Society of American Graphic Artists

The Society of American Graphic Artists (SAGA) is a not for profit national fine arts organization serving professional artists in the field of printmaking. SAGA provides its members with exhibition, reviews and networking opportunities in the New York City area and, in addition to various substantial exhibition prizes, many purchase awards allow SAGA members to be included in major U.S. museum collections.

The origins of the organization date back to 1915 with the formation of the Brooklyn Society of Etchers. After several name changes, the present title was adopted in 1952 to allow for the inclusion of a full range of hand pulled printmaking techniques. Over the course of its close to 100 years of continuous operation, many important national and international modern artists have exhibited with SAGA, including Henri Matisse, Kathe Kollowitz, John Sloan, Edward Hopper, Pablo Picasso, Mary Cassatt, Joseph Pennell, John Marin, Childe Hassam and John Taylor Arms. SAGA continues to attract a diverse group of contemporary printmakers who serve as important contributors to and ambassadors of printmaking in the United States. SAGA also maintains a collector print collection of member work and publishes a periodical journal of writing on printmaking-related topics, which is entitled SAGAzine. SAGA’s current offices are at the former New York studio of John Sloan.

SAGA has been active since its inception in 1915 under the name of the Brooklyn Society of Etchers, and has organized over 79 National Member Exhibitions, in addition to various international, traveling and exchange exhibitions.

In relation to other artists’ associations of the time, SAGA was modeled more closely to the French impressionist group (Cooperative Society of Painters, Sculptors, Engravers, etc.) which was focused on organizing exhibitions for its members, rather than other printmaking organizations such as the British Etching Club or the French Society of Etchers (Societe des Aquafortistes) which were highly selective and secretive with very few members or focused more on commercial promotions, respectively.

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