Universal Limited Art Editions (Firm)

Universal Limited Art Editions, founded by Tatyana and Maurice Grosman, has been credited with the American revival of fine art lithography in the mid-20th century. In the1950s and 1960s, when New York was experiencing intense artistic activity and growth, Tatyana Grosman was an inspired visionary with the ability to choose and attract the best young artists to explore lithography at her home studio. She hired master printers - notably Robert Blackburn, Zigmunds Priede, Donn Steward, Keith Brintzenhofe, and Bill Goldston - who could take on the challenges of the artists' explorations, solving difficult technical problems and developing new techniques which pushed the boundaries of traditional printmaking.

Tatyana Grosman was born June 17, 1904, in Ekaterinburg, Russia. Her father, Semion Michailovitch Aguschewitsch, was a newspaper owner and publisher, who believed children should read only great literature. Soon after the October Revolution, the family was forced to leave Ekaterinburg; they spent time in Japan and Venice before settling in Dresden. Here Tatyana enrolled in the Dresden Academy of Applied Arts, where she met Maurice Grosman (1900-1976), a young student at the Academy of Fine Arts. They married in 1931, and moved to Paris, where they lived on Maurice's meager artist's income until 1941 when they were forced to hide from the Germans. In 1943 they were able to escape to New York City. Here Maurice gave drawing and painting lessons, and had several one-man shows. He also learned the technique of silkscreen printing, and made reproductions of modern paintings.

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