Irving Amen (American, 1918-2011), The Bridge, 1957, woodcut, 7 x 9 in., Hofstra University Museum of Art, gift of the Mr. and Mrs. Walter Fillin, HU72.34 August 16, 2022-January 27, 2023 David Filderman Gallery
Printmaking can be a collaborative process, with the artist working with a printer or print studio to create the image. A proof is an impression pulled while the artist is still developing the image, allowing the artist to visualize the final print. The final trial proof before printing the edition may have the initials “B.A.T.” noted on it. Referring to the French term Bon à Tirer, which means “ready to pull,” the initials represent the artist’s approval of the final image. Other notations on prints may be “P.P.,” a complimentary proof for the printer; “A.P.,” impressions set aside for the artist; and “H.C.” (hors commerce), an extension of the edition that may be printed on different paper. Woodcuts are the oldest form of printmaking, with early examples appearing in fifth century Chinese art. Woodcuts have been used in Europe since the 15th century. Early prints, most commonly woodcuts, wood engravings, and metal plate engravings, were often produced to provide illustrations for publications, and, in the hierarchy of artists, printmakers were considered “lesser than” painters and sculptors. In the late 19th-early 20th century, European and American artists began to experiment with printmaking, particularly woodcuts and etchings. Interest in printmaking processes continued in the United States during the 1930s and after World War II. The second half of the 20th century saw the establishment of printmaking studios, where well-known artists were invited to create new and innovative prints. Technological improvements and industrial materials changed the graphic processes, including the incorporation of photographically based imagery and increases in the scale of prints. As printmaking techniques have developed over the centuries, artists have explored the possibilities and pushed the boundaries of traditional printmaking. Many contemporary artists view their graphic work as an integral part of their oeuvre and, for some, it is their primary expressive medium. Artists continue to collaborate with printmaking studios in innovative ways, often combining various print processes and adding manufactured or handmade elements to the prints. Digital technology has added new pathways for this artistic exploration.
Karen T. Albert Director, Hofstra University Museum of Art
A print, in the broadest definition, is a work of art composed of ink on paper created through an indirect transfer process. The artist draws the image on a surface, directly on a plate or stone, or it is transferred from a drawing. The printing plate or stone is further prepared depending upon the technique used, then inked and the image transferred to paper through either hand pulling or a printing press. Four major printmaking methods have been developed over the centuries: relief, intaglio, and the planographic techniques of lithography and screenprinting. Each printmaking method produces a work on paper that has an individual and identifiable quality. This exhibition of featured works from the Hofstra University Museum of Art collection provides examples of these four printmaking techniques. The collection contains more than 2,200 prints (43% of the overall collection) in a range of mediums and processes that date from the late 16th century to today.
Off the Press
Prints are created in multiples, allowing many individuals to own the same image. The artist, or publisher, or both determine the number of impressions to produce, called the edition. Numbering of print editions began on a sporadic basis in the early 20th century and became a standard practice beginning in the 1960s. The number usually appears as a fraction such as 5/25, which means that the particular print was the fifth one made of the 25 works in the edition. Artists’ signatures can be found “signed in the plate,” meaning their name or initials were incorporated into the image, or in the margin below the image, which became more common around the turn of the 20th century. Prints made with multiple colors require separate blocks, plates, stones, or screens for each color. The colors are carefully printed sequentially on top of each other to produce the final image, a process called registration.
Printmaking techniques are defined by how and what surface is printed. In a relief print, the raised surface of the block is printed; the most common type of relief print is a woodcut. When the printing surface is below the plane of the plate or incised into the plate, the print is an intaglio. Intaglio prints are produced using a range of techniques, including engraving, etching, drypoint, aquatint, and mezzotint. Planographic methods, i.e., lithography and screenprinting, create a print from a flat surface that is neither raised nor incised.
Planographic Prints – Screenprints
Robert Indiana (American, 1928-2018) Love, Screenprint,1968 87/100 22 x 22 in.
Gift of unknown donor HU2003.13 Roy Lichtenstein (American, 1923-1997) Untitled (Still Life with Lemon and Glass), from the portfolio For Meyer Schapiro, 1974 Lithograph and screenprint with 32.5debossingx24 in. Gift of Edwin S. Marks HU77.150 Joan Snyder (American, born 1940) Oasis, Digital2006print with four-color screenprint and HU2015.7Gift18Prismacolor,hand-applied134/200x19.875in.ofEleanorRait Andy Warhol (American, 1928-1987) Queen Ntombi Twala of Royal(ReigningSwazilandQueensEdition) , 1985 Screenprint and diamond dust on Lenox Museum Board Extra, out of edition. Designated for research and education purposes only. 39.375 x 31.5 in. Gift of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Inc. ©HU2014.11TheAndyWarhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Inc. Frankenthaler, HU79.12 Snyder, HU2015.7 Warhol , HU2014.11
Screenprinting is a planographic process where the printing surface is neither raised nor incised. Also known as serigraphs or silkscreens, screenprints use a stencil process. On a tautly stretched screen, an artist, using a varnish-like substance, blocks out the areas of the screen that will not be printed. Paper is placed under the screen and ink forced onto the paper through the open areas of mesh with a squeegee. Screenprinting was used commercially in the 1930s, with artists – particularly pop artists like Robert Indiana and Andy Warhol –adapting the technique in the 1960s. This printmaking technique can produce large areas of saturated, flat color, and technology has enabled artists to photographically reproduce images with the screenprinting process. Pushing the limits of traditional printmaking, artists also combined different processes with screenprinting, including lithography, collage, and, more recently, digital printing. The impact of technology on the printmaking process includes scanning and manipulating images, transferring designs to screens or blocks, and the digital printing of the finished work of art. Helen Frankenthaler (American, 1928-2011) Air Frame, from the portfolio New York 10, 1965 Screenprint on Arches HU79.12Mrs.Gift21.125/200watercolordouble-weightpaper,5x16.75in.ofDr.andJosephTucker
Hiroshige , HU2001.16.1 Binnie , HU2017.14 Saar, HU2008.4.3 Irving Amen (American, 1918-2011) The Bridge, 1957 Gift7Woodcutx9in.ofMr. and Mrs. Walter Fillin HU72.34 Leonard Baskin (American, 1922-2000) The Poet Laureate, 1955 23.125Woodblockx48.0625 in. By HU92.72.1Exchange Leonard Baskin (American, 1922-2000) The Poet Laureate, 1955 23.125Woodcutx48 in. By HU92.74Exchange Paul Binnie (Scottish, born 1967) Kosame (Rain Shower), 2010 14.625Woodcutx4.75 in. Gift of Eleanor Rait HU2017.14 Asa Chaffetz (American, 1897-1965) Cape Lighthouse, 1950 Wood engraving 5.625 x 8.375 in. Gift of Eleanor Rait HU2018.44 Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471-1528) Christ and the Disciples at Emmaus, from The Small Passion, 1510, this impression late 16th/early 17th century 5.125Woodcutx4 in. Gift of Dr. Robert Vogt HU95.37 Ando Hiroshige (Japanese, 1797-1858) Harima Province: Maiko Beach, from Famous Places in the Sixty-odd Provinces, Woodblock1853-1856 print, ink and color on paper 13.5 x 8.9375 in. Gift of Helen Goldberg HU2001.16.1 Alison Saar (American, born 1956) Stride Piano, 1993 Woodcut, 13/18 21.5 x 12.5 in. Gift of Judith A. Jedlicka HU2008.4.3
Relief Prints
The use of woodcuts and wood engravings waned as photography and lithography, and later commercial screenprinting, became easier and less costly ways of reproducing images in the late 19th and 20th centuries. The early 20th century witnessed a revival of the woodcut print, as modern artists, such as the German expressionists, incorporated the rough-hewn appearance of the woodcut in their images, often showing the grain of the wood in their final print as a rebellion against the art establishment.
Relief prints are most commonly woodcuts and wood engravings. Woodcuts are created by carving into a block of wood and cutting away the areas that will not be printed. The image is created when the ink that adheres to the raised surface is transferred to paper. Wood engravings are produced by using the end-grain of a wood block. The denser, harder wood of the end-grain allows the artist to carve a much finer line than is possible in a woodcut. The woodcut is the oldest form of printmaking. Two of the earliest examples in the exhibition are a late 16th-early 17th century impression by Albrecht Dürer and a Japanese print by Ando Hiroshige. Wood engravings, in particular, were used throughout the 19th century in illustrated newspapers and other publications, such as Harper’s Weekly
Romare Bearden (American, 1911-1988) The Family, from the portfolio An American Portrait , 1776-1976, 1975 Aquatint photoengraving,and H.C. 7/25, final state 19.625 x 25.75 in. Gift of Carole and Alex Rosenberg HU91.24 Émile Boilvin (French, 1845-1899) Delacroix (Eugene), Chevaux Se Battant Dans Une Ecurie, 1873 5.5Etchingx6.25 in. Gift of Dr. Milton Gardner HU92.53.9 Carson Fox (American, born 1968) Shell IV, 1998 Etching and drypoint 4.875 x 4 in. Gift of Eleanor Rait HU2018.45 April Gornik (American, born 1953) Loire, 16.75Etching1995x19.75 in. Gift of Eleanor Rait HU2015.6 Intaglio Prints Intaglio, from the Italian intagliare, meaning “to incise,” refers to a number of print processes in which the printed image is created when the inked surface is below the plane of the printing plate. The intaglio processes traditionally use a metal plate. When the ink is applied, it falls into the incised areas, and then the surface of the plate is wiped clean. A printing press forces damp paper into the inked plate, transferring the ink to the paper. A plate mark, the outline of the metal plate, is formed by the pressure and can be seen on the finished print. An engraving is produced when the design is cut into the plate using a burin (a steel tool with a sharp beveled point), which requires careful control. The resulting image can seem rigid; shadowing and contouring are created using “hatching” or closely spaced parallel lines. Drypoints and mezzotints also use a sharp implement to incise or scratch the plate’s surface. In drypoints, a ridge forms along the incised line, called a burr, producing a soft, blurry line in the printed image. Mezzotints are created by abrading the entire surface of the plate using a rocker (spiked tool). The notable rich, deep black tones and subtle lighting effects of mezzotints are derived from the artist “working the plate” through scraping and burnishing the surface.
Bearden, HU91.24Fox , HU2018.45
Etchings and aquatints use acid to eat away at the metal plate. The metal plate is covered with a material called a ground, and the artist draws on the prepared plate with a sharp tool that reaches to the metal beneath the ground layer. The softness of the ground allows the artist to draw more freely, thus producing a more spontaneous line quality. When the plate is submerged in an acid bath, the exposed lines are etched into the metal plate. Aquatint is a powdered ground that results in a soft, grainy surface texture and subtle gradations of tones in the print. An artist often uses these processes in various combinations in order to achieve the desired look for the final image.
Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (Spanish, 1746-1828) Lads Making Ready (Muchachos al avio), from Los Caprichos, plate 11, 1797-1798, this impression 5th edition issued Gift7.25aquatintEtching1881-1886andonpaperx4.625in.ofDr.Robert Vogt HU95.38 Jacobus Houbraken (Dutch, 1698-1780) Henry VIII, King of England, 1750 From The Heads of Illustrious Persons of Great Britain, volume 2, published by John and Paul Knapton, London, 1752 Steel engraving 14.5 x 9 in. Gift of unknown donor HU78.46.5 Robert Kipniss (American, born 1931) Pages from Sketchbook:a#2, 1999 Ink on paper 7.5 x 6.875 in. Gift of James F. White HU2015.25 Robert Kipniss (American, born 1931) Pages from Sketchbook:a#2, 2003 Drypoint, 39/60 9.875 x 8 in. Gift of James F. White HU2011.10 Robert Kipniss (American, born 1931) Seclusion, 2000 Copper plate 7.875 x 7 in. Gift of James F. White HU2015.22 Robert Kipniss (American, born 1931) Seclusion, Mezzotint,2000artist proof 7.75 x 6.875 in. Gift of James F. White HU2015.21 Edouard Manet (French, 1832-1883) Profile of Charles Baudelaire with Hat II (Charles Baudelaire de profil en chapeau II), 3rd state, 1869 3.75Etchingx3.25 in. Gift of Dr. Robert Vogt HU92.67 Mary Prince (American, born 1948) Sound Lightning, 2001 Intaglio monoprint with watercolor and chine collé, 1/1 17 x 12 in. Gift of the HU2001.12artist Intaglio Prints continued Prince HU2001.12 Goya y Lucientes , HU95.38 Manet , HU92.67
Planographic Prints – Lithography Lithography, a planographic process where the printing surface is at the same level as the non-printing surface, is based on the principle that grease and water do not mix. Invented in 1798 by Alois Senefelder, lithographic prints capture the hand of the artist and often resemble drawings. An artist draws with a greasy crayon or paints with a liquid tusche directly on the stone or plate. The stone is chemically treated and dampened, and, when inked, the ink adheres to the greasy areas and not to the dampened areas. When paper is pressed against the stone, the ink from the greasy areas is transferred to the paper. Additional applications of ink adhere to the same greasy areas, allowing for the creation of multiple images. Along with other printmaking techniques, lithography saw a revival in American art during the mid-20th century by artists such as Robert Motherwell and Robert Rauschenberg. Moore , HU79.8 Bacon , HU77.155 Peggy Bacon (American, 1895-1987) The Priceless Find (Antique Shop), 1943 7.875Lithographx6.125 in. Gift of Edwin S. Marks HU77.155 Elizabeth Catlett (American, 1915-2012) Gossip, 2005 Color digital print with HU2016.37Gift15.5photo-lithographx18in.ofEleanorRait Henry Moore (British, 1898-1986) Thirteen Standing Figures, issued with the book Heads, Figures and Ideas by George Rainbird and New York Graphic Society, 1958 Lithograph, 118/150 12 x 9.875 in. Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Joseph Tucker HU79.8 Robert Motherwell (American, 1915-1991) Untitled, from the portfolio New York International, 1966 Lithograph from one zinc plate, 84/225 19 x 14 in. Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Joseph Tucker HU79.3 Robert Rauschenberg (American, 1925-2008) Moon Rose, from the Stoned Moon series, 1969 Gift51Lithographx35in.ofRoger Tilles HU2012.50 Omar Rayo (Colombian, 1928-2010) Nitibus, HU2018.47Found17Lithograph1968x17in.incollection Rufino Tamayo (Mexican, 1899-1991) The Obscure Man, 1975 25.5Lithographx19.625 in. Gift of Carole and Alex HU86.224Rosenberg
Rauschenberg , HU2012.50 Catlett , HU2016.37
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