Norman Ives was born in 1923. As a child of a Navy officer he lived on both the East and West
Coasts. He is best regarded for his geometric prints produced during the 1960s. After earning
his
undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University in 1950, he entered Yale University. While
taking a printmaking class at Yale he met Josef Albers, who happened to be teaching at the
University. A profound influence and mentor, Albers helped Ives develop a profound, lifelong
interest in printmaking. After receiving his MFA degree in 1952, Ives also began teaching at Yale
in the Graphic Design department.
Soonafter, Ives and his professional partner Sewell Sillman, founded the printing company Ives-
Sillman, Inc. in New Haven, Connecticut. They began publishing major prints and silkscreen
portfolios by Josef and Anni Albers, Ad Reinhardt, Dieter Roth, Piet Mondrian, Jean Dubuffet,
Willem DeKooning, Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence among others. Ives also continued his own
artistic pursuits, creating paintings, posters, collages, and murals. His often square-shaped prints
integrate letters and numbering, as well as abstract design, in a variety of colors.
His pieces are held in the collections of the Georgia Museum of Art, Athens, GA; Michael
C Carlos
Museum, Atlanta, GA; The
University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, MI. Ives has been
included in exhibitions at a number of museums, including the University of Hawaii in 1964; the
Walker Arts Center, Minneapolis in 1966; Whitney Museum’s "Annual Painting Show" (1967);
the
Museum of Modern Art, NY; the Hayden Gallery, MIT (1968); the Davison Art Center, Wesleyan
University; the San Francisco Museum of Art (1975); the National College of Fine Arts,
Smithsonian’s, "Images of an Era"; among others.
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