Your brother already bought him that laser level he's been lusting after and Mom got a hold of those season tickets behind home plate. It seems everything else on his list is crossed off, except maybe that Iron Man suit you'd rather have for yourself than see your Dad wear.

Fortunately for you, Clifton Burt has come to the what-to-get-for-guys-in-your life rescue with his Official 2010 Holiday Guide For the Males in Your Life. His hilarious list takes care of your shopping list musts not only for Dad, but for the rest of the guy-crew as well. Why give art as a gift? As Clifton puts it: "For the love of God don’t buy them ties or socks (unless they’re expensive) this year."

So, what's on this list? Gifts for your brother-in-law, your other brother in-law, grandfather, and even your boss. See below for some of our favorite and most fitting recommendations excerpted from Clifton's guide.

As Clifton puts it:
Jump by Thomas Prior was made for your younger brother.

This print is going to the younger brother that’s always taking bigger risks than he should due to being the baby of the family and feeling that there’s always a safety net. Diving into 2 feet of water should cure him of that.

Jump by Thomas Prior

Forest. Exclusion Zone, Chernobyl is for your dad. Why? Clifton explains:

This one’s for your Dad who grew up in a Cold War reality and quietly prefers a world full of nukes to one full of underwear bombers. Yes, he’ll think you’re weird when you give him this print, but he already thinks you’re weird so you might as well just run with it.

Forest. Exclusion Zone, Chernobyl by Donald Weber

Also on the list is West Forty-third Street (Yellow Cabs) by Joseph O Holmes, an edition aimed specifically at your boss who's "slightly more important than you are."

West Forty-third Street (Yellow Cabs) by Joseph O. Holmes

Clifton Burt's own think-make-think (second edition) also makes the list, but how could we blame him? This inspirational print is practically made for everyone.

think-make-think (second edition) by Clifton Burt

To see the rest of Clifton's hilarious 2010 Holiday Guide, click here. And, because his list will presumably only take care of 50% of your holiday shopping needs, we can help you with the remaining half with our own helpful Gift Guide. For starters, you can find art for her, and also for the wanderers, shutterbugs, do-gooders and nighthawks in your life and check out our other artist gift guides by Ky Anderson, Jorge Colombo, Lisa Congdon, Dustin Hostetler, Clare Grill, Mike Monteiro and Jane Mount.

Should you need more advice in the male department, you can also check our favorite prints for him. But beyond that, you'll have to get in touch with Clifton.

For those of you giving the gift of art this season—here's one more reason to get excited. You can now wrap up those 8"x10" and 11"x14" prints in shimmery gold wrapping paper and a luxurious green ribbon. We'll also handwrite your custom note on one of our beautiful cards, which we letterpressed ourselves!

Have a peek below at the pretty pieces that make up the package you could be sending your friends and family this year and add gift wrap* to your print order for only $5.

*Once you've added all the prints on your wishlist or gift-list to your shopping cart, you'll be given the option to add gift wrap, as it appears below. By selecting gift wrap, it applies to the entire order. That is: all items in the order will be gift wrapped together.

Baby White Tiger No. 5 by Sharon Montrose

Blustery, balmy greetings collectors! It's Sara on this first day of December and our third day of 20x200 giftable goodness. Today's edition from Sharon Montrose just might be the perfect thing for the animal lover on your list. Ever seeking the sweetest of furry friends to photograph, Sharon's Baby White Tiger No.5 features an exotic, one-day-will-be-fierce feline, humbled by over-sized paws.

While I'm not one to fall for Jen's fuzzy animal hijinx, I'll grudgingly admit her links and Sharon's works have oft put a smile on my face. And, I know a handful of little people who would love to see these prints upon their walls and probably at least a couple young-at-heart adults who, like Jen, have a soft spot for creatures great and small. I'd make a bet that you do, too. There's good reason for the abundance of the four-legged and feathered kind in 20x200's archives. Among them, Sharon's menagerie is perennially popular, Baby Giraffe No. 5, Lamb No. 3 and Piglet No. 2 are all disappearing quite fast.

So, while I was tempted to leave you with that poem in which the tiger eats the zebra, I'll part with this--perhaps more appropriate--selection by Rachel Field, which reminds me of the best thing about these prints as gifts: there's no walking, feeding, or cleaning-up required. Just gift-wrapping--which we're more than happy to help you out with and for only $5!

The Animal Store

If I had a hundred dollars to spend,
Or maybe a little more,
I'd hurry as fast as my legs would go
Straight to the animal store.

I wouldn't say, "How much for this or that?"
"What kind of a dog is he?"
I'd buy as many as rolled an eye,
Or wagged a tail at me!

I'd take the hound with the drooping ears
That sits by himself alone;
Cockers and Cairns and wobbly pups
For to be my very own.

I might buy a parrot all red and green,
And the monkey I saw before,
If I had a hundred dollars to spend,
Or maybe a little more.

- Rachel Field

Team Picture by Keith Shore

Keith Shore, whose pencil drawings and acrylic and watercolor paintings feature a cast of octagon-shaped head people, earless people, soccer players and a wiley recurring character named Henry, recently gave a short interview over at It’s Nice That.

Keith lets us in on the origins of some of these characters and their anatomical peculiarities, along with some of the themes in his work, a trip to Ireland that served as fodder for one of his paintings and a project we told you about a while back. Check out It's Nice That to read Keith Shore in his own words.

Atari by Hollis Brown Thornton

Happy Thursday dear collectors! It's Sara with my last dispatch for you this week. Jen will be gracing your inboxes tomorrow, early-ish, at 11:00 a.m. *sharp*, with new prints from a pair of your favorite artists: Mike + Doug Starn. They'll make the top of wish lists for certain, but made of the softly-falling stuff, their availability will be brief and fleeting. To get your hands on these lovely, lasting additions to any art collection (yours or your nearest and dearest's), make sure you're on the ready.

Today's new print from Hollis Brown Thornton likewise makes permanent the passing. Brown's collected and compiled dozens of cartridges to compose Atari. His marker-mellowed rendering of the the games that defined our not-too-distant past documents ever-changing technology and culture, nourishing our collective nostalgia for simpler times. In the details they reveal their past lives and loves--once owned by Tom Regan, affectionately worn at the edges--evidence of good use. Like the tapes in Brown's VHS and the space invaders in Closing Credits at the End of the Movie, the cartridges in Atari are seemingly stacked against technological singularity.

The colorful facades are a comfort to last night's (totally random, unassociated with today's edition) conversation that strayed from small farming practices to super-intelligence and that kept me tossing and turning, fretting about the fast-approaching future. There's no sense in losing sleep over it, our increasing inability to know what's next is the nature of this life we're living. Atari serves as a humble, 2-D reminder that there's no reason to lug around 3-D baggage as we hurtle through time and space. Left in Brown's hands, the games are reconciled as a portable part of our modern myths. While in the near-term, and in the far, there's really no telling what's around the corner, in the meantime, it's easy to get lost in smaller details, like just what to gift the guys, geeks and children of the 80s in your life. Perhaps that's one more stress Atari can address?

Town and Country's Eimer Lynch brings us back to square one with her beginner guide to becoming a collector right from your computer. Her advice turns regulars into art aficionados and computers with internet connections into tools for filling your walls with beauty.

"Feel free to click to buy" on well-priced art sites like 20x200, she writes. If you're new to collecting you've come to the site at the right time. We're buzzing with holiday gift guides and you can use our guide to pinning down your tastes based on the type of person you're shopping for.

Elements of Style is the kind of impeccable design blog that makes you want to rethink every item you own. My apartment isn't so much "decorated" as it is "filled with somewhat random useful things"-but browsing this expertly curated site would inspire anyone to channel their inner interior designer!

We're very excited that Elements of Style featured 20x200 as a recommended source of affordable art online. The edition shown here, Jane Mount's Ideal Bookshelf 101: Robert Verdi is still available, as are other great editions from the 11 (!) other 20x200 artists featured. Browse the full 20x200 archives here, and definitely check out Elements of Style for even more great ideas to spice up your outfit, your home and much more.

alleverythingthatisyou sno7_057 by Mike + Doug Starn

alleverythingthatisyou sno7_077 by Mike + Doug Starn

PLEASE NOTE RESTRICTIONS BELOW.

What-a-week-it-was greetings, art lovers! Not content to stop with the array of excellent editions unleashed upon the interwebs over the past few days, we're ending the week on a high note with the release of alleverythingthatisyou sno7_057 and alleverythingthatisyou sno7_077, two gorgeous new editions from a series by Mike + Doug Starn that made its seasonally-appropriate 20x200 debut almost exactly one year ago.

Lots has changed since the release of the first two editions from the series, alleverythingthatisyou sno7.1_003 and alleverythingthatisyou sno6_005. Back then, I wrote about our visit to Mike and Doug's studio in Beacon and the magical experience of clambering up the dizzying, clattering heights of Big Bambú. Sworn to secrecy, I didn't divulge that the wonder of that organic architecture was slated to be built anew, climbing above the already rarefied heights of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. And build it they did! Sara and I were among the lucky first few to pay a visit to the work-in-progress on a raw, blustery early spring day. We marveled at the unlikely, utterly brilliant layers of controlled chaos being assembled upon the roof of one of our city's most esteemed cultural institutions. Lucky first we were, but certainly not the last—by Halloween, the museum had hosted more than 600,000 visitors, many of whom got to enjoy a bird's eye view of the city from a structure that rose 40 feet above its roofline.

The Starns being the Starns, the whole project was extensively and exhaustively documented, resulting in lots of stunning imagery, some of which we hope to create 20x200 editions with in the not-too-distant future. This being the snowy, festive season that it is, it seemed the perfect opportunity to make an annual tradition of sharing a few of Mike and Doug's perfect-in-their-imperfection frozen moments. For the lucky few who snagged the first two, today's new editions will look stunning in their company. Fresh-faced newcomers who are feeling flush can still snap up all four at the 36"x36" size. Naturally, each individual snowflake is a thing of beauty in its own right, so don't hesitate to buy one to get and one to give. In light of last year's frenzied flurry, we expect these flakes to evaporate into thin air awfully quickly, so don't delay, but do take a moment or two to read through some important details and restrictions before you go:

- There is a limit of two 8"x8" prints, per edition, per collector.
- This edition is not eligible for any discount or promotion.
- We reserve the right to refund purchases if we determine that a single collector has acquired multiple prints and/or used a discount code.
- The quoted image dimensions include a generous white border which is part of the artwork and not a printing/printer mechanical artifact.
- When framing your print, floating it on museum board with its full dimensions intact is recommended. (No trimming!)

Untitled by Ross Racine

Hey, collectors! It's been a whirlwind week here at 20x200 headquarters. We're fully in the midst the holiday season, which means we're bringing you more editions and a slew of special offers day-by-day! Check out what you may've missed earlier this week in art stories and links:

20x200 News

• Graphic designer, typographer and writer Marian Bantjes just released a new monograph called I Wonder, featuring her design work alongside brilliantly reflective essays. The New York Times' T Magazine features a glowing review of the book, calling it, "an exquisite computer-era, counterintuitive testament to overly detailed, given-up-for-passé graphic ornamentation, a 21st-century illuminated manuscript that pays exacting homage to the ancient codices illustres..."
  
• And several other 20x200 edition-makes also have projects cooking this week. Starting Thursday and spanning till January 8, Ian Carpenter will have 5 works up on view at Gitana Rosa Gallery, which has been converted into a pop-up shop for the holiday season. Stop by and take a peek!
• Keith Shore caught up with the folks at It's Nice That, letting them into his creative process and the stories behind some of his recurring characters.
• Slideluck Potshow--the NYC-based arts non-profit that aims to bring people together around food and art--will host its benefit auction on Wednesday, December 8, hosted by DJ Spooky and Patrick McMullan. Head to the site to preview images that will be auctioned (including a few by Hot Shots + 20x200 artists) and to buy tickets to the event!
• Ross Racine also has a digital drawing included in IPCNY's Benefit Auction. Conveniently taking place online, visit the site by December 18 to bid on a work! And if you're in New York, be sure to check out the exhibition of works, also on view through the 18th!
  
• If Lisa Congdon's, Mark Richards's and Stuart Klipper's 20x200 editions have left you craving even more, go ahead and peruse Chronicle Books' Friends and Family sale, where you can find projects featuring these artists and more! Enter code FRIENDS at checkout to receive 35% off on orders made before December 5.
• What do Jane Mount, Mark Menjivar and Todd Selby have in common? A recent post explores the inner workings of these three artists whose photography glances into the homes of others.
• Perhaps you've long resolved to get back into the darkroom and start making photographs the "old-fashioned" way. Over at HHS! we put together your ultimate guide to NYC darkrooms to help you get started.
• And if the mere mention of glancing into a home leaves you overwhelmed by the thought of how much time and cash go into decorating one. We've got just the link for you. This designer simplifies the decoration process and agrees that 20x200 is a great place to start, no matter what your budget!
  
• The prestigious and lovely Town & Country also concurs, including 20x200 in a wonderful guide to accessible art collecting via the internet!
• With the gift-giving season in full swing, 20x200 continues to rack up the gift guide mentions. This week After Ellen suggested a number of editions as the perfect presents for "the queer lit lady" this holiday season.
• GQ also recommended the gift of an edition as a great one that won't do too much damage to the wallet and will let that special someone in your life know that you've got a discerning eye.
• And Clifton Burt chimed in with a hilarious Holiday Guide for the Male Humans in Your Life, including great editions from Thomas Prior, Donald Weber and Joseph O. Holmes
• Speaking of Joseph O. Holmes, his first solo exhibition, The Urban Wilderness at Jen Bekman Gallery opens next Friday, December 10th, 6-8 p.m. We took a look back at his work and his role in the JBP family over the last several years.
• Last on the gift guide front, but certainly not least, Daily Candy included JBP's own Youngna Park's Winter Flags (East Village, New York) in its list of "picture perfect" gifts for the ladies in your life.
• What would all these presents be without equally aesthetically pleasing and affordable wrapping? We're now offering wrapping of 8x10" and 11x14" prints for only $5!

Ideal Bookshelf 101: Robert Verdi by Jane Mount	Baby White Tiger No. 5 by Sharon Montrose	Atari by Hollis Brown Thornton

alleverythingthatisyou sno7_077 and	alleverythingthatisyou sno7_057 by Mike + Doug Starn

Laurel Hill by Kevin Cyr.

Kevin Cyr's poignant portraits of rusted, graffiti-ed, decaying motor vehicles will be featured in a new group exhibition at Toronto's Show & Tell Gallery. Titled Atrophic Existence, the show will examine the nature and implications of technology and urban development, and address modern society's overwhelming—and upsetting —contemporary detachment from the natural world. Also featured in the show is work by Joshua Barndt, Jeff Gillette, Mike Shankman, and Alex Lukas.

Show & Tell writes of the exhibition:

a group exhibition featuring an exciting line-up of emerging contemporary artists from across North America whose work harmoniously intertwines around the subject of urban decay. In an attempt to explore this theme, all artists of Atrophic Existence delve into concepts and imagery that invite us to question and contemplate human (dis)connection with nature.

An awesome (and very fitting) bonus: 10% of sales from Atrophic Existence will be donated on behalf of Show & Tell to Evergreen, a non-profit organization dedicated to "[making] cities more livable. By deepening the connection between people and nature, and empowering Canadians to take a hands-on approach to their urban environments, Evergreen is improving the health of our cities - now and for the future."

This is shaping up to be a terrific show, with proceeds benefiting a really excellent cause. Nature-lovers, and art-lovers alike: if you're in the Toronto area over the coming weeks, make sure you stop by and have a look.

The Details:
Atrophic Existence
Kevin Cyr, Joshua Barndt, Jeff Gillette, Mike Shankman, Alex Lukas
On view: December 11th 2010 - January 10th 2011
at Show & Tell Gallery
1161 Dundas St. West, Toronto, ON, M6J 1X3, Canada

Day 114: Dice by Lisa Congdon

Day 256: Vintage Airline Tags by Lisa Congdon

Bracing Monday greetings, art lovers! NYC is frigid and gusty today, which makes me ever so grateful for the warmth of 20x200 HQ, not to mention the taxi that got me here very early this morning. Early though I was (by my standards, at least!) I walked into an office full of energetic elves busily preparing scads of our framed prints for shipping, many of which were festively wrapped and adorned with our cute-as-a-button letterpress gift cards. With new editions set to debut every day this week, we've got plenty to keep us busy aside from wrapping and writing cards. I anticipate a week of early mornings and late nights, but I can't say that I mind it; with every waking hour filled with art and artists as I work alongside people who I think the world of—well, it's an embarrassment of riches.

Speaking of people I think the world of, today's edition-maker Lisa Congdon is one of them. The dinner I shared with her and the also-adored Kate Bingaman-Burt a bit more than month ago had me walking on air for weeks. Our conversation ranged far and wide, but so much of it came back to this: 20x200 has created all kinds of opportunities for both of them, and exposure aside, the fact that they can rely on substantive, predictable income from their editions' earnings provides the kind of stability that's too-often unheard of for artists. Words cannot explain how thrilling it was to hear this from them, and to hear it was, and remains, incredibly energizing.

It also must be said that neither of these badass women have much trouble creating opportunities on their own. In fact today's photographs—Day 114: Dice and Day 256: Vintage Airline Tags—come from Lisa's incredible A Collection A Day, 2010 project, an undertaking which has created myriad opportunities for Ms. Congdon. An instant internet sensation, her daily depictions of her astoundingly eclectic array of collections have garnered enormous attention and interest, landing her on the radar of a certain icon of craft, inspiring an entire Tumblr blog devoted to Things Organized Neatly, and also resulting in a forthcoming book project from Uppercase.

What a great privilege it is for us to be the purveyor of these prints! Sara and I have been plotting and planning for these editions since the project made its debut almost one year ago, our biggest obstacle being how to choose. Fortunately, we got to choose lots—these are the first pair of prints from the series, but will certainly not be the last. All the picking and choosing and editing has also given us ample opportunity to contemplate and discuss what exactly it is that makes the series so captivating, and let me tell you: we've got lots of theories. Youngna Park has done some awfully articulate theorizing of her own, so I suggest that to tide you over. With the day getting short and my to-do list being long, expounding upon those theories will have to wait for our next release from Lisa, which shouldn't be too far from now. As for us, we'll be back much sooner than that. Look for Sara tomorrow, when she'll be introducing a divine new edition by framed favorite Michelle Hinebrook.

Crystallized by Michelle Hinebrook

Good morning collectors! It's Sara on this second day of the week, with our second stunning edition from Michelle Hinebrook. I had the pleasure of first introducing Michelle's work in August when we released the buoyant, seductive and saturated Sugarcoat. Today I'm here to tell you about its cool counterpart, Crystallized.

Like a pair of sisters, these prints play off eachother's strengths. Both are elegant, layered and complex, but where Sugarcoat is warm, bubbly and summery, Crystallized evokes colder climes with its crisp, faceted planes and blue-hued sparkling palette. It's just the thing to ward off any early-onset winter doldrums—ruby red jewels offer up their own warmth as they dissolve into tiny, triangular rainbows.

All that shimmers, glitters, appears and disappears in light was Michelle's source for Crystallized; she writes: "This work was inspired by examining patterns of spectral light that either reflect or refract into the geometric facets of a form. The forms in this painting reference diamonds, crystals, gemstones, and celestial bodies, star clusters."

Created from these sublime inspirations, Michelle's heavenly works are well-traveled on this planet, too. Hopefully all of you who headed south last week saw her work at Scope Miami. If you missed it there, see where else you can take it all in, in person, on Michelle's blog. Jen'll be back tomorrow with two new, finely-feathered editions by a photographer from across the pond. And if you're ordering from or gifting to across that pond, to guarantee Christmas delivery, international orders must be completed tomorrow.

MSNBC's Today Show style contributor Merisa Fink added 20x200 to her shortlist of the coolest shopping sites for unique gifts. She recommends Lauren DiCioccio’s Vogue March 2010:pg 230 (List of Contributors), a print we love for its unusually clever color-coded call to the nostalgia of print.

The Huffington Post also recommended 20x200 as a holiday gift stop for art aficionados, including DiCioccio's Vogue May 2010:pg 70 (List of Contributors) as one of their favorites.

In the end Lucky Mag confirmed Dicioccio's absolute popularity by adding her (and 20x200) to their Cyber Monday shopping list.

For more help finding the perfect gift the season, see our collector guides complete with staff picks, artist recommendations and curated collections from VIPs.

Lovebird #5 by Luke Stephenson

Lovebird #6 by Luke Stephenson

Good day, collector friends! Holiday mayhem has given me nary a moment to catch my breath, so the length of today's introduction (brief) will be inversely proportional to my enthusiasm (enormous) for the work that is its subject.

I'm most delighted to be adding two finely-feathered friends—Lovebird #5 and Lovebird #6—to the eclectic array that inhabits 20x200's aviary. Their portraitist, Luke Stephenson, is no stranger to these parts. In fact, he's something of an elder statesman of 20x200, having debuted two editions—Yellow Canary #1 and White and Grey Canary #1—before 20x200 was even a year old. That fetching pair was also exhibited in the Ornithology exhibition at Jen Bekman Gallery, which is high on my list of favorite (not to mention funnest*!) shows we've ever done.

Luke's been about as busy as we have in the intervening years, continuing to work on The Incomplete Dictionary of Show Birds all the while. Unsurprisingly, I've been an ardent admirer of the series from the get-go, and I'm certainly not alone in that. Several of Luke's photographs were recently featured in Foam Magazine's New Talent issue, with one from the series serving as the cover image.

In getting today's prints ready for their debut, I looked through the newsletters I wrote introducing the first two. I was about to fly the coop for a trip to Madrid when Yellow Canary #1 landed in your inboxes, and was excitedly anticipating our very first in-person collector event in San Francisco when we hatched an edition of White and Grey Canary #1. In that newsletter I recounted a conversation I'd had with my friend Steve about what being a collector means to me:

Living with art is great, it's a comfort and it keeps your walls from being boring. Aside from that, making choices about what you like and don't like helps you know yourself better. (I've found that not liking something can be especially formative.) Considering yourself a collector, even if you've just bought a $20 print, gives some well-deserved gravitas to both your choosing and the work itself.

I believe in all the work that I present here and in the artists making it. I believe it's important and it's good and that living with it will make your life better in one way or another. And you're supporting those artists, which is a big deal. So, yea, my pal Steve is a collector and you are too.

* Ok, fine, "most fun!"

A bevvy of holiday gift guides are including 20x200 prints as the perfect pick for all kinds of loved ones. Today, Travel & Leisure selected Lisa Congdon's Day 256: Vintage Airline Tags as one of 2010's best travel gifts.

Having just endured the hassles, minutiae and tedium of air travel myself, I must say that Travel & Leisure is dead-on in its pick of the Congdon edition. It's a beautiful print that eludes the realities of filling out landing forms, clearing customs and heaving baggage, but instead calls to mind the more pleasant connotations that travel can have.

The printing industry has its fair share of jargon, which can be tough to navigate whether you're new to making or a veteran. Here's a list of the terms from A to Z that we've come across most frequently to help you understand all this tricky industry-speak.

A

Acetate: A transparent sheet that is placed on top of original pieces of artwork so that the designer can write special instructions.

Acid-free / Archival Paper: Paper that has little or no acid, making it more resistant to deterioration over time. Also called alkaline paper, archival paper, neutral pH paper, permanent paper, and thesis paper.

Alteration: Changes made by the artist after the piece has been given to the printer. This is referred to as AA, or author alteration.

Antique Paper: The roughest finish available for offset paper.

Aqueous Coating: A fast drying, water based protective coating that protects the print surface from smudges or dirt.

B

Basic Size: The standard size of sheets of paper used to calculate basic weight.

Basic Weight: The weight, in pounds of a ream (500 sheets) of paper cut to basic size. In the United States and Canada this is also called ream weight or substance weight.

Blank: A category of paperboard that ranges from 15 to 48 points in thickness.

Bromite: A photographic print on bromide paper.

C

Calendar: To make the surface of paper smooth by pressing it between two rollers during the manufacturing process.

Carbonless Paper: Paper coated with chemicals that enable the transfer of images from one sheet of paper to another with pressure

Color Correct: To adjust the relationship among the process colors to achieved the desired color results.

Color Sequence: The order in which inks are printed. Also called the laydown sequence and rotation.

Cure: To properly dry inks, varnishes or other coating to ensure a quality finish.

D

Deckle Edge: The edge of a paper that is left ragged as it comes out of the papermaking machine (instead of being cleanly cut). Also called a feather edge.

Die: The device used for cutting, scoring, stamping, embossing and debossing.

Digital Proofing: Page proofs produced digitally and transferred onto paper via ink-jet or laser.

Double Burn: To expose film or a plate two times so that it has two layers of ink.

Dull Finish: A flat finish on coated paper that is smoother than matte. Also called velour or velvet finish.

Duotone: Black-and-white photograph reproduced using two halftone negatives, each shot to emphasize different tonal values in the other one.

E

Emboss: To press an image into paper so that it lies above the surface. Also called tool or cameo.

F

Fast Color Inks: Inks with colors that retain their density and resist fading when a product is used and washed.

Flood: To print an entire sheet with ink or varnish. This is also called painting the sheet.

Four-Color Process Printing: A technique for printing that uses black, magenta, cyan and yellow to simulate full-color images. Also referred to as full color printing, process printing, and color process printing.

G

Gang: To run two or more printed products at the same time on one sheet of paper. Also called a combination run.

Giclee: A specific type of inkjet printing invented in the 1980s that is commonly used for large canvasses of fine art. It is typically more expensive than offset lithography, but the process allows artists to better control their inventory by printing specific pieces individually.

Gloss Ink: Ink used and printed on coated stock so that the ink will dry without penetrating into the paper.

GSM: The abbreviation for grams per square meter, a unit of measurement for paper weight.

H

Halo Effect: Faint shadow sometimes surrounding halftone dots printed. The halo itself is also called a fringe and the halo effect is also sometimes referred to as halation.

High-Fidelity Color: Color reproduced using six, eight, or 12 separations as opposed to the regular four-color process.

HLS: An abbreviation for hue, lightness and saturation. Also called HVS.

I

Image Area: The actual area on the printed matter that is not restricted to ink coverage.

Impression: (1) When referring ink color, one impression equals one press sheet passing once through a printing unit. (2) Referring to speed of a press, one impression equals one press sheet passing once through the press.

Integral Proof: Color proof of separations shown on one piece of proofing paper, as compared to an overlay proof. Also called composition proof, laminate proof, plastic proof and single-sheet proof.

J

Job Lot Paper: Paper that has been discontinued and is no longer considered top quality.

K

Key Negative or Plate: Negative or plate that prints the most detail, thus whose image guides the register of images from other plates. Also called key printer.

Kiss Impression: The lightest possible impression that will transfer to a substrate.

L

Laminate: A clear, thin plastic sheet or coating applied to a thick stock. Laminate provides protection against liquid and heavy use, and usually accents existing color, providing a glossy (or lens) effect.

Letterpress: Method of printing from raised surfaces, either metal type or plates whose surfaces have been etched away from image areas. Also called block printing.

Lignin: A substance in trees that holds cellulose fibers together.

Lithograph: A method of printing that uses plates where image and non-image areas attract and repel ink to create the final product.

M

Machine Glazed: Paper holding high-gloss finish only on one side. Abbreviated as MG.

Midtones: Tones created by dots between 30 and 70 percent of coverage as opposed to highlights or shadows.

N

Newton Ring: A flaw in a photograph or halftone that looks like a droplet of water.

Nonimpact Printing: Printing using laser, ions, ink jets or heat to transfer images to paper.

O

Offset Printing: A printing technique that transfers ink from a plate to a blanket of paper instead of directly from plate to paper.

Overlay Proof: A color consisting of polyester sheets laid on top of each other. Each sheet represents the image to be printed in one color. Also called a celluloid or layered proof.

P

Plate: Piece of paper, metal, plastic or rubber that carries an image to be reproduced during the printing process.

PMT: An abbreviation used for photomechanical transfer.

Printing Plate: Surface carrying an image to be printed. Plates are used in quick printing, letterpress, engraving and lithography.

Process Color: The colors used for four-color process printing. Yellow, magenta, cyan and black.

Proof: A test sheet created to detect flaws and predict the results of a final print job.

Q

Quarto: A sheet folded twice, making pages one quarter of their original size. A quarto makes an eight page signature.

R

Rag Paper: Stationary or other forms of stock with a large percentage of cotton rags.

Register: To place printing properly with regard to the edges of paper and other printing on the same sheet. Such printing is said to be "in register."

S

Satin Finish: An alternate term for a dull finish on coated paper.

Screen Printing: A method of printing that utilizes a squeegee to force ink through an assembly of mesh, fabric and stencil

Screen Tint: Color created by dots instead of solid ink. Also referred to as Benday, fill pattern, shading, tint and tone.

Sheetwise: The technique of printing one side of a sheet with one set of plates, and then printing the other side with another set of pates. Also called work and back.

Size: A compound that's mixed with paper to make it stiffer and more resistant to absorbing water.

Soy-Based Inks: Inks that use vegetable oils as opposed to petroleum products. Soy based inks are beneficial to the environment.

Substrate: Any surface where printing is done.

T

Trim Size: The size of the printed material in its complete form.

U

Uncoated Paper: Paper that has not been covered with clay. Also known as offset paper.

UV Coating: Liquid applied to a printed sheet before being bonded and cured with ultraviolet light. This process creates a durable protective surface.

V

Vellum Finish: A somewhat rough, toothy finish that's smoother than antique but rougher than English.

W

Watermark: A translucent logo that is embossed into paper during the manufacturing process.

Web Gain: The stretching of paper as it passes through the press.

Woodfree Paper: Paper made with chemical pulp only. This kind of paper is usually classified as calendared or supercalendared.

See any we missed? Leave us a comment below!

132 Birds Leaving AMNH by Jane Mount by Jane Mount

Miranda Jones over at Home by Sunset--the blog kept by Sunset Magazine's intrepid design scouts--has shown 20x200 love before. Yesterday, we were happy to see that she is still so enthusiastic about the site, offering this bright take on possible gift-giving this season:

Instead of purchasing just one piece of affordable art for someone, why not get them mulitiple pieces, creating a little collection, curated by you? For example, say that your mom just loves birds. Why not buy her a few pieces, each one relating to birds, but by a different artist? She would love it, right? I told you it was genius.

Genius, indeed, Miranda! And, as always, for those a bit curatorially challenged, we recommend our specialized gift guides which offer a hand in grouping editions together by categories as far-flung as grayscale reproductions and gifts perfect for geekie friends!

Entabled, 1988 by William Wegman

We've never been bashful in our adoration of William Wegman’s expansive practice and have brought you two editions to evince the presence of humor and formal repetition and varying media in Wegman's work, in addition to the familiar presence of those gorgeous Weimaraners. And, we're always excited for the opportunity to share more with you about this intrepid artist's work and creative process. Today, this comes in the form of a piece about Mr. Wegman, conducted by The Morning News's Nozlee Samadzadeh.

Centered around William Wegman's current show, William Wegman and Fay: Polaroids 1987–1995, on view at Senior & Shopmaker Gallery through December 24th, Samadzadeh's interview with Wegman touches on the process of shooting 20"x24" Polaroids of his beloved dog Fay Ray. There was the behemoth camera that required the help of Polaroid personnel to operate along with the creative use of props to get Fay Ray up to the camera's eye-level, and the sometimes-gratifying restrictions imposed by the film format. We also learn of the almost serendipitous event from which this show was conceived:

Wegman told me how, when his assistant discovered a stack of forgotten Polaroids in a warehouse, the idea for the exhibit was born: 'You think of 35mm film, you take 20 or 30 photos on a roll and barely look at any of them. I did the same thing with Polaroids—I was producing so many per week that most of them went straight into storage.'

Read the full piece for yourself and view the impressive gallery of Polaroids from the series at The Morning News, and be sure to peruse the web-viewable catalogue for William Wegman and Fay to whet your tongue before heading to Senior & Shopmaker to see these works in person.

William Wegman and Fay: Polaroids 1987-1995
Senior & Shopmaker Gallery
On view through December 24, 2010
210 Eleventh Avenue at 25th Street, 8th Floor
New York, NY 10001
Hours: Tuesday - Friday, 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.; Satudays 11:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

50 (+1 for good luck) Giraffes by Jason Polan

Please note: The 11"x14" prints are hand-pulled silkscreens, black ink on white paper. There are some slight, natural variations from print to print. The 20"x15" pieces are unique, original, works in color. Each was drawn and watercolored by hand and vary.

Good morning collectors! It's Sara, so, so SO pleased to bring you a sweet, hand-made, can't-really-call-it-an-edition edition by our beloved Jason Polan. As he's known to do, Jason's gone and broken all the rules. 50 (+1 for good luck) Giraffes comprises silkscreens—an edition of 250 hand-pulled prints, 11"x14", for $50—and a series of original works—10, 20"x15", watercolor and ink drawings. There's also a super-special, very-limited edition of one that includes both a silkscreen and a painting, plus all the tools used to create them—the screen, the squeegee and the brush. The good stuff doesn't end there: in addition to the signed and numbered certificate that accompanies every 20x200 print, Jason's signed each work in this edition, on the back, in pencil. There aren't many 50+1s available and I suspect the demand will exceed the supply, so get your hands on these quick.

Printmaking fan I am, it's not the tactile nature of 50 (+1 for good luck) Giraffes that has me so excited. It's the gaggle of ganglers that Jason's wrangled up in every one of these works—giraffes! Most likely best-known for his endearingly ambitious project, Every Person In New York—which we featured way back when—Jason's turned his pen away from humankind to capture instead these favored beasts. We all know about Jen's affection for the fuzzy, feathered and/or four-legged; she's also noted my stoic resistance to all the fluff. But there's something so charming and disarming about Mr. Polan's depiction of these African even-toed ungulates, that even I can't deny.*

The truth is, these half-elegant, half-gawky, ancient creatures remind me of my nearest and dearest little sister, Katie. Though she's twenty-eight years of age, I still call her Kiddo. It's a term of such endearment, I can't say or write it without it bringing a smile to my face. She's tall and lovely, freckled and blue-eyed, with a crown of strawberry curls. Competitive as siblings often are, for years I've attributed that mass of hair to her appearing slightly taller than I, and maintain we're both an even 5 feet 10. Height aside, I think the real reason these sweet animals make me think of my only sister is this: despite their unassuming innocence, giraffes have roamed this earth for eons—they're considerably older and wiser than most creatures and surely know something that I don't. And, as much as I hate to admit it, all grown-up as she is now, my little sister probably does too.

I'll leave you with one secret bit of knowledge for you to savor: tomorrow Jen will introduce an *amazing* edition by the inimitable artist and designer, Paula Scher.

* And I'm not alone—Jen's ploys are working—she's turning us all to mush! In this morning's team meeting, one of our most reserved, fearless leaders sheepishly confessed his love for yesterday's Lovebirds.

87 Suns From Flickr - 29 Visible by Penelope Umbrico

Penelope Umbrico's art is as much about the process of creation as it is about the art itself. Her work has made her a kind of 21st century archivist who investigates the things we take for granted, and her newest project is an extension of that idea.

Many already know Penelope for her 87 Suns From Flickr - 29 Visible and 79 Moons From Flickr - 51 Visible , works that burn with a sort of cheeky commentary on cliche, consumption and the power of the Internet. And, after some time on the lecture track and an exhibition at LMAKprojects that earned her coveted press in Art in America, Umbrico is working on a new project.

Her latest undertaking is Penelope Umbrico (Photographs), a kind of mixed media Ars Poetica about the creation process. For this Aperture title Umbrico is curating and appropriating a collection of previously published essays that relate to her artistic process and pairing them with artwork in a way that proposes new ideas and questions. The printed page has become Umbrico's new installation space in collaboration with Aperture's Andrew Sloat and Publisher and Book Editor Lesley Martin, and we're excited to see the final result. Check out this Aperture post to learn more about how Umbrico is tackling her monograph and look for the title to hit the presses in June of 2011.

The World by Paula Scher

Today's edition from the inimitable Paula Scher posed a considerable challenge for us at 20x200. Based on a 43.5"x60" silkscreen, that's both enormous and incredibly rich with gorgeous details, we couldn't shrink The World down to fit onto 11"x14" paper. We worked with Paula to divide the piece into 11"x14" panels that would best translate all of the information. Below is an image of The World, if the sixteen panels were brought together.

When you order one of the 11"x14" ($50) prints (1 of 16 panels), you will receive one of the sixteen panels above. Below, you can find detailed views of all of the panels. Panels will be shipped to collectors at random but duplicate panels will not be sent within the same print order. There is a limit of five panels per order.

The $1000 11"x14" (set of 16 panels) includes one of each of the sixteen panels.

Prints in the 11"x14" editions are full-bleed—there are no white borders. They should be framed to the edge without a mat and handled with care.

The 20"x24" ($500) and 30"x40" ($2000) prints in this edition feature the entire image as shown at the very beginning of this post.

If you have any questions about your order, please send a note to support@20x200.com so we can help you out.

Click below to see all sixteen panels in Paula Scher's The World.

Here at 20x200, our motto of “Art For Everyone” means we’re always interested in new ways of making great art accessible. It’s good for collectors, helps support artists, and enables everyone to live with art. A new-ish London outfit has found an intriguing way to address this concept with their Art Barter events. Art Barter is an auction, open to the public, taking place over 3 to 4 days. However, unlike at Sotheby’s, bidders are allowed to offer anything at all EXCEPT money for the work. Past bids have included a year of private chef services and cases of wine, but anyone is free to offer whatever they think is fair. At the end of the event, artists review all offers and decide what they’d like to accept. It’s an amazing way to open up the auction as a viable format for all kinds of collectors, and allows artists to trade their work for something of value to them without worrying about setting minimum reserves or what the long-term effect on their pricing will be.

Previous Art Barters have been held in London and Berlin. Art Barter 3 launches in New York today and continues through Sunday, December 12th. While the auction will feature some big-name artists such as Terence Koh and Mick Rock, all work will be identified only by a number, so the “value” of the work will really be determined entirely by each interested bidder.

Not only is this a fun idea, it’s a great way to make the auction sale format super un-intimidating for potential collectors. It’s interesting to note that Art Barter is also a Kickstarter project. We’ve featured some great art-related Kickstarter endeavors before, including Kevin Cyr’s Camper Kart and Rachel Sussman’s extremely successful journey to track down and document The Oldest Living Things in the World, which led to an invitation to give a talk at the prestigious TED conference on the project. One of the unique things about the Kickstarter model is the little incentives project owners offer to their supporters, which can range from a limited-edition copy of the work produced to lunch with the artist. As a whole, micro-funding sites like Kickstarter have the effect of fostering a personal, reciprocal exchange between donor and recipient that goes far beyond traditional funding models. Art Barter has the potential to do much of the same for the fine art market by encouraging art lovers to be creative and contribute more than just money. It’s less an auction than an exchange, based on the assumption that all participants have something unique and valuable to offer.

Art Barter New York
Thursday, Dec 9 - Sunday, Dec 12
NP Contemporary Art Center
131 Chrystie St, New York
Open daily from noon to 6 p.m.

The World by Paula Scher

PLEASE NOTE RESTRICTIONS BELOW.

Sitting-on-top-of-the-world Friday greetings, dear collectors. As you might have noticed by the 20x200 party in your inbox, we're having an awfully exciting holiday season 'round these parts. Today's special (in so many ways!) edition is no exception. With the season of giving on the brink of its fever pitch, the timing is just right for one of our benefit editions. One third of the proceeds from this spectacular edition will be donated to the equally spectacular institution, Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, an outpost of that most venerable cultural hub, The Smithsonian.

Paula Scher, the creator of The World, is pretty spectacular herself. Her creative and professional accomplishments placed her high on my very short list of heroes well before I had the chance to collaborate with her. Meeting a long-admired hero can be a dicey proposition—expectations are often high (as mine were) and people are always people, no matter how accomplished they may be. Knowing all that has made getting to know Paula that much more gratifying—I have to tell you: she's an inspiration—as a designer, an artist, a woman and as a genuinely excellent human being. (That might sound over the top, but ask Sara! She can vouch for how true this all is.)

The silkscreen that The World is based on is absolutely massive and incredibly, obsessively, gorgeously detailed. Figuring out how to translate all that's special about it into prints for you required a considerable amount of collaboration with Paula. She is a principal at the renowned design firm Pentagram, their gorgeous office just a short jaunt south on Fifth Avenue from 20x200's HQ. It's a walk Sara and I made on several occasions, heading over there eager and excited, emerging inspired and amazed.

The result? An array of incarnations that allow all admirers of Paula's work to acquire their own corner of her world, or the whole darn thing. For two of our editions, the original work is divided into sixteen equal 11"x14" parts, all printed full-bleed (edge-to-edge, no borders)—rich and abundant in detail, for the affordable price of just $50 each, or $1,000 for all sixteen. Stack all the pieces into a grid and fill a wall! You can also have the whole world in your hands—the entire image within the dimensions of a single print—for as little as $500, or you can go big with the 30"x40" version for $2,000.

Whether you're interested in a quiet corner or anxious to conquer the whole thing, I strongly suggest you don't delay. You wouldn't want The World slipping through your fingers, now would you? As I depart, I'll leave you with The Map of the World Confused with Its Territory, by Susan Stewart, previously paired with this work on Personism, as it couldn't be more perfect for today's edition.

Notes:
- This edition is not eligible for any discount or promotion.
- There is a limit of five, $50, 11"x14" prints per order.
- Individual 11"x14" panels will be shipped to collectors at random; duplicate panels will not be sent within the same print order.
- We reserve the right to refund purchases if we determine that a single collector has acquired more than five individual 11"x14" prints and/or used a discount code.

Mel Gibson alongside Little Henry and the Lion by Keith Shore in The Beaver

Friday greetings! We’re inching closer to the New Year every day and the holiday season is here in full force! Whether that means you're hard at work, drinking copious quantities of eggnog, or just starting your holiday shopping—as always, we’re bringing you the week’s roundup of art-related stories and links:

20x200 News

• Along with making the cost of collecting more accessible to all, we’re equally committed to elucidating other important facets of collecting for everyone out there. This week, we unveiled a handy A-Z of printing terms to help you navigate some of the industry's jargon!


• It’s no secret that we’re big fans of picturing animals in artwork. If you feel the same way, stop by William Wegman’s current exhibition at Senior & Shopmaker Gallery, featuring 20"x24" Polaroid prints of his dog, Fay Ray, from the 80s and 90s. And be sure to read a bit about what’s behind the exhibition, in The Morning News’s recent interview with Wegman.


• Wegman also made an appearance on The Colbert Report this week, taking on Stephen Colbert's challenge to improve upon his portrait. Wegman gets one of his four-legged friends suited up for the task. Watch the full clip here.


• Gift guide recommendations of 20x200 prints kept rolling in this week! Travel & Leisure touted Lisa Congdon's Day 256: Vintage Airline Tags as a quaint gift for the modern traveler. MSNBC recommended 20x200 as a great affordable gift for just about anyone on your list, Re-Nest also suggests our $20 8x10 prints as a unique gift under $25, and DETAILS points to 20x200 in How To Collect Art Without Breaking The Bank, picking Jason Burch's Ringside and Jenny Odell's 195 Yachts, Barges, Cargo Lines, Tankers, and Other Ships.


• Sunset Magazine also chimed in, suggesting that instead of just one print for a loved one, you consider gifting a bundle of prints, curated to that person's own interests.


• To cap it off, we got a very touching mention from Gotham Gal’s Joanne Wilson, who heralded 20x200 as a sustainable future for art collecting in the midst of these extremely uncertain economic times.


• Aside from all the shopping to get done, there are a bunch of events in the pipeline this holiday season! Joseph O. Holmes’ solo exhibition The Urban Wilderness opens tonight with a reception from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Jen Bekman Gallery, and we’re all buzzing with excitement! The great people at WNYC Culture seem to feel similarly, including the show in their list of Must-See Arts in the City. We also picked out a few other great photography shows to make sure you catch this season while you're out and about!


• Joe also sent over a great snapshot earlier this week of his enchanting photograph Prospect Park #2 hanging at the Rockefeller Center's Real Simple pop-up shop. (p.s. We have four of these prints left at 24"x30" ($1000)—a steal, if you ask us!)


• Tomorrow afternoon, catch Trey Speegle and many other local artists selling their works for $50 and less at Art Jamboree #3 on 10 Greene Street from 1:00 to 6:00 p.m..


• On Wednesday December 15, from 6:00 to 10:00 p.m. Gary Petersen will be hosting an open studio as part of the Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Foundation’s Holiday Party. Stop by 20 Jay Street, 7th Floor, Suite 720, Brooklyn, NY 11201, if you’d like to get a closer look at Gary’s work and studio space!


• Atrophic Existence—a great exhibition at Show & Tell Gallery that features work by Kevin Cyr—opens tomorrow. The show features an exciting line-up of emerging contemporary artists from across North America whose work harmoniously intertwines around the subject of urban decay.


• Tyson Anthony Roberts, who participated in Mixtape at Jen Bekman Gallery, is also involved in two exhibitions running through January! Miniature Art Exhibition will be on view at Ghost Gallery. And Pixelated Landscapes—his solo show—opens tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. at Cupcake Royale.


• What are YOU willing to trade for art? This is what Art Barter, a London-based outfit asks at their events, which invite participants to bid on works with anything but money. Their NYC barter launched yesterday, and continues through Sunday, the 12th, at 131 Chrystie Street. Find details here.


• Penelope Umbrico, whose suns and moons have graced us with their celestial presence and commentary on the web—is working on a new monograph with Aperture, due out next June.


• As the year comes to a close, we took a chance to look back at some of our favorite images from the 2010 competition—and boy, did we see some great work come in.

Day 114: Dice by Lisa Congdon	Day 256: Vintage Airline Tags by Lisa Congdon	Crystallized by Michelle Hinebrook	The World by Paula Scher

Lovebird #6 by Luke Stephenson	Lovebird #5 by Luke Stephenson	50 (+1 for good luck) Giraffes(painting) by Jason Polan	50 (+1 for good luck) Giraffes (silkscreen) by Jason Polan

Timid Whale by Don Carney

Dapper Owl by Don Carney

Merry Monday greetings, art lovers! We've got more amazing art queued up for you this week—new works every day through Thursday—starting with today's debut of an artist I've long-admired, Don Carney. Don created Dapper Owl and Timid Whale exclusively and especially for 20x200, but their subjects are ones oft-revisited in his ink drawings. Aside from being among the most fascinating of creatures great and small, it's easy to see how they can be associated in both subject and style with Don's New England roots.

I first saw his work at a small gallery out in East Hampton, where a few of his gorgeous ink drawings were hung in a rather fetching salon-style cluster. As evidenced in various images of my home—atop the page of our limited selection of framed prints and in our how-to-frame-your-art video—I'm a big fan of salon-style art hanging. That Don houses his drawings in vintage frames picked specifically for each work makes that kind of presentation particularly captivating. The care that goes into the creation of each of Don's original gems is reflected in their très cher pricing, but fortunately for us, their inspired evocation of woodblock printing techniques makes them extremely well-suited for the prints that I present to you today.

With our daily dispatches continuing apace throughout this week, I find myself wanting for verbosity. (Can you believe it?!) Normally this is when I'd employ the words of others by inserting a fitting poem, but Sara has wisely warned that the Edward Lear poem I found most fitting would likely set spam filters into high gear, in spite of its status as one of my most-beloved children's poems. What a world we live in, eh?

Lacking in my own words and unable to employ those of others, I'll instead point you toward the plethora of pictures that await you elsewhere in 20x200's world. You've still got a good amount of time to peruse at leisure, but do be sure to get your orders in by this Friday, December 17th, if you're aiming to get art under your tree in time for Christmas using our standard shipping. Indecisive? Our Gift Guides can help! Also, whether you're gussying up your own place for visitors or wanting to give the most fail-safe of gifts, our framed prints are just the ticket. They're going fast, however, so don't tarry if you see one that you like!

Though we're familiar with Colin Blakely for his wistful, haunting representations of Middle America, a new group exhibition will examine a rather more fanciful side of his work. A Matter of Wit, which opens at FotoFest in Houston on January 13th, 2011, will focus on the funny side of art—an aspect of the field that is so often overlooked. The show will feature work by Colin, as well as by Gilbert Garcin and Miro Švolík.

Some words from the exhibition's curator:

“Wit and humor are among the rarest and most precious aspects of creative expression in almost any field of art,” says...Wendy Watriss, FotoFest Artistic Director and Senior Curator. “Photography is often seen to be peculiarly adept at showing us the humorous aspects of human behavior because of street photography’s ability to ‘capture’ the fleeting, unguarded moments that reveal paradox and comedy what we do. But what about the images that are deliberately constructed to play with our sense of what photography usually is and what is visually real? Visual paradox and staged fantasy are the most difficult things to do successfully in photography, but this is what these artists do.”

The show's press release states of Colin's work specifically:

Colin Blakely...injects elements of nature and text into the most familiar settings of everyday life to expose the curious underpinnings of the domestic scenes that we take for granted. Nothing is out of bounds – hunting dogs, flags, rural facades, clouds that are out of place, small town architecture, stars, the memories of romantic Western landscapes.

If you find yourself in Houston in the early new year (maybe en route to SXSW in Austin? It starts just about a week after A Matter of Wit closes) make sure you stop by and have a look at what is certain to be an unusual (and unusually entertaining!) show.

The Details:
A Matter of Wit
On View: January 13th - February 27th, 2011
Opening Reception: Thursday, January 13th, 6-9pm
Saturday Matinee Public Tour and Artists' Talk: Saturday, January 15th, 2pm
at FotoFest Headquarters Gallery, 1113 Vine Street, Houston, Texas.

ABC News visited the 20x200 offices the other day to talk with our own Jen Bekman about her quest to make art accessible to everyone. In the interview, Jen and ABC correspondent Lauren Glassberg discuss the way that 20x200 works to turn anyone and everyone into a collector. Lauren Glassberg sums it up, saying:

"You might actually think that it's impossible to buy art for someone else but there's actually a site that makes it easy to hone in on the right piece of art for anyone's wall."

Jen went on to discuss the personalized elements behind 20x200, explaining our limited editions, and signed certificates of authenticity that accompany every print. Jen also offers a few gift recommendations of her own: Alex Brown's Untitled (Sad Vader) is perfect for someone with a sense of humor and Rawlings by Don Hammerman is exactly the kind of gift you want to get for a sports fan. For more help honing in on exactly the print you want for the person who already has everything, be sure to check out our gift guide.

The World by Paula Scher

As you probably read in last week's newsletter, we released The World from iconic artist Paula Scher.

One-third of the proceeds from the sales of the edition benefit Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. As thanks for the support, the organization responded with an exclusive offer for 20x200 collectors. They're giving their $120 dual/family membership to our family and friends for just $99. Follow the link to seal the deal and get free admission to the garden and galleries, special discounts on public programs and more. Start soaking in the benefits of being a member this week at a talk with renowned designer Michael Graves:

Bill’s Design Talk: Michael Graves
Thursday, December 16 | 6:30–8:00 p.m.
2 East 91st Street

From Cooper-Hewitt:
Internationally renowned architect and designer Michael Graves will provide an intimate portrait of his celebrated career and discuss the influences that shaped his thinking and approach to design - from his early days as a student and recipient of the American Academy in Rome's prestigious Prix de Rome to his distinguished academic career at Princeton University; to the development of his firm into a global design enterprise practicing architecture, interiors, product design and graphic design. He will also share the very personal inspirations that led him to challenge many of the arcane ideas that have shaped healthcare design in the past.

Members $10; non-Members $15, Students (with valid ID) are free. Register online at or contact the Education Department at 212.849.8353 or cheducation@si.edu.

Paula is a principal at Pentagram and an absolute inspiration to many of us at 20x200. Her "accidental" start in mapping may have been the result of wanting to keep a $1,000 AIG expenses fee, but her works in permanent collections at the Museum of Modern Art, the Library of Congress and Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum reflect her importance and influence in American art and design.

Cooper-Hewitt has also named Paula a National Design Award Communications Design Finalist.

Monteverde Cloud Forest, Costa Rica by Stuart Klipper

Freezing-cold greetings, collectors! It's Sara and as you spy above, today's edition is a sliver of Eden to defrost this frigid day. But before I get into the details of this work and its maker, I have some fun, games and a forewarning: to get first news about tomorrow's edition and to find out how to win a $50 print, plus a book to boot, follow Serious Eats on Twitter. We're giving our friends there the scoop because we know foodies-in-the-know will especially dig it. All you art lovers will want to play—particularly fans of Jane Mount's ever-popular Ideal Bookshelves series—and you heard it here, first, today. Follow Serious Eats and you'll also get lots of great culinarily-inclined updates—on everything from designer ice creams to canned tomatoes and cookie sheets. While you're at it, make sure you're following 20x200, too.

While fun and games are, well, fun, today's edition from Stuart Klipper packs a serious sense of adventure, not to mention sheer green gorgeousness. What better way to fend off the cool grays of winter's bay? Let's rest our eyes on Monteverde Cloud Forest, Costa Rica and pretend a trip to the tropics is just a hop, skip and a jump away. After all, Stuart's done all the trekking and sweating for us—traveling deep into this teeming rainforest with his camera in tow, struggling against downpours and mudslides, swimming in, as he said, "a thick soup of DNA"—and returning with his document of these prehistoric palms. Waving long and broad amid a dense tangle of innumerable varieties they bid the weary wanderer hello.

Monteverde Cloud Forest, Costa Rica recalls my own months-long stints through Central America—back-packing and surfing, butterfly-spotting, island-hopping and mountain climbing, guided by fireflies and sleeping in huts that armies of ants invaded, where rustles in the grass one day gave way to a six-foot boa constrictor, and grasshoppers the size of hot dogs sprang from the fauna. All these things, I'm sure Stuart faced too, as his sense of adventure is equaled only by his photographic fervor: he's super prolific, leaving panoramic peeks of the farthest reaches of the world in his wake. For this, he's one of 20x200's kin. Many of us round HQ, too, are heartened by a deep-seated sense of wanderlust, mostly satiated vicariously these days, by works like Stuart's and the tales he tells. And I think there's a fair share of collectors out there who will appreciate these things too.

Stuart's first editions, Swell, Southern Ocean near 50 S, Antarctica and Icebreaker, Emperor penguin, Southern O., Antarctica feature photographs from his travels to the coldest climates, in the most desolate of places, for a project encompassed in the book, The Antarctic. His travels and photographic accomplishments have been noted in print and by institutions as well. His works are collected far and wide, notably by the Museum of Contemporary Photography. So, I suggest you jump on this chance to acquire one of his prints too, for you or your nearest and dearest wanderer.

As promised, we'll back back with new work from Jane Mount tomorrow but don't forget, to get first dibs, follow our friends at Serious Eats. Till then!

*UPDATE*: For a chance to win a $50 print of Jane Mount's Ideal Bookshelf 102: Cooking + a cookbook! Follow @seriouseats + @20x200 on Twitter and RT "My fave book on this @20x200 shelf is [with the name of the book]".

Foodies out there already know that Serious Eats is the place to get the scoop on what's cooking: recipes, the restaurant world, how to stock your kitchen, chef gossip, and what gifts to give the culinary sorts in your life. So, we're excited to announce that tomorrow, Wednesday, December 15th, we're teaming up with Serious Eats to release our newest edition by Jane Mount, whose Ideal Bookshelves have documented the bound collections of architects, designers, chefs, friends and little ones.

To be the first to hear about Jane's new edition, follow our friends @seriouseats on Twitter before 10 a.m. tomorrow! They'll be the first to release a link to Jane's print and have all the details about our giveaway where you can win a cookbook + a $50 edition of Jane's print.

Whet your pallette? Then be sure to follow @seriouseats and keep your eye out for a treat of a tweet tomorrow morning.

Ideal Bookshelf 42, JMM by Jane Mount

As you know, we at 20x200 are firm believers in art for everyone. We bring you limited edition prints at a huge range of price points, so that collecting and living with art can be affordable for the widest cross-section possible.

And, the fine folks at DETAILS agree. Recently, they included us in their online feature How to Collect Art Without Breaking the Bank, and astutely pointed out that 20x200 does not merely make collecting fine art more affordable; we strive to bring you into the fold, providing you comprehensive information about the work you see on these pages and about the art market, in general. So, hop to and sign up for our weekly newsletter if you'd like to be first in line for the clever knowledge we impart about each edition's artist!

Ideal Bookshelf 102: Cooking by Jane Mount

Hi collectors! It's Sara on our second-to-last-new edition day of the holiday season. That means Christmas is *right* around the corner. Can you believe it?! It's so soon! There's much too much going on here in the meantime, so I'm going to make a list for you (and check it twice):

1. Friday, December 17th (this Friday!) is the LAST DAY to order your prints and have them shipped by USPS in time to get them under your tree.

2. Tomorrow (Thursday!) we'll wrap up our weeks-long run of new editions with a pair of photographs from William Wegman. I promise: witty, charming and smart the works will be. Keep a close eye on this Colbert Report clip for a sneak peek at one of the photos we'll be offering.

3. As I mentioned yesterday, we kicked off a contest on Twitter this morning with our friends @SeriousEats. If you're not already, follow @20x200 and @SeriousEats and chirp these words to win one of Jane's 11"x14" prints and a cookbook: "My fave book on this shelf @20x200 is... [name of book]"! We'll randomly select one of you and announce the winner tomorrow (Thursday!) on Twitter.

4. All this brings us to today's edition, If you're savvy, you spotted Ideal Bookshelf 102: Cooking by Jane Mount this morning. But don't wait to win one, snap up your print as I think they're sure to go. Jane's painted this shelf chock-full of culinary classics: Barefoot Contessa At Home, The Silver Spoon, Ad Hoc at Home, La Patisserie est un jeu d'enfants, The Joy of Cooking, The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, How to Cook Everything, A New Way to Cook, Beard on Bread, The Art of Simple Food, Jamie at Home, Off the Shelf, The Moosewood Cookbook, Tartine, El Libro De Doña Petrona, Cooking By Hand, Cooking in Switzerland and Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

5. And finally, I'll send you off with a little bit about Ms. Mount. As you might know, she's especially near and dear to us at JBP so it's with much inspired pride that I tell you this: This year, she took a leap. As an artist, she took the leap, forgoing regular paychecks to make art full-time. It's a really big deal—super exciting and yes, again, inspiring. But it's also a lot of hard work. While she's painting day and night to make it happen, you too can do your part to help more artists make a living making art. With every print you give and get, you're helping artists do what they do best.

Untitled by Jason Polan

If one thing is clear about Jason Polan, it's that the man does not fear a project most others would find insurmountable. In fact, it seems that Polan fancies these endeavors, and is at his best when producing work that is impossibly interactive and inclusive of its audience. We've written before about Polan's Taco Bell Drawing Club, along with Every Person in New York—the project in which Polan has set out to make a quick pen sketch of every one of New York City's residents. (You can take a shot at arranging to be one of his subjects, too!) He also just last week prodcued an edition of 10 unique pen-and-watercolor compositions and 250 hand-pulled silkscreens for 20x200, 50 (+1 for good luck) Giraffes.

Criterion is offering yet another means to get your hands on a whimsically unique Jason Polan composition. Just place an order for $150 or more prior to December 25th, and Criterion will send you (along with your purchased items) an original, personalized Polan drawing. Holiday gift shopping's never been so fun.

And, be sure to check out Polan's 20x200 prints while you're at it! Polan's giraffes, insects, sea creatures and dinosaurs appear alongside a bunch of other animal-inspired compositions, including one by today's edition maker—the inimitable William Wegman!

The World by Paula Scher

Lifestyle and design blog Black*Eiffel recently featured Paula Scher's The World while in the process of "blogging it forward," an idea that encourages a mashup of blogs to write about the things that inspire them most. Of maps, Rachel writes, "I remember gasping when I first saw the above map dress by Elisabeth and the Screenprints by Paula Scher -- my word, they are amazing!"

After we released a limited-edition of Scher's print on 20x200 late last week, Jones followed up on her affinity for maps with a post encouraging people to take a peek at Paula's print. Be sure to check out the detailed 11"x14" panels of each corner of the globe, and pick up a little bit of somewhere else to take home with you.

Game Board by William Wegman

Blizzard by William Wegman

PLEASE SEE PURCHASING LIMITS BELOW.

Warm and fuzzy, nearly-Friday greetings, my friends. With tomorrow's standard shipping deadline upon us, the procrastinators among us might be getting a wee bit anxious about what to get for whom and how and when. Fortunately, we've got plenty of options for indecisive perfectionists who end up waiting till the last possible minute to settle on something for someone. (Not that I know what that's like. No, not me!) Sara and I will visit your inboxes with options and ideas a few more times before Christmas Day, but today's editions from JBP family favorite William Wegman are the last new prints we've planned with gift giving in mind.

I've been wandering around my apartment for the past few hours trying to figure out what to write about Blizzard and Game Board, and everything that's sprung to mind has felt implausibly perky and sentimental. A few hours into trying to navigate around it, I decided to give in. Want to skip ahead and get your art on without reading? Probably a good idea, considering how fast-moving Bill's editions have been in the past. But first, please read through a few limitations and restrictions related to these very special editions:

- There is a limit of two 10"x8" and two 14"x11" prints, and of one 20"x16" and/or 24"x20" print, per edition, per collector.
- This edition is not eligible for any discount or promotion.
- We reserve the right to refund purchases if we determine that a single collector has acquired multiple prints and/or used a discount code.

It's certainly a special thrill to have the opportunity to offer the work of such a legendary artist to our collectors not once, not twice but three (!!!) times and my pleasure of doing so is only enhanced by how much Sara and I have enjoyed planning these editions at Bill's studio.

As I described when introducing About Four Thirty and The Architects, our initial interactions with Bill led me from awareness—he IS the dog guy after all, right?—to admiration—he also happens to be an artist with a serious, enduring and varied practice. Nearly a year later, after several afternoons spent at his studio checking out paintings in progress, poring through the archives with Jason Burch and sipping tea with sharp-eyed curator and art dealer Christine Burgin (who is a delightful human being and also happens to be Bill's wife)—all of this conducted with a passel of loving Weimeraners swarming around our knees, naturally—my admiration of Bill's practice is fortified with deep affection for him and his whole pack.

I'm grateful every day for this life I have, getting to know artists, working with a group of amazing people to share their work with all of you, and receiving the most heartfelt of thanks nearly every single day for doing so. What makes it all so truly incredible are the essential truths uncovered at every corner of those interactions. Artists, whether renowned or undiscovered, thrive with acknowledgment and careful attention. People who work hard for something they believe in are deeply satisfied (even when frayed by just how hard they're working). Collectors—thousands of them—discover just how fulfilling it can be to live with art, and to play a role in supporting artists in their practice.

Our relationship with Bill affords me the best incarnation of all of these things. I can't tell you how much it means to me that he invites me into his studio and wants to hear what I think about his paintings in progress. (And I can scarcely believe that he does!) I get to go there with Sara, who is an amazing person to work with; back at the office, we keep company with an incredible array of remarkable people on our team. And then there are all of YOU. It makes me really happy that all this goodness that I get to enjoy gets art into your hands.

Don't write Forbes.com off as a place for business news only; it often offers the key, sometimes-counterintuitive information that you won't find anywhere else. Recently, they produced an invaluable roundup of gifts that you're better off forgoing this holiday season. Says writer Lauren Sherman, nix any plans of gifting cars, pets or self-help books that accentuate the recipient’s flaws. She also cautions that during the winter months, most fine art purchases are not cost-effective. That is, unless you’re purchasing from 20x200. “Affordable prints, available on websites like … 20x200, are always in season,” she reports. So there you have it, a 20x200 print might be one of the more financially wise gifts to bestow this year.

We were once again delighted to catch the eye of Los Angeles Times writer Lisa Boone, who introduced the paper's readers to 20x200 just a short while back in her column, The Deal. Today, in the "L.A. at Home" section, she highlights that "Occasionally noted artists make an appearance [on 20x200] too," and gives a nod to William Wegman's two new editions: Blizzard and Game Board.

In her first piece about 20x200, Boone celebrates the affordability of 20x200 prints, and reprimands only herself for not acting quick enough to purchase prints out of our fast-moving inventory.

Read the full post here, then grab your own pair of Wegman prints to take home; they're moving fast, and not just because they feature friends with four legs.

Prairieside Forks by Ross Racine

Lately, 20x200 edition-maker Ross Racine has spent a lot of time explaining his art. First, he sat down to talk about his fictional aerial landscapes of suburbia with BreakThru Radio, then lent a hand via email to bloggers at TheUrbanTimes and Rising Wisely. To top it all off, UrbanSpaceMag added him to the pages of their Copy & Paste issue examining the essence of original and new.

In his interview with the Bushwick-based host at BreakThru Radio, Ross offered a bit of insight into why everyone is asking him to explain his work:

I’m in between drawing in the traditional sense. I’m in between the computer itself, and I’m in between photography. Photography is a reference for most people with this kind of image so that is something that I have to deal with. We don’t have that many examples of computer drawings so far that use realism, so we don’t have this reference. They know what a painting looks like roughly, they know what a photograph looks like roughly, but a computer drawing is something that has very few references.

What Ross so modestly left out is just how fascinating his fictional suburban designs are. Take a quick glance and you’ll see a sort of greyscale rendering of a suburban sprawl on Google Maps terrain view. Focus on his work for just a moment longer, and you’ll catch detailed complexity and a sense of playfulness, as well as a commentary on micro versus macro and the psychological effects of societal structures.

Ross delves deeper into the unrealistic details of his suburban sprawls in his interview with TheUrbanTimes. His creativity starts with scribbles, and he keeps and modifies the images he deems worthwhile. In this exchange he also touches on his fascination with abstraction and interest in diagrams and designs as a means for conveying information that's never said outright.

It’s exactly this narrative that caught the eye of the good people at Rising Wisely, a blog that rethinks India’s development. In this interview Ross explores his the idea of repetition in his work, which is exactly why UrbanSpaceMag picked up his art for their Copy & Paste issue on varying social perspectives on the idea of copying and pasting in society.

To read and hear about Ross biking around the suburbs where he grew up, the innate human desire to have a large living space and how he prefers the slippery qualities of a disembodied virtual medium, check out his recent press. Then go to the IPCNY silent auction by tomorrow, December 18th to bid on his work.

Untitled from the series Pulsar, 2009 by Yuji Hamada

Hello, collector friends! It's been another frigid but wonderfully productive week for us here at 20x200 HQ, as we hope it has been for you. As the holidays inch ever nearer, we hope that you are gearing up to be merry with family and friends, wherever in the world you are. But for today, we are here to send you off into the weekend with a roundup of the week's must-see art-related stories and links:

• For those of you still getting those last bits of holiday shopping in, a reminder that today is the last day to order prints you'd like to have arrive in time for Christmas using regular USPS shipping. So fill up those carts and order today!


• Not sure of which print to get someone? Don't worry, we've got you covered! From your most feminine of friends to your favorite foodies, our personalized gift guides are bound to have the perfect answer.


• Speaking of foodies, this week we teamed up with our gourmand friends at Serious Eats to release a new, all-cookbook edition from the prolific Jane Mount and hosted a super-fun giveaway of a $50 print and cookbook on Twitter. Congrats to @@fitbomb on taking home those enviable prizes!


• We were psyched to receive more warm words about 20x200 this week, as we're always happy to hear that others agree that we are making collecting more attainable for everyone out there. DETAILS commended our newsletters for offering valuable art knowledge to the newbie collector. And ABC News dropped by the office to hear from Jen Bekman, herself, about her goal of making art available for everyone.


• Another much-appreciated mention came from Forbes.com who recently released a list of what not to buy this holiday season. While many fine art purchases are not cost-effective during the winter months, reporter Lauren Sherman says, "Affordable prints, available on websites like … 20x200, are always in season." We couldn't agree more!


• And if there's anything we value as much as bringing you affordable fine art, it's supporting wonderful, young artists. Keep your eyes peeled for Colin Blakely's work at FotoFest in Houston in January.


• Additionally Ross Racine has recently done a bunch of killer interviews discussing his work, and has piecesfeatured in UrbanSpacemag.


• The Sunday Paper recommended Joseph O. Holmes' gorgeous The Sledding Hill (Dusk) as an unbeatable holiday gift. You can also see twelve gorgeous prints by Joe at Jen Bekman Gallery right now in his exhibition,The Urban Wilderness.
  


• We want you to be out and seeing as much art as possible this holiday season, and what's better incentive than a special offer from the Cooper-Hewitt, which is granting discounted memberships to 20x200 collectors, in gratitude for the recent benefit print from Paula Scher.


• And if you're not in an ideal location to get out for some art-watching this weekend, we've got a couple ideas of how to bring art to you. Browse through a recent look back at the 2010 HHS! contenders. Or if a tangible piece of artwork is what you're looking for, you might want to check out this special offer from Jason Polan and Criterion.


• On the photography side of things, our friends at La Pura Vida named the HHS! blog one of the Top 15 Photography Websites of 2010. We're honored to be in such esteemed company!


• Two of our Hot Shots, Pixy Liao and Zhijie Sui, have also teamed up to curate two 2011 calendars around the theme "Harmonic," a popular Chinese concept online. Read more on the details of the two calendars; proceeds from the sales go to benefit The Pediatric HIV/AIDS Treatment Support Project for AIDS Orphans in Fuyang, China.

Blizzard  by William Wegman	Game Board by William Wegman

Dapper Owl by Don Carney	Timid Whale by Don Carney	Ideal Bookshelf 102: Cooking byJane Mount

Monteverde Cloud Forest, Costa Rica by Stuart Klipper

The intersection of fine art with various other spheres of culture is something that has intrigued and compelled us for ages (see for example our super-love at JBP of books in art, and art in books).

Music is another field where we often see an overwhelming overlap with the world of visual art—albeit one that is recognized and considered with surprising infrequency. Paddy Johnson's recent Kickstarter campaign to produce an album of various sounds gleaned from the New York art world caught our attention this past September, and we're thrilled to see that the project, titled The Sound of Art was a smashing success; it generated the necessary funding to be realized, and records are now pressed and set to ship in time for Christmas.

Just about a year ago we had our very own sonically-inspired show at JBG with Mixtape, which took thematic cues from the fast-disappearing art of the compilation album, with its own rich variety of works inspired by songs, recording artists, instruments, and even the machinery of music. We thought we'd take this opportunity to examine a few choice examples of how music has influenced art and vice versa, and to look at some people who refuse to limit their creative production to one field or the other.

Here are a few musical editions and projects for your perusal; you might just find the perfect gift for the audiophile on your list! And of course we recommend putting on some tunes while you browse.

Untitled (Let's Get Lost) by Shaun Sundholm

Shaun Sundholm's gorgeous Untitled (Let's Get Lost) riffs on lyrics of—and draws its title from—a song from Elliott Smith's haunting posthumous album.

Untitled (I'm an island of such great complexity) by Mike Monteiro

Untitled (I like you 'cause you like me and you don't like much.) by Mike Monteiro

Mike Monteiro's wordplay as well often reaches over into the realm of popular music. Two of his editions see him quoting lyrics, appropriating the words of musicians to say something new and personally relevant—first those of Pavement and more recently of Lyle Lovett.

Album 1 by Paul Madonna

Paul Madonna cites music as his primary source of inspiration, stating:

Though I've been drawing and writing for as long as I can remember, music is the medium that has influenced me the most. I love the thought of an album being a collection that encapsulates a period of ideas, work and life into a tidy package, allowing the artist to work through a creative goal then move on to the next. Taken together, multiple albums become a systematic organization of a life's work; a collection of songs defines one album, and the collection of albums defines the artist. This led to my newest project, a yearly publication overtly titled Album, as an homage to that concept.

Roots of War in Popular Song (forest of no return) by David Byrne

No stranger to the music industry, David Byrne's edition to benefit Creative Time draws unexpected connections between popular music and political conflict.

Patsy Cline and Hank Williams by Mark Ulriksen

Monk by Mark Ulriksen

Mark Ulriksen's charming, cheerful portrait of country icons Patsy Cline and Hank Williams, and his atmospheric, classic-album-cover-inspired, (all but sold out) rendition of jazz legend Thelonious Monk round out our current selection.

We hope this little detour leaves you humming as you approach the New Year!

Last-Monday-before-Christmas greetings, friends! I have good news for all of you who didn't dutifully finish up your holiday shopping this weekend. It's not too late to give great art—we'll help you get your gifts by Christmas with free express shipping upgrades. Here's what you need to know to get your gifts on time and on budget:

Free upgrades are easy as 1, 2, 3:
1. Leave PRIORITY MAIL as shipping option at checkout.
2. Enter 20xPRESS at Payment Info.
3. Click "Apply."

A pop-up will confirm your free upgrade and we'll automatically make sure your prints are shipped faster, for no additional cost. But, to get your gifts by December 24th, you must order by Wednesday, December 22nd with 2-day express, or Thursday, December 23rd with overnight shipping. To guarantee express shipping, orders need to be completed by 3 p.m. ET.

Psst! Get ahead on framing, too. Downloadable PDFs with print dimensions and framing recommendations are now available on most edition pages. Look for "HOW TO FRAME YOUR ART" in the lower right-hand side bar as you're eying prints. Watch Jen's framing video, then take your PDF straight to your local frame shop. Hop to it!

The New Yorker Goings On About Town Calendar, 2011

The New Yorker's offering a new calendar full of highlights from their Goings On About Town section that'll help you ring in the new year by remembering the last few. The calendar features twelve photographs from New York City cultural events taken over the past five years by 20x200 photographer Landon Nordeman, as well as Brian Finke, Martine Fougeron, Yola Monakhov and Gus Powell.

You can preview the full calendar at Lulu, and pick up your own for only $15.

Can-you-believe-it's-almost-Christmas-Eve? Greetings, friends! Joyful and merry may be those with gifts under the tree, but I sense that those without may be tense. We're here to spread the peace, joy and happiness with digital 20x200 gift certificates: procrastinators rejoice! Give the gift of choice *instantly*.

So, if you've got some gifting left to do, go on, hurry, scoot, skeedadle! Look great, not late. Get your digital gift certificates. We'll see you next week with fresh fine art and a final sendoff for the year. Till then we're wishing you much warmth and cheer!

Behind the Bay City Log Sorting Yard, Cosmopolis, Washington by Eirik Johnson

Happy Monday-after-Christmas, collectors! What a wonderful year it's been for us at 20x200. We hope that you've enjoyed this year's editions, along with the other goodies we've brought you: a handy framing how-to video, gift wrap and framed prints, along with prints benefiting some of our favorite organizations like Creative Time and the Cooper-Hewitt! For those of you still enjoying the warmth of friends, family and scrumptious food tonight and this weekend, and those of you back at the office, here are last week's art-related highlights:

• As always, the artists behind our editions are ever busy producing more projects and we couldn't be happier for them. The 2011 New Yorker Goings On About Town calendar will feature work from Landon Nordeman.


• Joe Holmes's exhibition Urban Wilderness is on view at Jen Bekman Gallery through January 16, so hop to if you haven't gotten the chance to see it yet. Note: The gallery will be closed for the holidays through tomorrow, December 28 as well as December 31 and New Year's Day.
  


• Eirik Johnson, the 2010 Foster Prize recipient who we've had much to say about, has a photographic sound-based installation, Madre de Dios, on view at the ICA in Boston through January 16. If you won't be in that neck of the New England woods in time to see it in person, check out some video of the installation.
• The indefatigable Jason Polan is still at it, creating those humorous, evocative portraits of the fine people of New York City. NPR's The Picture Show recently weighed in on the project themselves and featured a selection of images from the series that you might want to take a look at.
• This week we also got a once-every-400-years treat: an absolutely jaw-dropping lunar eclipse that happened to fall on the same day as the winter solstice. On the Hey, Hot Shot! blog, Youngna offered up some great images of the ruby-glowing moon along with host of links even more photographs.
• In addition to all the two f's of the holiday season (that's food and family, folks), there is also the overwhelming presence of music: carols, song and instrumentation are a huge part of many winter celebrations. This week, Emma's post draws out a common link between visual art and music, and offers a nice look back at some music-related 20x200 editions that you probably haven't seen in a while.
• Thank you all for a stupendous year!

Untitled (May the bridges I burn light the way.) by Mike Monteiro

Final-edition-of-2010 greetings to my far-flung collector friends. I write to you from the island of Oahu, and am grateful for the last-minute instinct to fly myself far, far away from the now snow-socked Eastern seaboard. Alas, with stormy skies forecast throughout our stay, I expect that umbrellas will be coming in handy for reasons other than the garnishment of tropical cocktails. (Although I expect liberal partaking of those as well!) Today's SF-based edition-maker, Mike Monteiro, is also far from home, in the midst of a sojourn to jolly old England. Fortunately for us (and for you!) we agreed long ago that this most recent addition to his enduringly popular array of editions was a fine way to close out the year.

Untitled (May the bridges I burn light the way.) epitomizes the sort of blaze-ahead, consequences-be-damned attitude that's familiar fuel for Mike and me. I can't say that it's always the best way to forge ahead, but it serves my own instincts for future-tripping well. (An instinct I've tried—with some success!—to curb as I endeavor to be more adult-like.) I'm also a bit of a Pollyanna however, so it doesn't take much for me to see a certain optimism and honesty in a statement like this one, once you've gotten beyond its bravado.

We're all prone to indulge in inventory-taking and retrospective-making, especially at this time of year. I just did a bit of it myself this morning, comparing notes on the year that was with my traveling companion. It's a fine endeavor, but not one to dawdle on—we're all only moving ahead, after all, and that's true regardless of whether the bridges behind us are burned or intact.

Final-greetings-of-the-year friends! It's Sara sending this last dispatch from the sunny foothills of Colorado. As Jen wrote yesterday from watery Oahu, team JBP has dispersed for the week to enjoy time with family and friends, wherever they may be, as we savor the holidays and welcome the new year. But we won't ring in 2011 without waving farewell to 2010—what a year it's been!

We brought you 138 editions, by 82 amazing artists!—partied it up at the Brooklyn Museum and Chronicle Books—geeked out and freaked out when we saw Jorge Colombo's drawing on the iPad—infiltrated the art fairs armed with totes and treats—spotted internet stars turned TV stars—talked life and politics with a legend—supported our fine friends at the Brooklyn Museum, Creative Time and Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum—teared up when our friend Matt shared his Roger Ballen print with his postman—hit the road with Todd Hido—were amazed as the Starns took over the roof of The Metropolitan—opened eight shows at the JBG—applauded Nina Berman and Curtis Mann as they were honored by inclusion in the 2010 Whitney Biennial—searched high and low to find the next five most exciting photographers working today—crushed on Alec Baldwin when he dropped $10K for a Joseph O. Holmes photo—created personal 20x200 accounts—smiled as Ms. Jen Bee was compared to Leo Castelli—celebrated the season in black and white—and finally! offered (some) framed prints.

Phew! That wasn't all, there was much more, it's true, this recap's not complete. There are too many good things to mention, both small and grand—emails, talks and meals with artists and collectors—that have made this year remarkable. But, I think, there's too much to be said and not enough done in looking back—sometimes it's best to keep your eyes straight ahead (especially when the future's full of art!). So, with that I'll toast to you—the loyal collectors we couldn't have done it all without. Salut!

(A small sampling of our 2010 editions!)

Dear collectors, readers and artists alike: thank you for another tremendous year. We are so excited to have had the opportunity to bring you 140 new editions this year, from artists from around the globe. This means that you—yes, you!—are living with more art.

Things will be quiet around here as we tie up loose ends, take a short rest, and gear up to bring you more great art in 2011. Have a happy, safe and artful new year and we'll see you in '11!