The Old Print Shop

William J. Behnken

b. 1943

William Behnken is a life-long resident of New York.  He graduated from the High School of Music and Art and received his BA and MA from the City College of New York.  Behnken has taught drawing and printmaking at the Provincetown Art Association, the National Academy of Design School of Fine Arts, and is currently an instructor in printmaking at the Art Students League and The City College of New York.  

Behnken is a member and former president of the Society of American Graphic Artists (SAGA) and is an elected member of the National Academy of Design. His work has won many awards and can be found in the collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, British Museum, Fitzwilliam Museum, Brooklyn Museum, New-York Historical Society, Mississippi Museum, New York Public Library, among others. He has also been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions both nationally and internationally, and his other honors include being an elected member of Phi Beta Kappa and The Boston Printmakers.

In 2015, William Behnken was commissioned by the Noble Maritime Collection on Staten Island, New York, to produce work for its exhibition Robbins Reef Light House: Home on the Harbor. In 2016 he was commissioned by the Print Club of Albany to produce a piece for its annual Collector's Print.

“In my work I try to create a harmonious & cohesive composition using elements distilled from my visual & emotional experience in order to give fleeting moments a permanence and memorable order.  Over a lifetime of working, I have found that for me, tonal values and light become the expressive equivalents of mystery & introspection, as well as for the ideals of resolution and fulfillment.  I have come to focus my skills on printmaking because it offers me an involvement in a medium that demands disciplined control, as well as a sensual & rich material experience.”

Awards:
- Arun Bose Memorial Award in Intaglio Printmaking, Society of American Graphic Artists, 2015
- The Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts Award, Allied Artists of America 100th annual exhibition, 2013
- Society of American Graphic Artists Award for outstanding commitment and contribution to the world of fine art printmaking, 2012.
- Ralph Fabri / Leo Meissner Prize & Charles L. Elliot Medal for Graphics, National Academy of Design 184th annual exhibition, 2009
- Emile and Dines Carlsen Award in Graphics, National Academy of Design 180th annual exhibition, 2005
- Audubon Artists Silver Medal of Honor in Graphics, 2005
- City College of New York Art Alumni Association Art Career Achievement Award, 2004
- Ralph Fabri Award in Graphics, National Academy of Design 178th annual exhibition, 2003
- Audubon Artists Gold Medal of Honor in Graphics, 2003
- Purchase Award, McNeese National Works on Paper Exhibition, 2000
- John Taylor Arms Purchase Award in the 20th National Albany Print Club Exhibition, 1998
- Graphics Prize, National Academy of Design, 1997
- Cark Schrag Memorial Award, Society of American Graphic Artists Exhibition, 1997
- Louis Lozowick Award in Graphics, Audubon Artist Annual Exhibition, 1996, 1991, 1986
- Graphics Prize, National Academy of Design Annual Exhibition, 1992
- Audubon Artists Silver Medal of Honor in Graphics, 1992
- Society of American Graphic Artists Purchase Award, 1989
- Murray Roth Memorial Award in Graphics, Audubon Artists Annual Exhibition, 1981

 

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