Opening Reception: Alan Crane: Lithographs from Mexico, 1940–1964

Hecho a Mano will exhibit the first ever exhibition of Mexican prints by the late artist Alan Horton Crane (1901–69), an American lithographer and illustrator whose finely-detailed work can be found in numerous institutions including the Library of Congress, Smithsonian, Carnegie Institute, Metropolitan Museum, New York Public Library, Brooklyn Museum, Boston Public Library, Trinity University, and the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco.

Crane was born in Brooklyn, New York, and studied at Pratt Institute with European modernist Winold Reiss and Polish theater and film director Richard Boleslawski, with whom he also collaborated at various theater venues including the American Laboratory Theater. He spent the bulk of his life in New England, and much of his work centers on scenes of traditional life in Cape Ann, Massachusetts. Crane also traveled to Mexico on several occasions in the 1940s and 1950s, and created numerous lithographs of Mexican scenes and landscapes.

He was a member of the Society of American Graphic Artists, Print Club of Albany, Washington Print Makers, Prairie Print Makers, Guild of Boston Artists, Rockport Art Association, Salmagundi club, Audubon Artists, North Shore Arts Association, Philadelphia Watercolor Club, Rockport Art Association. He received prizes awarded by the Library of Congress, Salmagundi Club and the Rockport Art Association.

Crane exhibited widely between 1941 and 1956, and won numerous awards. He also created illustrations for books and magazines, and wrote and illustrated several children’s books of his own during this period. His books include Pepita Bonita (1942), Gloucester Joe (1943), Nick and Nan in Yucatan (1945) and A Carpet of Flowers (1955).

Crane is known for his mastery of technique and depth of field, creating prints with almost photographic precision and a delicate tonal balance. His work at Hecho a Mano will be a series of lithographs depicting scenes from Mexico, which he made between 1940 and 1964. Crane’s wife, Carlota Solarzano, donated most of Crane’s work to numerous public institutions following his passing.