ArtStart will host the exhibition Modern Spanish Prints, 1952-1987: Miró, Picasso and Tápies, opening Thursday, April 11, at the ArtStart Gallery in Rhinelander. The event marks the re-opening of the gallery which has been closed since January for renovation and remodeling.

The exhibition is on temporary loan from the New Visions Gallery in Marshfield. This exhibit marks the first time its entire collection of Spanish prints has been shown. Featured are lithographs by Joan Miró, Antoni Tápies and four other Spanish artists, as well as one work by Pablo Picasso from his “Suite de 180 Dessins” series.

“The theme of this exhibition is a cross-section of original Spanish prints created in the second half of the 20th century,” curator Martin Rowe said. “The subject matter is largely abstract; Miró, Picasso and Tápies are among the giants of the modern art movement, and it is hard to imagine most contemporary artists not being influenced in some way by them.”

The term “abstract art” describes a wide variety of art. The general sense of the term is that it is the opposite of “realism,” although many artists who call their work abstract have a subject in mind when they paint. “They take a figure or landscape and simplify it, exaggerate it, or stylize it in some way,” Rowe said. “Color, line and form are more important than the details of the actual subject matter. Abstract artists want to give a sense or feel for the subject, rather than an exact replication.”

Picasso, Miró and Tápies are considered among the greatest artists of the last century. The exhibition will be on display in the ArtStart Gallery through June 8. ArtStart’s next exhibition, The Art of Hunting and Fishing: The Pursuit of the Wild, opens June 19.

The ArtStart Gallery is located at 68 S. Stevens St. across from McDonald’s in Rhinelander. Gallery hours are Thursday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday 1 to 7 p.m., and Saturday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The gallery will be open Wednesdays in the summer from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The exhibition may be viewed at no charge.

For more information about ArtStart’s exhibitions and events, log on to ArtStartRhinelander.org.