Art for everyone

Have you ever felt a deep connection to art? The kind that transforms a room, sparks conversation, or simply opens your heart? At Greenwich Printmakers, we believe that feeling shouldn’t be reserved for galleries, or for the very few. One of the cornerstones of printmaking is that it’s a more affordable way to own fine art and bring it into your life. For Bess Frimodig, who grew up in 1970s Sweden surrounded by the philosophy of “art for all”, this inspired her to become a printmaker.

"The Players – Homage to Lost Boys" by Bess Frimodig

When I was child in 1970s Sweden, the world around me vibrated with art. Not just in grand galleries, but on the walls of homes, offices, banks, hospitals, and schools. This was a golden age of printmaking, championed by Konstfrämjandet – an extraordinary movement that declared “art for all!”.

Imagine a society where abstract colour fields hung alongside powerful social realism; where images of dockyard workers, simple bowls of potatoes, or winter landscapes imbued everyday life with meaning. This was my reality. I travelled through prints into a world saturated with artwork: into sweet gardens where cats lived, coffee moments, bustling shipyards, or quiet, snowy vistas. Alongside the best of Swedish printmakers’ work, lithographs by Leger and Picasso became accessible – prints of the highest quality. Such works adorned canteen walls. Life, truly, vibrated in colour, shapes, and stories.

"Luminous Butterfly", chine collé print by Bess Frimodig

Living in this world of print, I dreamt of becoming a printmaker so that I too could have a spot on a thousand walls. Today, that fascination grows stronger still, heeding the very call made by Konstfrämjandet, the collective of trade unions and artists who made art accessible and affordable for every Swedish citizen. Their motto – “art for all!" – wasn’t just a slogan; it shaped the very idea of ‘folkhemmet’, visualising a country as a beautiful home for everyone.

Living in this world of print, I dreamt of becoming a printmaker so that I too could have a spot on a thousand walls

This wasn’t about cheap art; it was about carefully crafted, high-end prints – lithography, intaglio, mezzotint – created through time-consuming techniques, yet offered in solidarity with every person. It was a nationwide desire to make culture and education equal, regardless of class, fostering study circles and discussions about print and the role of art in shipyards and clerks’ offices alike.

"Life Stood Still on the Hill", lithograph by Bess Frimodig

Today, that spirit endures. Just as Swedish printmakers continue to organise in collective studios, collaborating with governmental institutions (like the ‘one percent program’ for public art, which stipulates that art, often prints, must be part of every new public building), private offices cultivate their own print collector clubs, as the country continues to believe that art creates meaning. Beauty for all, visualised through art, remains a humanist concept and a cornerstone of a well-lived and meaningful life.

I see their eyes and hearts opening, dreaming a bit, like I did like as a child in Sweden, when print opened the world for me

In our gallery, the artists and the collectors – that is, everyone who falls in love with a print – naturally gravitate towards each other and connect beauty in a silent dialogue of images flowing back and forth. At Greenwich Printmakers, our original prints continue the powerful tradition of making beauty accessible. When I work in the gallery, young and old enter the space and I see their eyes and hearts opening, dreaming a bit, like I did like as a child in Sweden, when print opened the world for me. A few moments later, stories shared, a happy buyer goes home, a slice of beauty tucked under the arm, to go up on the wall – art for all, indeed. These prints carry not just artistic merit, but a profound philosophy of accessibility, quality, and human connection.