Impressions: Selected Works from Jerwood Collection | Edinburgh Printmakers

YInka Shonibare, Mayflower, All Flowers, 2020. Relief print with woodblock and fabric collage.

Courtesy of Jerwood Collection. © Courtesy Yinka Shonibare CBE and Cristea Roberts Gallery, London.

Impressions presents an exciting selection of fine art prints from the Jerwood Collection. In parallel to the Jerwood Residencies at Edinburgh Printmakers, this exhibition predominantly features the intricate process of etching while also showcasing other printmaking techniques, including screenprinting, lithography, linocut, and monotype.

We are delighted to welcome these works to our galleries, as Edinburgh continues to position itself as a leading hub for printmaking. This exhibition is another example of the city’s growing appreciation of the medium, being the third major printmaking retrospective to open in the past 18 months.

This generous loan features 20 exceptional works by internationally renowned artists, including Hurvin Anderson, Frank Auerbach, Gerald Leslie Brockhurst, Ian Davenport, Tracey Emin, Lucian Freud, Angela Gill, Maggi Hambling, David Hockney, John Hoyland, Augustus John, Kim Lim, Ben Nicholson, Paula Rego, Bridget Riley, Eva Rothschild, Julian Trevelyan, and Yinka Shonibare. Together, these pieces offer a vivid exploration of the rich and varied possibilities of printmaking.

For the duration of the exhibition, we will also be hosting free gallery tours of Story: Selected Works from Edinburgh Printmakers' Collection and Impressions: Selected Works from Jerwood Collection on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays at 2pm. No need to book - just pop in and join a tour at our front desk.
Discover our public programme connected to the Impression exhibition:
- Thursday 22nd May at 6pm | Ep Culture Conversations - Collecting Stories. A panel conversation with three invited speakers reflecting on how they use storytelling to bolster the objects in their collections.
- Thursday 5th June at 6pm | From Plate to Page Readig Group. A relaxed, non-academic conversation engaging with texts that look at printmaking’s role within social justice, emancipation, identity and self-expression.
- Sunday 15th June at 2pm | Zines and Paper Sculptures Workshop. Join artist printmaker Scott Baxter in exploring historical ways in which people have sought to safely communicate personal, political, or secret information hidden from prying eyes.
Printmaking holds an important place in the history of art as a medium, revolutionising artistic practices and accessibility. Since the 16th century, printmaking has played a significant role in fine art, enabling the mass production of artworks and making creativity more accessible. The introduction of editioning further expanded its reach, allowing artists to distribute multiple impressions of their work worldwide, making art more widely available to audiences and collectors.
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Ian Davenport, Colourplan Series: Citric Etching, 2011. Colour Etching.

Courtesy of Jerwood Collection. © Ian Davenport. All rights reserved, DACS 2025.

Being so versatile, printmaking enabled artists to push the boundaries of texture, layering, depth, and colour. This capacity for experimentation and innovation allowed creatives to explore endless possibilities. The variety of works on display in Impressions are a testament this, from the vibrant and abstract works of Ian Davenport and John Hoyland to the intimate and figurative examples of Tracey Emin and Lucian Freud. Practitioners have also used printmaking as a type of visual commentary to address current themes of identity, culture, and history as demonstrated by Yinka Shonibare and Hurvin Anderson.
This exhibition has been supported by Jerwood Foundation with loans from Jerwood Collection. The Jerwood Collection of modern art gives public access to a privately-owned collection to enhance the understanding and enjoyment of 20th and 21st century art. For further information visit www.jerwood.org/jerwoodcollection.

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