Humanities 10 Questions

PRINTMAKING METHODS 2

PROCESS OR METHOD Intaglio Relief Planographic Stencil

WORK OF ART: Etching Woodcut Lithograph Silkscreen Engraving Wood engraving

WHAT PRINTS: Ink comes from below the surface (the ink is wiped off with a cloth, but the ink that is down below the surface in the grooves is forced out onto the paper)

Ink above surface

Ink on smooth surface

Ink goes through holes in silk

Printmaking Printmaking has been around for many centuries. Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528), a German printmaker who lived during the Renaissance, was mainly a wood en- graver. He is still considered to be one of the best engravers or wood etchers to have ever lived. He did very detailed work at a time when the printing press had just been invented and illustrations for books were being printed. Many of his prints were of religious subjects, such as Jesus’ life and Crucifi xion. He also depicted other major topics from the New Testament.

An Edition An edition is considered to be the entire collection of a print or the entire amount of similar prints that the artist makes from one plate, screen, or litho- graphic stone. It can be a collection of any number, but usually a round number such as 20, 50, or 100. The group or edition is then penciled in as the numera- tor with the total number as the denominator. For example, the fi rst print of a twenty-print edition is signed and numbered as 1/20, the next one as 2/20, and so forth.

40 Artists and Styles of Art

Such prints should all be of equal quality, and the works should be signed by the artist in pencil and numbered. Always be sure that the dealer will allow a piece of art to be removed from a frame. Be sure to wear white cloth gloves, and be careful with the artwork so as not to damage it. If you look at the art and can see its back side, look for an indentation in the back to see if it is genuine. If a work is a reproduction, such an indentation may be missing—dealers sometimes try to sell reproductions as if they were originals. Be careful, and seek out good art galleries when buying artwork.

Relief printing.

Intaglio process.

© Kendall Hunt Publishing Company. Reprinted by permission.

Printmaking Methods 41

Printmaking is a very detailed type of art that has been around for centuries. Art schools continue to teach printmaking just as traditional artists such as Rembrandt and Francisco de Goya did it in their day. The differences between etching and engraving are observed in the studio when a student studies art and looks at the difficult and pains- taking processes up close. The greatest prints created are studied by artists and students today. These can be seen in museums around the world.

When we look at these paintings on our monitors and in textbooks, we do not see the texture of the ink on paper. It is only second best. If you have had the opportunity to visit the Kimbell Museum in Ft. Worth, Texas or the Meadows Museum in Dallas, Texas or the Metropolitan Museum in New York City, the Prado in Madrid, Spain, Louvre Museum in Paris, France, the National Gallery in London, England, or the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam or many other museums around the world, then you have seen for yourself close up what I mean. If you have the opportunity to go to an artist’s studio, or talk with artists about their work, I hope you will. This gives a closer look at what an artist goes through in order to create and come up with ideas. You will also be able to find out if they are genuine about what they do. For so many of us, we have to just read about artists from the past that lived before video and television and media. However, today it is possible to find interviews with artists on film and in media. This should help us evaluate their work more closely and we should be able to understand their work better.

You may have lived in areas of the world where there are museums with art from the Western and the Eastern Hemispheres. I hope that you will take the opportunity to visit museums and art galleries every time you have the opportunity. The only way to fully see real art and appreciate it is to see it firsthand. This text is helpful in categorizing artists’ work and setting their work into a time and place. Categorizing and recognizing the style that the artist’s work represents is fun.

An etching is the product or the art work. The process or method that the artist uses to create an etching is called an intaglio process or method. A student should watch a printer do this work in an artist’s studio or watch the process on a film in order to under- stand how it works. When visiting a gallery or going to a museum the final product is shown. Therefore the metal plate that the artist works on is not seen by the viewer. The metal plate used by the artist is scratched on after the plate is prepared and then placed in a pan of acid in order to eat away at the lines so that the ink can stay below the surface in the grooves. The plate is wiped with a rag so again the ink stays below the surface in the grooves. The plate is run through a press with the paper on top of it with a piece of felt material on top of it so that the edges are not torn. The eye can see the edges on the back of an original print since it will have the depression (indentation) on it. This way if you want to purchase a print you should know that it is a genuine print and not a photographic replica. Always be sure your work is signed. It has been a tradition for a printer to sign a print in pencil.

Please take advantage of the “Timeline” in the accompanying website and look at as many works of art as possible to become acquainted with each artist’s style. There have throughout history been differences in the way artists have perceived their world; therefore the artists’ ideas and value give us a glimpse into their domain and thinking. This is why a master artist will have a unique style.

In this unit, you will notice that the master works of Albrecht Dürer, Rembrandt Van Rijn, Francisco de Goya, Katsushika Hokusai, Vincent Van Gogh, Edgar Degas, Mary Cassatt, and Pablo Picasso (to list a few) were painters as well as excellent print- ers. In your study of artists and their work you will want to pay close attention to what types of subjects they used.

42 Artists and Styles of Art

Practical Information to Know about Printmaking The reason it is interesting to know about printmaking is many established artists such as painters also create and sell their prints. If it is out of the question financially to pur- chase a painting by an important artist, it may be possible to purchase a print instead. This of course depends upon the artist and the type of print produced. Prints are less expensive than a painting because there are more of them. The entire edition may con- sist of often 20, 50, or 100 identical prints.

The prints that investors usually purchase from an edition are numbered as the first or the last print of the edition. For example, the number for the first of an edition of 50 would be 1/50 and the last one of that edition would be 50/50. Other numbers would be 1/100 and 100/100.

If you purchase a print from a reputable dealer or at an art gallery, be sure to ask for a lower price if the print is not the first or the last. Also, be sure that the dealer allows you to see the back side of the print to check for indentation such as an etching on the back side. The back side will have left an indentation from the etching metal plate which was used in the process. Be sure as well that the artist has signed his or her name. Tra- ditionally, original prints are signed in pencil.

When you have time to visit museums and art galleries you will find that it is fun to see the original art works. Prints and paintings do not reproduce well in photographs or in copies seen on your monitor or in your textbook or from a website. I suggest that you study them from a text before you go since then you will have such a better time when you actually get to see the size and the colors, texture, value, and shapes of the original.