The Bellevue Arts Museum in Bellevue, Washington, is currently hosting the exhibition “Under Pressure: Contemporary Prints from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and his Family Foundation.” The show, which features works by artists such as Chuck Close, Roy Lichtenstein, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Barbara Kruger, Sol Lewitt, and Andy Warhol, traces printmaking’s rise to prominence in post-war American art. Drawn from real estate mogul Jordan D. Schnitzer’s vast collection, “Under Pressure” includes examples from major movements within contemporary art such as Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, Photorealism, and Minimalism.

During the late 1950s, the art world experienced a groundswell of interest in printmaking. Ignoring the stigma associated with the process, pioneering artists such as Rauschenberg and Johns began experimenting with a variety of techniques, including offset lithography, screen printing, wood-cutting, lino-cutting, and laser-cutting.