Society of American Graphic Artists

SAGA has been active since its inception in 1915 under the name of the Brooklyn Society of Etchers, and has organized over 79 National Member Exhibitions, in addition to various international, traveling and exchange exhibitions.[2]

In relation to other artists’ associations of the time, SAGA was modeled more closely to the French impressionist group (Cooperative Society of Painters, Sculptors, Engravers, etc.) which was focused on organizing exhibitions for its members, rather than other printmaking organizations such as the British Etching Club or the French Society of Etchers (Societe des Aquafortistes) which were highly selective and secretive with very few members or focused more on commercial promotions, respectively.[3]

With the advent of artists’ societies and clubs in the United States in the latter part of the 19th century, the New York Etching Club founded in 1877 gave way to establishment of the Brooklyn Society of Etchers which was organized 22 years after its disbandment. Founding members included Troy Kinney, Eugene Higgins, Fred Reynolds, Paul Roche, and Ernest Roth. Approximately 200 etchings by sixty-five artists including John Taylor Arms, Frank W. Benson, Mary Cassatt, Childe Hassam, John Marin, and Mahonri Young where exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum as part of the organization's inaugural exhibition.[4][5]

The organization continued to grow aggressively during the first fifteen years of its existence with both the membership and number of prints exhibited at the annual exhibitions tripling. The first international exhibition was organized at the Anderson Galleries in New York in 1922, including works by several major European and American artists such as Mary Cassatt, Ernest Haskell, Childe Hassam, Edward Hopper, Wilhelm Lembrook, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Camille Pissarro, and John Sloan.

The organization decided to rename to the Society of American Etchers, Inc. since membership had grown to include many other geographic areas beyond Brooklyn, and the exhibitions were moved from the Brooklyn Museum to the National Arts Club in New York. Membership grew to include important printmakers of the 1930s including Isabelle Bishop, Mina Citron, Kenneth Hayes, Stanley William Hayter, John Sloan and Reginald Marsh. Further, it was during this time that exhibit exchanges with European print clubs were organized.

In 1947, the society organized the largest show in its history, a collection of over 650 prints at the National Academy. Since many of these prints utilized techniques such as woodcut, wood engraving, and lithography, the organization was renamed to the Society of American Etchers, Gravers, Lithographers, and Woodcutters, Inc. and then again to its current designation the Society of American Graphic Artists in 1952.

With the ever changing climate of visual arts, printmaking has also undergone changes from the birth of non-objectivity, to surrealism, abstraction and beyond. A study of the catalogues of SAGA's exhibitions reflects these changes but it also shows SAGA's openness to all styles. In this respect the society has always followed the precept of its longtime president from 1931 to 1952, John Taylor Arms, who felt that SAGA should represent all techniques and styles in order to represent a true cross section of contemporary printmaking.

Since its inception, SAGA has promoted many renowned professional artists as members and exhibitors.

• Official website