February 22 - March 29, 2025
From Heidi Vaughan Fine Art:
“HEIDI VAUGHAN FINE ART is delighted to present MASTERWORKS FROM THE MARK LESLY SMITH FLATBED PRESS COLLECTION, an exhibition of exceptional prints from the personal collection of Mark Lesly Smith that opens Saturday, February 22, 2025, at 3510 Lake Street at Colquitt in Houston’s oldest Gallery Row. A special reception with the artist will take place from 5 pm to 8 pm.
The exhibition runs February 22 – March 29, 2025. A collector talk with Mark Lesly Smith will take place at 1 pm on Saturday, March 8, 2025.
Prints by the following artists will be in the exhibition: John Alexander, Bale Allen, Sterling Allen, Terry Allen, Laura Berman, Keith Carter, Michael Ray Charles, Ann Conner, Suzi Davidson, Peter Duggins, Sandra Fernandez, Trenton Doyle Hancock, Sandria Hu, Luis Jiménez, Sharon Kopriva, Lance Letscher, Theresa Gomez Martorell, Melissa Miller, John Obuck, Lamar Peterson, Robert Rauschenberg, Linda Ridgway, Peter Saul, Lee Smith III, Julie Speed, James Sullivan, James Surls, Randy Twaddle, Bruce Lee Webb, Susan Weil, and Joan Winter.
Mark Lesly Smith cofounded the Austin-based Flatbed Press (now Flatbed Center for Contemporary Printmaking) in 1989 and served as its Co-Director and Gallery Curator for nearly 25 years. From the beginning, Smith and Co-Founder Katherine Brimberry sought to make Flatbed Press a collaborative printshop with an ethos of creative experimentation. The duo took inspiration and cues from the models of Peregrine Press in Dallas, Universal Limited Art Editions (ULAE) in New York, Tamarind Lithography Workshop in Los Angeles, and Crown Point Press in the San Francisco Bay Area. During their partnership, Smith and Brimberry collaborated with a diverse array of compelling and noteworthy contemporary artists from all across America. Both having deep roots in the state of Texas, they always paid close attention to home-grown talent.
Smith earned a PhD in the history and criticism of art from the University of Texas at Austin, authoring a dissertation entitled Image and Word in the Prints of Robert Rauschenberg. He is a distinguished expert on the work of Robert Rauschenberg and has written scholarly texts on his printmaking. Smith is also the author of several books about 20th century and contemporary American art and artists, including Flatbed Press at 25. Prints produced at Flatbed Press have been collected by major museums including the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Art Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Brooklyn Museum, all in New York, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, among other Texas institutions.
For four decades, Smith has been a leader in the Texas visual arts community. Working as a curator, art historian, professor, and arts administrator, Smith is also a noted visual artist. His magnum opus, The Hope Suite, is comprised of 44 individual works of art and is part of the permanent collection of the Obama Presidential Center Museum scheduled to open in 2026 in Chicago. HVFA is honored to offer a selection of prints from Smith’s personal collection through the gallery.
HEIDI VAUGHAN FINE ART represents established Texas artists. HVFA also advises on all aspects of art collecting, including the creation of cohesive collections, framing, the installation and display of works of art, conservation, authentication, and fine art liquidation. Heidi Vaughan is a credentialed fine art appraiser. A significant part of the business involves creating inventories and the valuation and appraisal of works of art for insurance purposes, estate planning, and charitable donations, as well as the sale of secondary market art, including at the highest levels privately, through the gallery, and at auction. In this capacity, HVFA has worked with some of the most esteemed museums, institutions, corporations, and private collectors in Texas. HVFA is an Accredited Member of the International Society of Appraisers, and also a member of the Houston Art Gallery Association, Houston’s Gallery Row in the Upper Kirby District, and the Houston Arts Foundation. More information can be found at www.heidivaughanfineart.com and at HVFA’s international online gallery on Artsy. Follow HVFA on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and X. Contact Heidi Vaughan at [email protected] and 832.875.6477. To learn more about the Houston art scene and all things Houston, be sure to listen to Heidi Vaughan and Mister McKinney on The Houston Hour every Friday at 8 pm on 90.1 KPFT Houston.”
Artist talk: March 8, 2025 | 1–2 pm
3510 Lake Street
Houston, 77098 Texas
(832) 875-6477
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