Chromolithography
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Chromolithography is a method for making multi-colour
Chromolithography became the most successful of several methods of colour printing developed by the 19th century. Other methods were developed by printers such as Jacob Christoph Le Blon, George Baxter and Edmund Evans, and mostly relied on using several woodblocks with different colours. Hand-colouring also remained important. For example, elements of the official British Ordnance Survey maps were coloured by hand by boys until 1875. The initial chromolithographic technique involved the use of multiple lithographic stones, one for each colour, and was still extremely expensive when done for the best quality results. Depending on the number of colours present, a chromolithograph could take even very skilled workers months to produce.
However much cheaper prints could be produced by simplifying the number of colours used, and reducing the detail in the image. Cheaper images, like advertisements, relied heavily on an initial black print (not always a lithograph), on which colours were then overprinted. To make an expensive reproduction print, once referred to as a "chromo", a lithographer, with a finished painting in front of him, gradually created and corrected the many stones using proofs to look as much as possible like the painting, sometimes using dozens of layers.[3]
Oleograph is sometimes used as a synonym for a chromolithograph,[4] but more properly refers to a chromolithograph that has then been treated to imitate the variable surface of an oil painting, either by brushing with varnish, or some form of embossing or stamping. The print is usually glued to canvas to further the imitation.[5]
Process
Chromolithography is a chemical process based on the rejection of water by grease. The image is applied to stone, grained zinc or aluminium surfaces, with a grease-based crayon or ink.
Chromolithographs are considered to be reproductions that are smaller than double demi[clarification needed], and are of finer quality than lithographic drawings which are concerned with large posters. Autolithographs are prints where the artist draws and perhaps prints his own limited number of reproductions. This is the true lithographic art form.[6]
Origins
Alois Senefelder, the inventor of lithography, introduced the subject of coloured lithography in his 1818 Vollstaendiges Lehrbuch der Steindruckerey (A Complete Course of Lithography), where he told of his plans to print using colour and explained the colours he wished to be able to print someday.[7] Although Senefelder recorded plans for chromolithography, printers in other countries, such as France and England, were also trying to find a new way to print in colour. Godefroy Engelmann of Mulhouse in France was awarded a patent on chromolithography in July 1837,[7] but there are disputes over whether chromolithography was already in use before this date, as some sources say, pointing to areas of printing such as the production of playing cards.[7]
Arrival in the United States
The first American chromolithograph—a portrait of
Opposition to chromolithography
Even though chromolithographs served many uses within society at the time, many were opposed to the idea of them because of their perceived lack of authenticity. The new forms of art were sometimes tagged as "bad art" because of their deceptive qualities.[10] Some also felt that it could not serve as a form of art at all since it was too mechanical, and that the true spirit of a painter could never be captured in a printed version of a work.[10] Over time, many chromos came to be made so cheaply that they could no longer be confused with original paintings. Since production costs were low, the fabrication of cheap chromolithographs became more a business than the creation of art, in contrast with the high quality chromolithographs targeted primarily at art-oriented audiences.
Notable printers
Louis Prang
A famous lithographer and publisher who strongly supported the production of chromolithographs was Louis Prang. Prang was a German-born entrepreneur who printed the first American Christmas card.[13] He felt that chromolithographs could look just as good as, if not better than, real paintings, and he published well-known chromolithographs based on popular paintings, including one by Eastman Johnson entitled The Barefoot Boy.[10] The reason Prang decided to take on the challenge of producing chromolithographs, despite criticisms, was because he felt quality art should not be limited to the elite.[13] Prang and others who continued to produce chromolithographs were sometimes looked down upon because of the fear that chromolithographs could undermine human abilities. With the Industrial Revolution already under way, this fear was not something new to Americans at the time. Many artists themselves anticipated the lack of desire for original artwork since many became accustomed to chromolithographs.[10] As a way to make more sales, some artists had a few paintings made into chromolithographs so that people in society would at least be familiar with the painter. Once people in society were familiar with the artist, they were more likely to want to pay for an original work.[10]
Lothar Meggendorfer
German chromolithographers, largely based in Bavaria, came to dominate the trade with their low-cost high-volume productions. Of these printers, Lothar Meggendorfer garnered international fame for his children's educational books and games. Owing to political unrest in mid-19th century Germany, many Bavarian printers emigrated to the United Kingdom and the United States, and Germany's monopoly on chromolithographic printing dissipated.
August Hoen
Rufus Bliss
Rufus Bliss founded R. Bliss Mfg. Co., which was located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island from 1832 to 1914. The Bliss company is best known for their highly sought after paper litho on wood
M. & N. Hanhart
Established in Mulhouse in 1830 by Michael Hanhart who initially worked with Godefroy Engelmann in London. The firm, established at Charlotte Street, Fitzroy Square, was named after his two sons Michael and Nicholas. Artists like Joseph Wolf, Joseph Smit, J G Keulemans and others worked for him to produce natural history illustrations that were used in the Ibis (1859-1874), Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London (1848-1900) and a range of books. The company wound up in 1902 after the death of Nicholas Hanhart and the rise of new printing techniques.[16]
Uses
Chromolithographs are mainly used today as fine art instead of advertisements, and they are hard to find because of poor preservation and the cheaper forms of printing that replaced them. Many chromolithographs have deteriorated because of the acidic frames surrounding them.[17] As stated earlier, production costs of chromolithographs were low, but efforts were still being made to find a cheaper and faster way to mass-produce coloured prints. Although purchasing a chromolithograph may have been cheaper than purchasing a painting, it was still expensive in comparison to other colour printing methods which were later developed. Offset printing replaced chromolithography in the late 1930s.
To find or purchase a lithograph, some suggest searching for examples with the original frame as well as the publisher's stamp.[18] Both European and American chromolithographs can still be found, and can range in cost from hundreds to thousands of dollars. The least expensive chromos tend to be European or produced by publishers who are less well-known compared to Prang.[18]
Bibliography
- Twyman, Michael. A History of Chromolithography: Printed Colour for All. The British Library/Oak Knoll Press, 2013.
- Friedman, Joan M. Colour Printing in England, 1486-1859. Yale Center for British Art, 1978.
- Henker, Michael. Von Senefelder zu Daumier: Die Anfange der Lithograpischen Kunst. K.G. Saur, 1988.
- Jay, Robert. The Trade Card in Nineteenth-Century America. University of Missouri Press, 1987.
- Last, Jay T. The Colour Explosion: Nineteenth-Century American Lithography. Hillcrest Press, 2005.
- Marzio, Peter C. The Democratic Art : Pictures for a 19th-century America : Chromolithography, 1840-1900. D. R. Godine, 1979.
See also
- Planography
- Photochrom
- Color printing
- Zincography
- History of graphic design
- Lithography
- William Griggs, 19th-century inventor of "photo-chromo-lithography"
References
- ^ "Planographic Printing." Archived 2017-12-30 at the Wayback Machine Seeing is Believing. 2001. The New York Public Library. 11 April 2007.
- ^ a b "Chromolithography and the Posters of World War I." The War on the Walls. Temple University. 11 April 2007. "Chromolithography and the Posters of World War I". Archived from the original on 2006-07-21. Retrieved 2006-02-18..
- ^ Clapper, Michael. "'I Was Once a Barefoot Boy!': Cultural Tensions in a Popular Chromo." American Art 16(2002): 16–39.
- ^ "Oleograph | printing". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2021-06-30.
- , Fine Art Restoration Co., 16th March 2018
- ^ "Chromolithography." Beautiful Birds Exhibit.1999. Cornell University Library. 11 April 2007.
- ^ a b c Ferry, Kathryn. "Printing the Alhambra: Owen Jones and Chromolithography." Architectural History 46(2003): 175–188.
- ISBN 0-471-29198-6
- ^ Gaffney, Dennis. "Chromolithography: Bringing Color to the Masses." Antiques Roadshow. 2006. WGBH. 11 April 2007.
- ^ a b c d e f Clapper, Michael. "'I Was Once a Barefoot Boy!': Cultural Tensions in a Popular Chromo." American Art 16(2002): 16-39.
- ^ Glanz, Dawn. "The Democratic Art: Pictures for a Nineteenth-Century America, Chromolithography 1840-1900 (Review)." Winterthur Portfolio 16(1981): 96-97.
- ^ "Planographic Printing." Archived 2017-12-30 at the Wayback Machine Seeing is Believing.2001. The New York Public Library. 11 April 2007.
- ^ a b Stankiewicz, Mary Ann. "A Picture Age: Reproductions in Picture Study." Studies in Art Education 26(1985): 86-92.
- ^ "A. Hoen & Company". Perfessorbill.com. 1956-05-01. Retrieved 2011-10-12.
- ^ "Bliss Fire House & Pumper, ca. 1900 | Roadshow Archive". PBS. Retrieved 2011-10-12.
- PMID 19350742.
- ^ Peters, Connie and Greg Peters. "True and Company: I Can See You Papa." The Art of Print. True and Company. 11 April 2007.
- ^ a b Antiques Roadshow: "Chromolithography: Bringing Color to the Masses", Gaffney, Dennis. 2006. WGBH. 11 April 2007.
Further reading
- Friedman, Joan M. Colour Printing in England, 1486-1870: an Exhibition, Yale Center for British Art. New Haven: The Center, 1978.
- Hunter, Mel. The New Lithography: A Complete Guide for Artists and Printers in the Use of Modern Translucent Materials for the Creation of Hand-Drawn Original Fine-Art Lithographic Prints. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1984.
- Marzio, Peter C. "Lithography as Democratic Art: A Reappraisal." Leonardo 3(1971):37-48.
External links
- The Chromolithograph: A Journal of Arts, Literature, Decoration and the Accomplishments
- Examples of the Liebig's Company trade cards Commercial website
- New York Public Library page on printing Archived 2017-12-30 at the Wayback Machine, includes an example Archived 2017-12-30 at the Wayback Machine in which 38 progressive proof prints are made with 19 stones to produce the final print.
- Temple University Libraries discussion and World War I poster examples.
- University of South Florida Tampa Library Special Collections maintains the Noel Wisdom Collection of Chromolithographic Prints.
- Chromolithography: The Art of Color Archived 2012-05-13 at the Wayback Machine from The Philadelphia Print Shop
- Collection of Chromolithographic Prints of Edinburgh, Scotland, 1897 Archived 2017-12-29 at the Wayback Machine
- George Washington Chromolithograph