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Lithographs

How Lithographs are Made

How Lithographs Are Made

Lithographs have gone in and out of favor in the art world.

Lithography was invented in 1798 and patented in 1799 by an amateur playwright who was seeking an inexpensive means of distributing copies of his scripts.

Voyage Around the World, c.1890 Lithograph Emil Schindler

During the 19th century, lithography began to be used in advertising and other commercial media. The process was also used to generate reproductions of original artworks, which was not entirely accepted by the highbrow art world.

However, in the 20th century the process finally gained appreciation as a unique form of print making.

Traditional Lithography

In traditional lithography, the image is drawn on a flat piece of stone, usually limestone. The drawing may be made with any greasy substance such as tusche, which contains wax, soap, pigment and shellac.

When the drawing is finished, the stone is dampened with water.

Ink is then rolled over the stone. The greasy drawing holds the ink, while the wet stone repels it.

The stone is then placed on a bed and moved to the press. Paper is placed on top of the drawing and held in place by a thin sheet of metal.

Nature Morte a la Cafetiere Lithograph Rene Genis

A handle-turned roller underneath moves the bed while a scraper bar above presses the paper into the stone, transferring the ink.

Each color in the artwork requires a separate pass.

Traditionally separate stones are used for each color, but stones may be reused.

Lining up the colors requires great skill on the part of the artist and printer, and accounts for the higher cost of multiple-color lithographs.

Because of this process, no two lithographs are ever completely identical.

Modern Lithography

Modern lithography techniques follow many of the same steps as those used in traditional lithography. However, the image can now be transferred photographically to the printing plates, which may be made of thin plastic, metal or paper. The plate is then chemically treated so that only the image area will accept ink.

Modern lithography is commonly referred to as “offset lithography,” as the image is not transferred from the printing plate directly to the paper.

Instead, the ink is rolled onto the plate via a large cylinder, and then another large cylinder, often called a “blanket,” is rolled over the plate to absorb the image.

Chateau de Val Lithograph Andre Hambourg

The paper is then loaded into the press, where a roller underneath moves it along. The blanket rolls across the paper to transfer the image.

The lithographs of today may use either traditional or modern lithography techniques.

Many artists prefer to use traditional techniques, which require the participation of the artist. However, offset lithography is often used in reproduction work, as it does not require the artist to be present.

Offset lithography is also used in desktop publishing.

When collecting lithographs, it is important to understand the techniques that were used to create a particular piece.

Traditional lithography tends to be more expensive due to the labor that is involved, but as with any other style of art, there are always exceptions.

However the fame and skill of the artist and to some extent the printing run are also major factors in determining price.

If you are buying fine art lithographs, they will be hand signed and numbered by the artist. The numbers will show which print yours was in the series and how many total were printed- e.g. 25/100. This lets you know how limited the edition is.

The plates used to make the lithograh are supposed to destroyed or defaced after the final print is made. This ensures so degree of exclusivity.

Some artists work in very short runs, 25 or 50. Others might produce a thousand or more prints.

Some lithographs just have the artist's signature reproduced as part of the printing proces. These prints are generally less expensive than signed, limited edition prints.

You can occassionally buy an artist's proof, which is usually the first print made to check for accuracy before the print run is started. Again, these are more valuable with a real signature and identification of the print as a proof.

Quality lithographs by famous artists can command very high prices. Before buying one of these, it would be worth you while to either do some homework on your own or check with an art expert who can help you decide whether the price is fair and reasonable.

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