James Groleau - prints and biography

SALT GRANITE SPRUCE
Salt Granite Spruce is a series of color mezzotints depicting coastal Maine.  Intimations of the Arts and Crafts Movement of the early twentieth century are evident in the palette of greens and grays with additional touches of violet eggplant and ochre. 

FRAMED PRINTS from the Flowers of Turbulence series

ABSENCE OF MALICE / PORTRAITS OF IRAQ
The Absence of Passion is a suite of fifteen mezzotint portraits reflecting the trauma of warfare. Tempered by the partial concealment of facial expression the images depict a range of emotional responses to war from rage to resignation.

OTHER PRINTS

James Groleau (born 1960 in Lewiston, Maine) is a self-taught American printmaker widely recognized for his mastery of mezzotint, as well as etching, aquatint, collage, and mixed-media printmaking. Known for his command of dense blacks, subtle tonal gradations, and psychologically charged imagery, Groleau’s work moves fluidly between quiet landscape observation and deeply introspective figurative and conceptual themes.

Groleau discovered mezzotint while studying at City College of San Francisco, a moment that proved pivotal in shaping his artistic direction. Drawn to the medium’s capacity for darkness, nuance, and emotional weight, he developed a distinctive visual language characterized by rich surfaces and carefully controlled light. His mezzotints often explore the tension between presence and absence, memory and place, using tonal depth as a means of conveying atmosphere and interior states rather than literal description.

Throughout his career, Groleau has pursued both representational and thematic bodies of work. His Maine landscape series, including views of the state’s rugged coastline, rivers, and marshes, reflects a lifelong connection to place and a meditative engagement with the natural world. In contrast, more conceptually driven series—such as his portraits related to Iraq and the Middle East—address themes of conflict, distance, and human consequence with restraint and moral seriousness, avoiding overt narrative in favor of quiet reflection.

Groleau’s work has been widely exhibited in the United States and internationally, including a notable solo exhibition at the Ekaterinburg Museum of Fine Arts in Russia. He has received numerous awards, grants, and fellowships in recognition of his contributions to contemporary printmaking, including a prestigious fellowship from the MacDowell Colony. His prints are held in significant public and institutional collections, among them the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the Portland Museum of Art (Maine), the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Oakland Museum of California, the National Museum of Fine Art in Antwerp, Belgium, and the Janet Turner Print Museum.

James Groleau divides his time between the San Francisco Bay Area and coastal Maine. Across decades of sustained studio practice, his work has remained grounded in the physical discipline of traditional printmaking while continually expanding its expressive and emotional range.

Despair and the Salt Air

Click on the image below to view this 15 minute film on James Groleau. Interviews with the artist delves into his discovery of the mezzotint and eventual mastery of the process. 

For more information on the mezzotint process read our article:
History of the mezzotint

Other artist you might be interested in:
Art Werger
David Smith-Harrison
Jean Michel Mathieux-Marie