Paulson Fontaine Press produces and publishes limited edition intaglio prints. The press emerged from the San Francisco Bay Area’s rich tradition of fine art printmaking. Paulson Fontaine Press’s philosophy is to facilitate rather than direct an artist, creating an environment where artists can do their best work.
In 1996, the press launched its first publication with four color etchings by Christopher Brown. Since then, PFP has published more than 700 editions with more than 60 artists including Tauba Auerbach, Ross Bleckner, Torkwase Dyson, Spencer Finch, Charles Gaines, the Quilters of Gee’s Bend, Isca Greenfield-Sanders, Kerry James Marshall, Martin Puryear and Henry Taylor.
Prints by PFP are in major museum collections across the country, including the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Library of Congress, MOMA, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. The Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco owns PFP’s archive, which includes one of every print the press has published, in perpetuity.
Pam Paulson and Rhea Fontaine have a strong shared interest in the history of American civil rights, which has influenced their publishing decisions. As a woman and minority-owned business, they have worked to amplify often underrepresented voices in the visual arts. PFP has published over 200 editions with Black Artists, and this archive was recently acquired by the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art.
Paulson Fontaine Press sits on the ancestral, unceded territory of the Chochenyo-speaking Ohlone people.
