JACK LEMON, 1936-2026
In 1970, with the support of Allan Frumkin, master printer Jack Lemon opened Landfall Press on West Ontario Street in Chicago. The Press quickly became known as one of the preeminent fine-art print workshops in the United States. Over the next 50 years Jack Lemon produced prints and multiples with over 100 artists, including Robert Arneson, William Beckman, Roy De Forest, Lesley Dill, Alfred Leslie, James McGarrell, Philip Pearlstein, Peter Saul, H.C. Westermann and William T. Wiley.
His impact goes even beyond being a pioneer in printmaking, because Jack was Jack. His personality was large. His visits to the gallery in New York or my visits to the Landfall in Chicago & Santa Fe were always memorable occasions; especially if Bulliet was on the table. Jack was a great friend and colleague to so many of us, his warm and generous nature only partly disguised by his Marine Corps bark. He was a significant figure in the print world and beyond, having nurtured generations of artists and dealers who gravitated to Landfall, and to Jack. In recognition of the significance of his life’s work, Jack and Landfall’s legacy were acknowledged by an exhibition organized by the Milwaukee Art Museum in 2019, where the Landfall archive has been housed since 1992.
Jack passed away at his home in Santa Fe on October 28th. He will be missed.
Our deepest condolences go out to Jeanette Pasin Sloan who survives him.