From the Italian stampa (press) and stampere (printing), the word stamp shares its root with the word stamp. It is therefore not by chance that the term "stamp" designates the result of the printing of a matrix (in stone, wood or metal) which, after inking, is pressed on a paper support.

The term print is the generic word to designate the works realized thanks to the various techniques of printing on paper: engraving (on wood, dry point, etching, aquatint, black way, soft varnish, linocut, ...), lithography, serigraphy.

Since its appearance, the print has played a major role in the art world. Great names such as Picasso, Matisse or Miró have helped popularize this medium, more accessible than traditional paintings.

What is a print? What are its different printing techniques? 

The origins of printmaking: Asia and Northern Europe  

The very first print identified to date comes from China. 

Made under the Tang dynasty (618-907) thanks to an ancestral technique of woodcutting (xylography) the work is part of a religious sutra and represents Buddha himself, praying under a tree.

In Asia, the history of the print is intimately linked to that of the book. 

If it was originally reserved exclusively for pious works, the print was democratized in other types of treaties and manuals under the Song dynasty (960 and 1279) and its imagery experienced a real diversification. diversification.

Indeed, natural elements are introduced to illustrate the manuscripts but also popular deities or women whose beauty is highlighted. Very quickly, the text becomes secondary and theimage takes precedence.

In the West, it is in Germany that the print was born at the very end of the 14th century, a little before the invention of printing by Gutenberg. the invention of the printing press by Gutenberg.

Initially, printmaking enabled images (and therefore information) to be disseminated on a massive scale to a largely illiterate population. Although the technique initially employed was wood engraving (pioneered by Albrecht Dürer), German goldsmiths popularized metal (copper) engraving. metal (copper) engraving during the 15th century.

If the first printed representations are mainly of a pious or political nature, it is not long before the print is diverted to produce secular images, such as playing cards.

Much later, at the end of the 19th century, the print was renewed and found a commercial and advertising function. Toulouse-Lautrec is the spearhead, since he creates no less than 325 lithographs for the Moulin Rouge between 1891 and 1900.

In the twentieth century, the print has been a formidable tool of expression and diffusion for the modern artists, as well through the engraving as the lithography. Most of the great artists of the first half of the century have tried, some feeding for this medium a real passion, like Picasso, Miró or Chagall.

Today, prints, both lithographs and etchings, are very popular with both novice and amateur collectors. 

The different types of prints and their techniques

Wood engraving and relief processes: the relief cut

Also called xylographyWoodcutting is the oldest technique for creating prints.

This process, known as saving cut consists in cutting a wooden plate so that the hollowed parts constitute the blanks and that the parts in relief, "spared" by the hand of the engraver, constitute the pattern which will be printed. The hollow parts of the wood will not receive the ink unlike the raised parts.

Linocut is another relief printing technique, using a linoleum plate as the matrix.

Metal engraving and intaglio processes: intaglio 

In contrast to the sparing technique, this technique consists in engraving grooves in a metal plate. The applied ink then penetrates the grooves to form the lines of the design. The printing medium is then pressed directly onto the plate.

The dry point

Drypoint is an intaglio technique named after the tool used to engrave a metal plate, usually copper. Unlike intaglio, this process involves incising a die with a dry point or burin (a steel blade cut at a bevel) so that the ink settles into the incisions. 

The drypoint is a sharp metal tool that is handled like a pencil. The size of the incisions varies according to the size of the point used. The chisel is used like a gouge to dig the material.

Once the plate is engraved, it is inked and printed.

Etching

The technique of etching dates back to the 15th century and relies on the use of a chemical component to etch the metal plate. Originally, aquafortists used nitric acid to bite the metal, but it was gradually replaced by less toxic solutions such as iron perchloride or copper sulfate.

First, the metal plate is covered with an engraving varnish on which the artist draws with a metal point. Once the drawing is done, the plate is plunged into an acid bath that "bites" the engraved areas. The plate is then cleaned, inked and pressed to print the design on the paper.

The aquatint (or aqua-tint)

Aquatint is an etching technique that consists of engraving a copper plate and then placing it in a "grain box" in which a thin layer of resin powder (rosin) is deposited.

The resin is then heated to adhere to the plate and becomes transparent. The artist then protects certain areas with varnish before dipping the plate in an acid bath to bite the metal on the areas not protected by the varnish and between the thousands of grains of resin powder, creating a velvety finish. 

Depending on the time of biting, the quantity of resin deposited, the size of the grain and the number of successive applications, aquatint allows to obtain numerous shades of gray, up to black. It also allows the delicate use of color and fades close to wash or watercolor. Aquatint is the technique used in most color prints. 

Lithography: a flat process

Invented by Aloys Senefelder in 1796, lithography is done flat on a thick limestone on which one draws with a greasy material, pencil or ink.

Once the drawing is completed, the lithographer applies a solution of gum arabic and acid to the stone to fix the drawing. The stone is then moistened and inked. The porosity of the limestone allows water to be retained on the undrawn parts, while the greasy ink remains on the drawn parts. 

The printing is done under press by placing the paper on the stone previously moistened and inked. Once the printing is completed, the lithograph is placed on a dryer.

Each color of the lithograph corresponds to a drawing on the stone and a passage under the press. Each color is drawn and inked either on the same stone or on a different stone. A lithography in 6 colors will thus require 6 inks and 6 different impressions, for each sheet. 

Are you a collector or art lover? The Arenthon art gallery in Paris offers a wide selection of prints(lithographs, etchings, serigraphs...).