Manneken Press

Manneken Press is a fine art publisher producing original, limited edition and unique prints, portfolios and artist’s books by significant contemporary artists. Manneken Press was founded in 2000 by owner/operators Jonathan Higgins and Sarah Smelser and has established a reputation as a leading American fine art press. Our mission is to enable the creation of new works of art in print and to push fine art printmaking forward into the 21st C. We pursue this through our program of publishing prints by contemporary artists who assert the foundational acts of 2-Dimensional investigation over narrative, whose works are experimental, unequivocally stirring and intelligent, with strong material and graphic presence. We advance the artist’s works by disseminating them through public exhibitions, art fairs and online platforms.

We have worked with a range of American and international artists to create a unique body of contemporary prints, and currently represent more than 30 artists. While primarily focused on prints, our inventory includes drawings, sculpture and photography to better represent the full scope of our artist’s creative output.

The prints are made by the artists working in close collaboration with Master Printer Higgins, and are hand-printed in our own workshop. In all of our projects we respect the timeless processes of printmaking, using only the finest papers and inks, while maintaining a spirit of curiosity and experimentation.

We have exhibited our prints at many fine art fairs in Chicago, Cleveland, Miami, Boston, Baltimore, Houston, New York City, Palm Springs, and in many galleries and museums, including the Museum of Modern Art. Prints published by Manneken Press have been reviewed in Art In Print, Art In America, Grabado Y Edición, ARTnews, and Art On Paper. Manneken Press has been the subject of articles published in Hyperallergic and Business Insider. Survey exhibitions of our prints were mounted at the Peoria Contemporary Art Center in 2011 and 2023, and at Illinois Wesleyan University in 2005 and 2017. Full Circle: Prints from Manneken Press travelled to venues in California, Texas and Louisiana in 2007.