19 Facts About Warrington Colescott

Warrington Colescott was a master printmaker and operated Mantegna Press in Hollandale, Wisconsin, with his wife and fellow artist Frances Myers.

Warrington Colescott was born in Oakland, California, in 1921 to parents of Louisiana Creole descent.

Warrington Colescott's brother, artist Robert Colescott, was born in 1925.

Warrington Colescott earned his undergraduate degree at the University of California, Berkeley, graduating in the summer of 1942.

Warrington Colescott served in the army in World War II from 1942 to 1946, then returned to Berkeley to take a master's degree in fine arts and to earn a teaching certificate.

Warrington Colescott taught art at Long Beach City College from 1947 to 1949.

Warrington Colescott had studied painting at the University of California, Berkeley, and only began to make screenprints in 1948 while he was teaching at Long Beach City College.

Warrington Colescott continued to paint, draw, and make screenprints when he moved to Madison to teach drawing and design at the University of Wisconsin.

Sessler introduced Warrington Colescott to etching in the mid-1950s, and Warrington Colescott furthered his education in the medium at the Slade School of Fine Art in London, studying with Anthony Gross.

Warrington Colescott achieved a major breakthrough in his work when he began to cut and shape the copper etching plates with mechanics' shears.

That same year, Warrington Colescott began an etching about the Depression-era gangster, John Dillinger, which grew into a suite of images mixing fact and fiction about the farm boy-turned-outlaw who mesmerized the public in the 1930s.

In each print, Warrington Colescott starts with historical fact, and then adds his own interpretation, often borrowing from the featured artist's own style or themes.

Since the 1970s, Warrington Colescott has continued to pursue social satire in his work.

Warrington Colescott's work is in museum collections across the United States and Europe, including the Art Institute of Chicago, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, Museum of Modern Art, National Gallery of Art, New York Public Library, Victoria and Albert Museum, Tate, Columbus Museum of Art, and the Bibliotheque Nationale de France, among others.

Warrington Colescott has exhibited in numerous group exhibitions and one-man shows.

Warrington Colescott first gained critical notice in the 1950s, when he was included in the Young American Printmakers exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, in 1953, and in shows at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1955 and 1956.

Warrington Colescott exhibited frequently throughout the subsequent decades and was honored with numerous grants, fellowships, and awards.

Warrington Colescott has been recognized by several major honors and fellowships.

Warrington Colescott is a Fellow of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters, and was named an Academician of the National Academy of Design in 1992.