Spring (Printemps)

James Paul Monson was born in 1943 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. He first studied painting at St. Olaf College and then printmaking at the University of Iowa, receiving a master's degree in 1969. After graduation he moved to Paris to work with Stanley William Hayter at Atelier 17, with whom he worked from 1970 to 1973. At the same time he established his own studio and taught summer workshops at Tourrette-Levens, and also taught as a guest lecturer at the Tyler School of Art in Rome. In 1973 he was appointed assistant professor of printmaking at Carleton College and St. Olaf College. From 1977 to 1982 he taught as an adjunct professor of printmaking and drawing at Holy Cross College in Worcester, Massachusetts. In 1985 he returned to Europe and settled in Tourrette-Levens, where he still lives and works today. He worked exclusively in printmaking, creating engravings, lithographs and especially woodcuts, which he exhibited regularly in Europe and America in solo and group exhibitions.