Explore the Stan Kaplan Archive

Stanley Kaplan (1925–2015) was a New York-based printmaker, muralist, and artist's book maker whose work spanned six decades. He made woodcuts, linocuts, etchings, silkscreens, and wood-carved murals rooted in humanity and social justice. His work is held in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Library of Congress, and the New York Public Library.

KaplanPrints is an evolving archive of Stanley Kaplan's artwork, curated by his son. The archive grows as works are cataloged, photographed, and rediscovered over time.

Stan's work is available through The Old Print Shop in New York City, one of the oldest and most respected print galleries in the country. The Old Print Shop has represented his work for decades.

Most images were photographed by Stan for personal documentation rather than reproduction. Quality varies across the archive, and that's part of its character.

No — and that's intentional. KaplanPrints is a living project, growing as works are cataloged, photographed, and rediscovered over time. Visitors are invited into the process, not presented with a finished product.

Stan paid close attention to the world around him — people, family, sports, transportation, streets and neighborhoods, the natural world, history, and performance. He also made work rooted in symbol and abstraction, and bore witness to historical events including World War II and 9/11.

Stan made a series of limited edition artist's books — intimate works where image and sequence unfold together. Titles include Between the Lines, Zasis, Particles of Light, Sanctuary, Sea View, and Witness 9/11.

The Taller de Gráfica Popular was a printmaking collective based in Mexico City where printmaking served social justice, anti-fascism, and the lives of ordinary people. Stan arrived there at 23, just after World War II, and the experience shaped everything that followed in his work.

Stan's practice extended beyond the flat surface into large-scale wood-carved murals and constructions, commissioned for public and private spaces. He also made intimate carved objects. The Totem Portraits — four carved heads, each unfolding into an accordion book telling a life story — are among his most personal three-dimensional works.

KaplanPrints is curated by Stan's son — a musician, improviser, and educator whose creative life was shaped by watching his father work. That same quality of attention goes into building the archive.

Questions about the archive or Stan's work are welcome. Use the contact form on the About page.