In this Iris print, B. A. King has reproduced a detail of a sheet of stamps honoring the composer Igor Stravinsky. The Igor Stravinsky stamp was issued in 1982 during the 100th anniversary of his birth as part of the Great Americans Series. Initiated in 1980, the series honored Sequoyah, George Mason, Rachel Carson, Dr. Charles Drew, Crazy Horse, Dr. Ralph Bunche, and Dr. Robert Millikan. Burt Silverman of New York designed the stamp. It was printed in the intaglio process and issued in panes of 100. The modeler was Clarence Holbert.

The Iris print reproduction process is often referred to as giclée, from the French word meaning "spray of water." This process was first introduced in 1991 by the rock musician Graham Nash of Crosby Stills and Nash, together with printmaker Jack Duganne and long-time Nash associate R. Mac Holbert. At that time, Nash opened Nash Editions Ltd. in Manhattan Beach, California, producing his digital fine art prints using the 3047 Iris inkjet printer. The Iris printer puts out continuous-tone color in various sized dots creating a precise image. This technique produces images that are far sharper and have much smoother tonal gradation than the images obtained from fixed-dot-size printers. The printer accurately sprays one million microscopic droplets of ink per second onto the paper to form the image at a perceived resolution of 1850 dpi. Since 1991, the Iris printer has been used to reproduce acrylic, oil and watercolor paintings as well as other works of art on heavy 100 percent fiber papers, canvas and a wide range of other materials.

J. Carder

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. B. H. Pucker, Directors, Pucker Gallery, Boston, MA, March 10, 2001;

Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, House Collection, Washington, D.C.