Behind the scenes ... Hugh Stoneman made the print for this etching by Sir Terry Frost. Photograph: Tate
It's safe to say that when Hugh Stoneman passed away two years ago, he wasn't exactly a household name. And yet in a career spanning 30 years, he had been involved in creating artworks with some of the biggest stars in the business, including photographer Eve Arnold, abstract artist Sir Terry Frost and Turner Prize winner Grayson Perry.
Stoneman's lack of fame is down to the fact he worked at the unglamorous coalface of the art world. As a printmaker, he was the artisan who helped the more glamorous names apply techniques such as photogravure, etching and woodcut. A long overdue retrospective of his life's work, Hugh Stoneman: Master Printer, is currently showing at Tate St Ives (until 11 May). It's an opportunity to see the sheer eclectic range of styles he worked in and artists he collaborated with. All of them clearly owe a debt to a man who was by all accounts modest and self-effacing, despite his obvious enthusiasm for and skill in an unappreciated craft.
His widow, Linda, continues to run Stoneman Graphics, where prints made in her late husband's studio can still be bought. All I'd say is, should you feel tempted to pick up a Christopher le Brun, a Terry Frost or an Ian McKeever, be sure to tell anyone who shows an interest that it's a Hugh Stoneman as well.
