Learning to Look – Week 4 Media and Techniques

Learning to Look – Week 4 Media and Techniques – Works on Paper

An ORIGINAL PRINT is a work of art which an artist creates by processing a surface of wood, metal, paper, stone or screen so that more than one identical image can be printed from it. Ink is transferred from this prepared surface [often called “the plate”] onto paper (or another material) and becomes the original print, distinct and individual in its form as a work of art.

An original print should never be confused with a reproduction, which is a copy of an original artwork, massproduced by means of an automatic copier, photochemical, or digital process. In contrast, an original print is handinked or handpulled on a press by the artists themselves or by a skilled printer working under the supervision of the artist. The originally conceived design and composition become inseparable from the process itself.

Edition – An edition is the total number of original prints (impressions) made from a plate; In the 20th century, it became customary for artists to number all the impressions in the edition. Edition numbers often look like fractions: the number on top is the specific impression number; the number on the bottom is the total number of impressions in the edition. The quality of the print bears no relation to the edition number. In addition to the number, each print usually has the artist’s signature and the title of the print, usually in pencil.

There are four major types of fine art prints. Each uses a different method for fixing the image to the plate prior to transferring the image to the support. Each process produces prints that exhibit recognizable characteristics.

Ways to distinguish prints created by the different processes: § the actual appearance of the lines in the image, as each printmaking process creates lines that look different. § how the artist is able to create shading § the plate line. The plate line is in some ways the equivalent of the picture frame in a painting, because it defines the actual boundaries of the image area. If the plate is smaller than the paper, the plate line is visible. If the paper is smaller than the edges of the prepared plate, no plate line is discernable. 2

• relief prints – woodcut, woodblock, linocut. Relief prints use a process in which the lines that are to print dark are left standing, and the areas that are to remain white are carved away.

KURITA Masahiro: Banquet 2004, 2004 woodcut, Library of Congress, Washington DC http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/cwaj/detail/enlarge13039.html

IWAMI Reika: Spirit of Water, 2005 woodblock. Library of Congress, Washington DC http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/cwaj/detail/enlarge13007.html

HIROTA Raifu: Peace/pEs, linocut, 2005, Library of Congress, Washington DC http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/cwaj/detail/enlarge12986.html

OKUNO Kyoko: Skylark, 2004, wood engraving, Library of Congress, Washington DC file://localhost/a.LWD FILES/LTL.4.EHandout.doc

Albrecht DÜRER: Samson and the Lion, 149798, woodcut plus original block, Metropolitan, New York http://www.metmuseum.org/TOAH/hd/durr/ho_19.73.255.htm

Albrecht DÜRER: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, 1498, woodblock approx 15 x 11” (39 x 28 cm) http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/durer/engravings/horsemen.jpg

Emile NOLDE: Prophet, 1912, woodcut, MoMA, New York, 125/8” x 83/4” http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?object_id=62151

Käthe KOLLWITZ: The Parents (Seven Woodcuts about War), 192223, MoMA, New York http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?object_id=69682

Jim DINE: Fourteen Color Woodcut Bathrobe, 1982, color woodcut, 65 3∕4 x 35 1∕2 ”. Syracuse University Art Collection http://www.juniata.edu/services/museum/exhibitions_0304.html

Leonard BASKIN: Agonized, 1969, Woodcut 20 3/4" x 29 5/8" http://www.gseart.com/exh/exh_invt.asp?ExhID=504

Helen FRANKENTHALER: Radius, 1993, color woodcut (6 blocks) 71.4 h x 71.6 w cm http://cs.nga.gov.au/Detail.cfm?IRN=131524

Pablo PICASSO: Still Life Under a Lamp, 1962; color linocut, Cleveland Museum of Art http://www.clevelandart.org/exhibcef/woodcut/html/6553270.html

Thomas BEWICK: Barn Owl (Tyto alba), from the History of British Birds, 1847 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Bewick_Thomas_Barn_Owl_Tyto_alba.png

Erasto Cortes JUAREZ: The Guerrilla Fighter Aureliano Rivera, 1851; wood engraving. Cleveland Museum of Art http://www.clevelandart.org/exhibcef/woodcut/html/7552425.html 3

HIROSHIGE Ando: Ushimachi, Takanawa (From One Hundred Famous Views of Edo), 1857, woodblock print, 13 1/4 x 8 5/8 in., The Brooklyn Museum http://www.artchive.com/ftp_site.htm

UTAMARO Kitagawa: Beauty with a Mirror, c. 1810, private collection http://www.indiana.edu/~ealc100/32.html

HOKUSAI Katsushika: Red Fuji, (from The 36 Views of Mt. Fuji) c. 1831, MFA, Boston http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Red_Fuji_southern_wind_clear_morning.jpg

IDO Masao: Snow at Nanzenji, 2003 woodblock, Library of Congress, Washington DC http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/cwaj/detail/enlarge12993.html

KARHU Clifton: Geisha House, 2005 woodblock, Library of Congress, Washington DC http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/cwaj/detail/enlarge13012.html

NAKAYAMA Tadashi: Horse in the Blue Afternoon, 1991, multicolor woodblock, Library of Congress, Washington DC http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/cwaj/detail/enlarge13067.html

• intaglio prints – engraving, etching, drypoint, mezzotint, aquatint – lines to be printed are incised into the plate

OZAKI Yutaka: Shoulder Ride, 2005 engraving/mezzotint, Library of Congress, Washington DC http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/cwaj/detail/enlarge13087.html

MIURA Hiromi: A Flower, etching, 2005, Library of Congress, Washington DC http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/cwaj/detail/enlarge13053.html

MIMURA Hiroshi: Green Shadow X, 2004 drypoint, Library of Congress, Washington DC http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/cwaj/detail/enlarge13051.html

MIYAYAMA Hiroaki: Kagerou, 2004 aquatint, Library of Congress, Washington DC http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/cwaj/detail/enlarge13058.html

ZHUANG Man: Sure Signs of Spring – Gorgeousness, 2005 mezzotint, Library of Congress, Washington DC http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/cwaj/detail/enlarge13156.html

OZAKI Yutaka: Mio Figlio, etching and engraving, 2006, 9 x 9 cm, private collection http://www.tamamiseum.net/b200603.html

KAKUMA Takao: Skylight, 2006 etching, private collection (sorry, no web image)

Martin SCHÖNGAUER: The Temptation of St. Anthony, c. 148090, engraving, Metropolitan, New York http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Schongauer_Anthony.jpg 4

Albrecht DÜRER: Flagellation (from the Engraved Passion), 1512, Connecticut College, New London http://www.conncoll.edu/visual/Durerprints/engravedpassion.all/web/box%202712.jpg

Andrea MANTEGNA: Battle of the Sea Gods, 1470s, Engraving and Drypoint, 283 x 826 mm, Duke of Devonshire Collection, Chatsworth http://www.wga.hu/index1.html

Heinrich GOLTZIUS after CORNELIS Cornelisz van Haarlem: Icarus (from the Disgracers), 1588, New York Public Library http://www.nypl.org/research/chss/spe/art/print/captions/goltzius.html

John James AUDUBON with Robert Havell Jr: Roseate Spoonbill (from the Birds of America), c. 1830, Chapin Library of Rare Books, Williams College, Wiliamstown, MA http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/images/vc114a.3.jpg

REMBRANDT van Rijn: The Three Trees, etching with drypoint and engraving, 1643. 21.3 ´ 27.9 cm, British Museum, London http://www.britannica.com/eb/art82102/TheThreeTreesetchingwithdrypointandengraving byRembrandt

REMBRANDT van Rijn: Three Crosses, 1653, drypoint w/ plate tone, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Rembrandt_The_Three_Crosses_1653.jpg

REMBRANDT van Rijn: Christ Presented to the People, 5th state NGA Edinburgh http://www.nationalgalleries.org/collection/online_search/4:324/result/0/25024

REMBRANDT van Rijn: Christ Presented to the People, 8th (final) state, NGA Washington http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/rembp/ho_41.1.36.htm

HIROSE Hikari, Moon Viewing Frog, 2004, aquatint, Library of Congress, Washington DC http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/cwaj/detail/enlarge12985.html

HAMANISHI Katsunori: Window No 5, mezzotint with gold leaf, 2006, private collection. http://www.castlefinearts.com/itemdetail.aspx?item=6913 (note: site is for a commercial gallery)

Francisco GOYA: The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters (frontispiece to Los Caprichos), 1799, aquatint and etching, Metropolitan, New York http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Francisco_de_Goya_The_Sleep_of_Reason_Produces_Monsters.JPG

William BLAKE: When Morning Stars Sang (from the Book of Job), c. 1810, Morgan Library, New York http://www.nimbi.com/william_blake_book_of_job_when_the_morning_stars_sang.html

James McNeill WHISTLER: Pierrot, c. 1889; Ink, drypoint and etching, 22.9 x 16.1 cm; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam http://ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/whistler/pierrot.html

Mary CASSATT: The Letter, 1891, aquatint and softground etching, Corcoran, Washington http://www.corcoran.org/collection/highlights_main_results.asp?ID=104 5

• planographic prints – lithography – the areas to be printed are bound chemically to the flat surface of the plate or stone.

HIRAKAWA Sachie: Nobuhiko’s Hand, lithograph 2004, Library of Congress, Washington DC http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/cwaj/detail/enlarge12982.html

SHIMIZU Misako: Shed Tears, 2004 lithograph, Library of Congress, Washington DC http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/cwaj/detail/enlarge13100.html

IINO Noriko: Autumn Footsteps, 2005 lithograph, Library of Congress, Washington DC http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/cwaj/detail/enlarge12995.html

Honore DAUMIER: Gargantua. 1831, lithograph, state 2. Bibliotheque Nationale de France, Paris, France. (http://www.abcgallery.com/D/daumier/daumier88.html )

Henri de TOULOUSELAUTREC: Passenger from (Cabin) 54 On a Cruise, 1896 colour lithographic poster, third and final state 60.8 h x 40.2 w http://cs.nga.gov.au/DetailLRG.cfm?IRN=168065&View=LRG

Otto KNIRSCH for Currier and Ives: The Road, Winter, 1853, chromolithograph, Kennedy Museum, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio http://www.ohiou.edu/news/pix/KNIRSCH_OTTO.JPG

• stencil prints – serigraphy, paperscreen – areas to be printed are cut out and the ink is forced through openings in a fabric screen.

TAKAHASHI Hiromitsu: Hongou, 2004, Stencil print, Library of Congress, Washington DC http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/cwaj/detail/enlarge13114.html

HISHIDA Toshiko: Bloom, 2005 silkscreen, Library of Congress, Washington DC http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/cwaj/detail/enlarge12986.html

OHBA Masao: Encounter II, paperscreen, 2005, Library of Congress, Washington DC http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/cwaj/detail/enlarge13082.html

Andy WARHOL: Marilyn Suite (set of 10, usually displayed as suite of 9 images). Serigraph, c 1962, private collection http://www.cs.brown.edu/courses/cs024/imagesArt.html

Andy WARHOL: Marilyn Diptych, 1962, Tate London, acrylic and silkscreen http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?workid=15976&tabview=image 6

WebPages with good information on techniques:

WHAT IS A PRINT – Clear animated schematics at the MomA website http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/2001/whatisaprint/print.html

Japanese Keyblock process for woodblock prints: http://www.woodblock.com/encyclopedia/entries/000_01/000_01_frame.html

Demonstration of the making of woodblock prints with lots of photos, go to http://woodblockdreams.blogspot.com/2007/03/firstblockstepbystep.html.

Demonstration of engraving: http://www.clt.astate.edu/elind/PrintmkgBurin.htm

Demonstration of intaglio printing: http://www.intagliofineart.com/etchinginfoprinting.php

Explanation of the etching process http://www.polymetaal.nl/beguin/mape/etching.htm

History of lithography: http://www.lewisclark.org/content/contentarticle.asp?ArticleID=2557

Printing serigraphs/screen prints: http://www.enjoyscandinavianart.com/tekniker/english_serigrafi.htm

A contemporary printmaker using incorporating digital elements: http://www.tedcolyer.com