Don Quixote

Dean Jackson Meeker

The formidable, dramatic figure of one of history's most famous literary characters, Don Qixote, is wonderfully recreated in this large, mixed-technique print. The image is deceptively simple, with no background detail, just the man and his horse heading toward the viewer. Upon closer inspection, the fine details of his etched armor, the ridges along the saddle, and the horse's mane become apparent, as does Don Quixote's time-worn expression. Intentionally or not, Meeker succeeds in portraying the character as he wanted to appear: noble, chivalrous, and stoic, despite the cruel tides of change.

Dean Meeker received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1959, which he used to travel to Paris to study at the studios of Mourlot and LeCouriers and Stanley William Hayter's Atelier 17. Meeker appreciated the experimental nature of Hayter's workshop began exploring the possibilities in combining serigraphy and intaglio techniques. His fascination with polymer intaglio and its ability to create a deep embossment is shown in the textures on the figure's armor.

Meeker developed the polymer intaglio method at Atelier 17 in Paris, working closely with Atelier 17 trained printmaker Kaiko Moti who had been instrumental in controlling the simultaneous color printing technique to allow for printing a cohesive edition.

To accomplish his multi step collographic printing method Meeker developed the Meeker-McFee press, which he marketed for a number of years.

Dean Jackson Meeker was born in Orchard, Colorado on May 18, 1920. In 1939, Meeker enrolled in the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where he studied painting and sculpture under Boris Anisfeld and Albin Polasek. He also had a brief introduction to lithography and etching. World War II interrupted his studies as he was drafted into the US Army in the fall of 1942 but returned to school in 1944 to complete his senior year. Meeker also attended Northwestern University where his studies included art history, philosophy, literature and anthropology. He earned his B.F.A. in painting in 1946 and his M.F.A. in painting in 1947 from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

During his early college years, Meeker worked part time for an advertising agency and a toy/novelty firm where he was exposed to the silkscreen process. Meeker's teaching career began in 1946 with his appointment as instructor in the Department of Art at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and in 1950 he was promoted to assistant professor. In 1949 he began teaching the silkscreen process and his experiments in silkscreen led to his development of using a combination of polymer plate intaglios and screen printing. To achieve this he had to develop the “Meeker” press to print the high relief plates and his first successful serigraphy-polymer intaglio print was published in 1961. Meeker continued to teach drawing, painting and printmaking at Madison until 1992.

Dean Jackson Meeker died in Madison, Wisconsin on October 4, 2002.