Gallery (Art Review). KOAN - Ken Oda’s Art Newsletter, Volume IV, No. 7. April 1996. 
• Unknown Author. Recent Paintings by Ann Zahn - Extended Show (Art Review). Wilson, Janet. Zahn’s Garden Scenes (Studio Gallery). The Washington Post, May 1991. 
• Roach, Dennis. Ann Zahn at Montana Gallery. The Collector of Antiques and Art (Newsletter), Volume 2, No. 1. January 1990. 
• Unknown Author. Heloisa Helena Tigre - Exhibition Announcement - Ms. Tigre studied with Ann Zahn. Hilton Head News. September 1, 1989. 
• Unknown Author. Artist Stage Protest Over Censorship. Tulsa World. December 11, 1988. Page 33. Tulsa World reprinted the article from the Washington Post. 
•  Ravenal, Dr. Carol, Associate Professor of Art. Letter of Recommendation. The American University. May 20, 1988. 
• Ullrich, Addison. Shoettler and Zahn at Studio Gallery. Washington Art Reporter. December 1986. 
• Unknown Author. 13th Annual Members’ Craft Exhibition - Papers and Prints: Homestead Gallery, Rehoboth Art League. New Journal. July 6, 1984. Page 43. 
• Howe, Rob, Sun Arts & Entertainment Editor. Behind the Scenes - Views from Near Top of Biennial Heap - Review of Baltimore Museum’s Maryland Biennial 1983: Works on Paper. The Baltimore Sun. January 6, 1984. 
• Shaw-Eagle, Joanna, Special to the Journal. Art Barn: Kaleidoscope of Colors and Techniques (Art Review at the Art Barn, Rock Creek Park, Wash. DC.). April 1984. 
• Howe, Rob, Sun Arts & Entertainment Editor. No Shocks in Biennial, 1983 (Exhibit at the Baltimore Museum of Art - Ann Zahn - Prize Winner). The Baltimore Sun. December 14, 1983. Starts on page B1. 
• Forgey, Benjamin, Art Critic for the Washington Post. Lithographs by Ann Zahn. The Washington Post. November 19, 1983. 
• Individual Grant Application - Hereward Lester Cooke Foundation, Washington, DC. Start Date of January 1, 1982. Printmaking - Lithography - Etchings. 
• Unknown Author. Zahn to Lecture Tonight (Zahn to discuss creative process and techniques of printmaking). Lecture at the Academy of the Arts, Easton, MD. The Star-Democrat Weekend Magazine. October 30, 1981. Page 11. 
• Forgey, Benjamin. Art (review of Ann Zahn’ exhibit at Studio Gallery). The Washington Star. January 6, 1980. 
• Unknown Author. “Etcetera” (“Masks for the Unmasking '' Exhibit at the Folger Shakespeare's Anne Hathaway Gallery - Masks by Nine Washington Artists. Washington Post. January 28, 1979. 
• Wasserman Rayman, Abby, Special to the Journal. An Artist Whose Found the World at Home (Art Review for Exhibit at Wolfe Street Gallery). Montgomery Journal. May 5, 1978. Page B4. 
• Secrest, Merle. Exhibit at Glen Echo Graphics Workshop. The Washington Post. January 9, 1975.
• Faine, Edward Allan, Special to the Almanac. Artist Cultivates Garden in Linoleum and Ink. Unknown publication and date. 
• Causey Zahn, Ann. (The) Use of the Landscape Motif in Abstraction. Thesis (M.A.) American University. Publication Date: January 1, 1967. 
• Linthicum, Joyce. November Art Calendar for County - Rockville Art Gallery, Ann Zahn Best of Show, Grand Prize. Montgomery County Sentinel. November 9, 1961. Page 8. 
• Smithsonian Libraries. Ann Zahn Folder: Exhibit Announcements, Newspaper Articles and Clippings, Grant Request, Etc. 

Highlights: 

ANN ZAHN Ann Causey Zahn, was born on June 7, 1931, in Washington DC.  She was an influential figure in the Washington, DC area’s printmaking movement.  She was an educator as well as a pioneer, co-founding the Washington Printmakers Gallery and the Washington Area Printmakers.  Her commitment to the community was further demonstrated by her involvement with the Washington Women’s Art Center which she joined in the mid-1970s.

©2024. Waller-Yoblonsky Fine Art is a research collaborative, working to track artists that got lost and overlooked due to time, changing styles, race, gender and/or sexual orientation. Our frequent blogs highlight artists and art movements that need renewed attention with improved information for the researcher and art collectors. The photos and blog was created by Mr. Waller and all written materials were obtained by the Fair Use Section 107, of The Copyright Act.  Special thanks goes out to Ann Zahn's family for the detailed documentation on her life and the numerous news articles.  #annzahn #annzahnprintmaker #waller-yoblonskyblogspot #walleryoblonskyblogspot