DUNDEE.- Modern Masters in Print: Matisse, Picasso, Dalí and Warhol’ is the latest in a series of exhibitions being held at The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery and Museum leading up to the opening of V&A at Dundee.

“These `modern masters’ each had a profound influence in the art world, but also beyond. Their legacy pervades our culture,” said V&A curator Gill Saunders. “All four were also accomplished printmakers, using the medium to reach a wider audience.

“Together, these four artists spanned a 75-year period that saw the birth of the modern age. They employed a wide range of techniques, and their work represents one of the most creative and diverse periods of printmaking in the history of western art.”

Drawn from the V&A’s outstanding collections of prints, posters and artists’ books, Modern Masters showcases their work in print. The exhibition will highlight the different ways in which each of these four artists used the medium of print.

For Matisse and Picasso, printmaking was one of the many artistic media they employed, and one which they used to explore themes and motifs from other areas of their work. For Dalí, printmaking was an exercise in experimentation, through which he developed many imaginative new processes. Warhol’s prints were his primary means of expression and central to his work. His screen-prints based on mass-produced images challenged the concept of the ‘original’ print.

Lord Provost Bob Duncan, chair of Leisure & Culture Dundee, said, “This is another exciting exhibition for The McManus. People are responding enthusiastically to the benefits of our close partnership with the V&A.

“The McManus is becoming widely known as a quality destination and this exhibition is an outstanding attraction to bring visitors to the galleries and the city.”

Philip Long, Director of V&A at Dundee, said, “The artistic giants of the 20th century - Matisse, Picasso, Dali and Warhol - took print-making and really re-invented it as a new and very vital way of expression. Each of these artists approach to print-making was highly distinctive but all used the medium to drive forward the development of their work as well as to create individual masterpieces. `Modern Masters’ is a fabulous opportunity to see both well-known and less familiar works by the four outstanding talents of modern art.”

The exhibition will run from Friday 23 August to Sunday 17 November 2013 at The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery and Museum.

The exhibition is one of a series of city-wide events coinciding with the prestigious international print conference `Impact 8’, which is being hosted by the University of Dundee.