In any invitational exhibition, there is, hopefully, a theme or underlying current to which the work of each artist contributes. Ideally the individual pieces will be better understood in light of the works with which they have been surrounded.
Regarded as a teaching aid, the C.B. Reif Collection was formerly used during Biology lectures. Although the fundamental purpose of the collection was to teach natural history, the prints are also of interest to art historians and general historians.
In a process that integrates the past into the present through the re-use of art history's forms, patterns, and figures, Aptekar challenges the passivity of influence and the burden of Old Master veneration.