1942-2021

Linda Adato was one of the true masters of printmaking; she developed a particular expertise in the à la poupée method, achieving subtle colors and evocative moods in her images. She leaves behind her husband Al and her beloved daughter Vanessa.

Linda was born in England on October 24, 1942. She first studied at Hornsey College of Art in Haringey, England, which is renowned for its experimental approach to art and design. She emigrated to the United States in 1962 and studied at UCLA. She was a longtime member of the The Society of American Graphic Artists, serving on the board for many years and holding the positions of treasurer and president. She also taught printmaking at the Silvermine School of Art.

Linda was a master of color intaglio. Her work is distinctive for its delicate synthesis of composition, subtle use of color, classical elegance, and her personal interpretation of the architecture of New York City, chambers and ancient ruins in Spain, Italy, Turkey, and her own backyard in New Rochelle and later Brooklyn. She made color etchings for over twenty-five years and mastered the à la poupée, one plate method of color printing. In later years she began using two plates each printed à la poupée. Her subtle use of color, together with her precise wiping of each section of her compositions, demonstrates her technical perfection in this process. One Way or the Other is a masterful two-plate color etching, aquatint and soft ground. Backyard Geometry is a stunning single-plate color etching, aquatint and soft ground.

Linda received many awards and her prints have been included in numerous exhibitions in the United States and Europe. Her work is in the permanent collections of the Corcoran Gallery of Art, British Museum, Portland Art Museum, Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts of the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, New York Public Library, and other institutions.

Artist’s statement:

“I love the process of etching, of working the plate through the stages of hard ground line etching, using aquatint for tones and soft ground for texture. Taking a proof at each stage you can see where you’ve gone and what can be. I start the image abstractly from the geometries of things around me, their configuration of line, form, shadow, etc. In the journey from drawing to final print, I do not so much execute the initial idea as I develop it in the course of the intaglio process. I am sometimes surprised by the “realistic” image”.

Linda Adato