Ernest de Soto (1923–2014) is regarded as the United States’ first Latino master printer – that is, a senior lithographer who collaborates closely with artists to help them realise their vision. Born in Tucson, Arizona, de Soto served as a camouflage technician during the Second World War. After studying in Guanajuato in central Mexico, and printing lithographs and teaching in New York, he received a grant from the Ford Foundation to work at the Tamarind Lithography Workshop (now the Tamarind Institute) in Los Angeles in 1965. During his two years there he worked with numerous artists, including Ruth Asawa, Herbert Bayer and José Luis Cuevas. Twenty-eight of the resulting lithographs, made by these artists and six others, make up this exhibition at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, which holds some 2,300 lithographs produced at the workshop from 1963–70 (until 25 January 2026). Many of the pieces on show are abstract, though there are also some striking figurative works – including a monochrome Spanish vista by de Soto himself.
Find out more from the Amon Carter Museum’s website.
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