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THE COMPLETE
GUIDE TO
LIMITED EDITION ART PRINTS
How to Identify, Invest & Care for Your Collection
by: Jay Brown |
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CHAPTER 2
- AN ORIGINAL PRINT COMPARISON |
Original Prints
An original print is a piece of art created
directly from an original painting or drawing, or a series of original paintings
or drawings reproduced without photography. The art is reproduced by
transferring the work directly onto the paper by using a combination of ink(s)
and pressure applied to the original artwork and the paper of the artist’s
choice.
Offset lithographs are not considered original prints
because they are merely copies of original paintings made by photographing the
original artwork and mechanically reproducing the image using a machine. An
“original” print is one where the reproduction is based on direct contact with
the original art.
In theory, if an original print is not reproduced, no
completed images exist. The true “original” would collectively be the series of
plates, screens or stones that accurately depict the original work. In most
cases, the artist creates an original sketch or reference drawing first, but
rarely is it a finished original painting.
The most common forms of original prints are etchings,
stone lithographs and serigraphs. Traditionally, the artist will personally
reproduce the print, but in reality the artist merely oversees the printing
process and allows professional technicians (e.g. etchers, lithographers, and
serigraphers) to do the actual printmaking.
After gaining an understanding of the techniques used
to create the various types of art prints, it is easy to identify an original
print and differentiate between their unique appearances.
Etchings
I’m a Sagittarius. What’s your sign? Haven’t
we met somewhere before? Would you like to come upstairs and see my etchings?
Yes, etchings are for more than just pick-up lines.
Etchings are original art prints made with the help of a metal plate, acid and
an etching tool. The process begins with a soft piece of metal, usually copper,
that has been covered with an acid-resistant ground. The artist scratches a
design in the ground using an etching tool, to expose areas of the metal. Then,
the entire plate is immersed into an acid bath, which eats away at the exposed
metal areas.
Next, the entire plate is cleaned and all the ground is
removed. You could see and feel a series of incised lines that duplicate the
design that the artist drew with the etching tool. The plate is then inked, and
the surface is wiped, leaving the ink in its incised lines. Damp, pliable paper
is then stretched over the plate, and placed under high pressure to dry. When
the paper has completely dried, and the paper is lifted, the ink will have
transferred to the paper, and is recognizable as a mirror image of the initial
drawing created on the metal plate.
Etchings are easily distinguished from other prints,
because they have an embossed line around the outside of the image. This
embossed line is created when the paper, which has been moistened, and stretched
over the metal plate dries. As the paper dries, it contracts and forms to the
edge of the plate.
Also, when looking at an etching, you’ll notice that
the image is actually composed of a series of lines. The lines are from the
initial etching process, and they reproduce clearly after the plate is inked.
Furthermore, many etchings are one color initially, because it is very difficult
to perfectly register the plates (place additional plates over one another).
Because it is difficult to register etching plates, it
is uncommon to create etchings in multiple colors. However, color is often added
by the artist or artist’s aides who are directed in a way similar to
color-by-number. The coloring is applied via transparent watercolor paint or
colored pencil.
When etchings are hand-colored it is not uncommon for a
variance of color and quality to be noticeable between the reproductions. Quite
often this is done intentionally to offer originality and unique color options
for the discerning decorator or collector.
Distinguishing Traits of Etchings
While viewing art from the back is not as
appealing as seeing it from the front, the back of a print can often provide
clues that are helpful in determining the printmaking process used.
Look at the back of a print and see if it has an
embossed line where a metal plate might have been positioned. This embossed line
is the first indication that a print might be an etching. But, be careful not to
jump to any conclusions. Sometimes a print can be embossed for decorative
purposes unrelated to the printmaking process.
If the print passes the embossed back test, your next
step is to flip over the print and examine the front. Does the embossed line
offer any decorative purpose or could it be a mark from an etching plate? Is it
embossed with a color, like gold perhaps? If you can’t determine that there is a
decorative purpose to the embossing, then the mark just might be from an etching
plate.
Is the print’s design composed of very thin marks, dots
and/or lines? If the answer is yes, then it’s looking more and more like an
etching, but to be sure continue your examination process.
If possible, gather a few pieces from the print edition
and compare them. Are the papers all embossed in exactly the same place?
Etchings generally will have some variance in the positioning of the plate mark.
If the prints are colored does the color choice and/or intensity of the color
vary from print to print? This would be an indication that the piece is
hand-colored, which is another trait of etchings.
If all these questions can be answered yes, then you
can cautiously assume that you are looking at an etching.
Stone Lithographs
Have you ever heard a friend refer to his
piece of art as a lithograph? Or perhaps you’ve referred to a piece in your
collection with similar pride. Beware, there’s a good chance that the
reproduction isn’t a lithograph in the eyes of the art world. It’s really an
offset print.
Amateurs and even informed collectors are often misled
by the term “lithograph” as it relates to art. The confusion occurs because
there are two main forms of lithographs — stone lithographs and offset
lithographs. Sometimes even dealers intentionally use the term lithograph when
referring to an offset lithograph to confuse the buyer and create a perceived
value. This type of representation is often seen by “the minstrels of the art
world,” the traveling auction companies. A true lithograph — a “stone”
lithograph — is a print made using a stone tablet, a grease crayon and a great
deal of hands-on human labor. An offset lithograph is made via photography and
mechanization.
The process used for making a stone lithograph begins
with the porous rock tablet and the grease crayon. The most common rock tablets
used are made of limestone. Either a separate tablet is used for each color or
the tablet must be cleaned between color applications. The artisan first draws
an image on the tablet representative of where color No. 1 will appear. Then the
tablet is flushed with water. After the water is spread over the stone a single
color of an oil-based paint can be rolled over the tablet. Remember only one
color of paint can be applied at a time. Because of the natural resistance of
water and oil, when oil-based ink is rolled over the stone it adheres to the
grease and is repelled by the water. Then by pressing a sheet of paper against
the inked stone, a mirror image of the original drawing is made. If there are
multiple reproductions to be made, then the stone is re-inked and another piece
of paper is pressed. For each lithograph in the edition, the tablet must be
re-inked. Then the stone tablet can be cleaned and preparations made for the
next color.
For the second color a grease crayon is again used.
This time the crayon is used to draw the areas where color No. 2 will appear.
Then the tablet is flushed with water and rolled with color No. 2. The same
piece of paper that was used for color No. 1 is pressed against the tablet. Care
is taken to make sure the paper is placed (registered) in the exact position
necessary to keep the image continuous. When the paper is lifted, a two-color
lithograph is shown.
The process is repeated again and again until all the
colors are applied. The tablet is then destroyed. Upon inspection, each piece
will often exhibit a distinct or subtle color variation. And, each of them is
considered an original piece of art by the art world.
The new trend in stone lithography is to use Mylar (a
resilient but thin plastic sheet) instead of limestone. Limestone is cumbersome
and expensive, while Mylar is lightweight and inexpensive. The artist draws
their image on the Mylar and then it is photographically transferred onto an
aluminum plate and printed. Because photography plays an integral part in the
process, the prints made with Mylar are viewed by critics as something between
an original lithograph and an offset reproduction.
Distinguishing Traits of Stone Lithographs
Unlike etchings, which have the discernible advantage
of the embossed line formed by the etching plate, it takes more knowledge and
experience to identify a stone lithograph.
The first step is to examine the print and try to
determine if the reproduction is of photographic quality. Because of the nature
of stone lithography there is an inability to reproduce the work showing the
spectrum of color variation that is evident in a photograph.
Next, take a look at the intensity of the colors.
Generally lithographs are soft and muted. The pigment used doesn’t have the
brilliance of a photograph.
What about the registration? Are the colors perfectly
fluid and aligned? Can you see where one color ends and another begins? With
stone lithographs often there is a slight overlapping of the colors and the
imperfect registration is evident upon inspection.
Another indication might be the paper quality.
Normally, stone lithographs are printed on a very high quality, cotton rag
stock. Generally it is very soft-looking and somewhat pliable. It is also common
to see a rough, hand-torn edge on the paper.
You might also give credence to the edition size. Since
stone lithography is a very labor-intensive medium the edition sizes are
generally small. Most will be in the range of 300 prints or less.
Finally, if you have the ability to compare multiple
reproductions within the edition you’ll notice variations in the quality and the
color. Remember that each piece is printed separately with hand-applied ink and
each piece is placed on the tablet by hand. Variations are inevitable.
Serigraphs
Some people know serigraphs by their more
common name “silkscreen,” and are more familiar with it as the process used to
add words and designs to T-shirts. But, art aficionados know of the process by
its official artsy name, serigraphy.
Serigraphs are created with a wooden frame stretched
with silk and carefully cut pieces of celluloid. The silk is stretched taut and
then the pieces of celluloid are affixed to it to form a hand-made stencil. The
stencil is then laid over a piece of paper and using a squeegee, paint is spread
over the contraption. The paint seeps through the uncovered areas. When the
frame is lifted an image appears that replicates the stencil.
If a multi-color image is desired, the artist creates
another stencil and repeats the process again and again until all the colors are
applied. Each time the artist applies another color he must be very careful to
place the paper in the exact aligned spot so the registration remains perfect
and the image looks continuous.
Distinguishing Traits of Serigraphs
If you analyze the intensity of the color,
the registration and the size of the print run, you may be able to determine if
the printing method used was serigraphy. However, you’ll have to take careful
note of one other detail and that’s how the paint lays on the paper. Generally
the paint appears thicker with a serigraph print than with a stone lithograph.
Upon close inspection it may even appear to be laying on the paper as opposed to
being absorbed into it.
Because the paint lies on the paper, serigraphs are
usually very brilliant in color. In many cases so much paint is applied that you
can actually feel the weight when the unframed print is held up.
The registration may also provide insight as to whether
the print is a serigraph or not. Since each color is applied separately there is
usually non-perfect registration and often a small overlapping of the paint.
Because of the thickness of the paint applied, you can often determine what
colors were applied and in what order.
Like stone lithography, the edition sizes are usually
in the maximum range of 300 prints due to the labor-intensive production and the
life span of the stencil. Serigraphs are very rarely photographic looking and
are commonly used for abstract and contemporary scenes or impressionistic
images.
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