#printmaking techniques

Studying 19th- and 20th-Century Printmaking

Yesterday we were visited by Sarah Schaefer's Art History class "Introduction to Prints and Printmaking: History and Techniques." They reviewed a wide range of printmaking techniques and styles from the 19th and 20th centuries in books and individual prints held in Special Collections. We found it so visually interesting and instructive that we decided to keep a selection from this presentation on display in our reading room as an impromptu pop-up exhibit until the end of the week, April 5.  If you’re in town, Please stop by and see it 10 am to 5 pm!

On display are etchings, engravings, mezzotints, aquatints, woodcuts, wood engravings, lithographs, chromolithographs, steel engravings, and serigraphs. You may view and handle:

An extra-illustrated book from the 17th-century bound with all kinds of printmaking techniques from the 17th to the early 19th century.

Original wood engravings by the two earliest popularizers of the medium, Thomas Bewick in Britain and Alexander Anderson in the U.S.

Mid-19th century lithographic prints by the French printmaker and caricaturist Honoré Daumier.

An 1849 work by two great promoters of chromolithography in books, Owen Jones and Henry Noel Humphreys.

Velvety mezzotints by John Martin for an 1827 publication of Paradise Lost.

Scores of steel-plate engravings from an 1860 publication on Distinguished English and American Female Poets.

Original woodcuts designs, wood-engraved images, and distinguished typeface designs in the works of early English and American fine presses from 1892-1904, including Kelmscott, Essex House, Vale, and Elston.

Original serigraph prints by one of the earliest promoters of silk-screen printing as an art medium Max Arthur Cohn (who, btw, was the father of UWM professor emerita of Art History, Jane Waldbaum).

A 1982 fine-press production of Alice in Wonderland by the great American book designer, letterpress printer, and master wood engraver Barry Moser, with an extra suite of original, signed wood engravings.

And while you're here, you may also view our retrospective exhibition on the work of the American color wood engraver, book designer, and letterpress printer Gaylord Schanilec, "Luminous Books: The Work of Gaylord Schanilec," which remains on view through May 17.

Click on the images for their identifying captions.