The Impressionism artists began in 1874 when a group of artists known as the Anonymous Society of Painters, Sculptors, Printmakers, etc. organised an exhibition in Paris. Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and Camille Pissarro were among its original members. Only the group’s rejection of the official yearly Salon, for which a jury of painters from the … Continued
David Hockney adopted printmaking much earlier than many of his contemporaries, making his first print in 1954 while still a student at Bradford School of Art. During his time at the Royal College of Art (1959–1962), he became quite passionate about printmaking. When Hockney couldn’t afford painting supplies, he developed the practise of hiding out … Continued
Orange prints have been created by artists over the years, in part because of the meaning in the use of orange. The colour orange, a combination of red and yellow, combines the enthusiasm of red with the vigour of yellow. The colour orange connotes happiness, warmth, heat, sunshine, inspiration, success, change, resolve, health, stimulation, pleasure, … Continued
Mezzotint is an intaglio printmaking technique that produces monochrome prints. [2] It was the first printing method to produce half-tones without utilising techniques based on lines or dots, such as stippling, cross-hatching, or hatching. A metal tool with tiny teeth called a “rocker” is used to roughen a metal plate in mezzotint in order to … Continued
Abstract art prints employ the visual language of shape, form, colour, and line to produce a composition that is somewhat independent from outside visual cues. From the Renaissance until the middle of the 19th century, the logic of perspective and an effort to replicate the illusion of visible reality had served as the foundation for … Continued
Josef Albers produced many prints, his first prints be created in the late 1960s. Most of Josef Albers’ prints were screen prints though he also created etching prints, engraving prints, woodcut prints and lithography prints. All of Josef Albers prints are original prints as Albers saw printmaking as a distinct medium to create artworks. Josef … Continued
Neo Expressionists resorted to figural representation in response to Minimalism and Conceptualism’s cold intellectualism and ideological rigour, creating ferociously passionate, textural works that combined painterly expression with Postmodernist appropriation. A variety of styles, including the Neue Wilden (“New Fauves”) in Germany, Transvanguardia (“Trans-Avantgarde”) in Italy, Figuration Libre (“Free Style”) in France, and a number of … Continued
Flowers art has existed from the earliest times predominantly because of the evocative features that flowers have that have attracted artists. Roses, irises, tulips, carnations, and other flowers have various symbolic connotations that have been depicted by painters throughout the ages. A single flower can represent many different things depending on the situation, such as … Continued
Woodcut prints, the earliest type of printmaking, is a relief technique in which a design is carved into the surface of a wooden block using knives and other instruments. After the block has been cut, the raised portions that are left are inked and printed, whereas the recessed portions that are removed do not retain … Continued
Monochromatic art refers to an art that uses only one colour. A monochromatic object or image reflects colors in shades of limited colours or hues. Images using only shades of grey (with or without black or white) are called grayscale or black-and-white. For hundreds of years, painters have utilised various tones of brown or black ink to produce monochromatic art images … Continued
Minimalist line art involves lines and negative space as the only elements used in line art, also known as one line drawings, to make a striking visual statement. Clean lines, a lack of shading, and depth make line art easy to identify. Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso’s line drawings are two examples of … Continued
Roy Lichtenstein Pop Art is instantly recognisable. His use of comic book graphics as a starting point for creating massive works using the Ben-Day dot technique came to be recognised as his style. He experimented with art in a variety of media during his career, including painting, sculpture, and even film. Roy Lichtenstein remains one … Continued
Joan Miró prints are very distinctive and instantaneously recognisable. Miró had a steadfast dedication to printmaking, just like his countryman and peer Pablo Picasso. He also produced more than 2,000 pieces in the medium, just like Picasso. It is frequently claimed that Miró’s preference for calligraphic lines, which are such a distinguishing aspect of his … Continued
Op art is unique. For millennia, artists have been fascinated by the nature of perception, as well as optical effects and illusions. They have long been a primary focus of art, just as historical or literary topics have been. However, in the 1950s, these preoccupations grew into a movement when they were combined with new … Continued
Appropriation of art is the use of pre-existing objects or images with little or no transformation applied to them. The use of appropriation has played a significant role in the history of the arts. Appropriation, similar to found object art is “as an artistic strategy, the intentional borrowing, copying, and alteration of preexisting images, objects, … Continued
Famous French artists have been some of the greatest and influential artists that have ever lived. From the 18th century they spear headed new styles of art that shocked the art world most notably Impressionism and then subsequently Post-Impressionism. Symbolic styles of art often routed in religion were replaced every day scenes of normal people. … Continued
Albrecht Durer woodcuts transformed printing through the use of fine, graceful lines, intricate details, and subtle gradations, efforts that could be achieved only through skilful and precise carving. While Durer’s key role in designing woodcuts is certain, his involvement in cutting the blocks can be debated. Albrecht Durer was one of the leading … Continued
German Expressionism consisted of a number of related creative movements in Germany before the First World War that reached a peak in Berlin during the 1920s. At the beginning of the last century, a wave of disinterest and staleness had settled over Germany’s art scene. Artists from urban, cosmopolitan areas like Berlin, Munich and Dresden … Continued
Kandinsky the artist (1866 – 1944) was a Russian painter and art theorist. Kandinsky is generally credited as one of the pioneers of abstraction in western art. Born in Moscow, he spent his childhood in Odessa, where he graduated at Grekov Odessa Art school. He enrolled at the University of Moscow, studying law and economics. … Continued
David Hockney photography has a particular unique style. In the 1980s, he began making photograph collages and he use to call them, joiners. He used Polaroid photos and soon 35mm prints in color. Hockney cleverly composed a patchwork of images. The first subject of such work was his mother and since the photos were taken … Continued
A selection of Helen Frankenthaler quotes about art, her art and being an artist. “There are no rules. That is how art is born, how breakthroughs happen. Go against the rules or ignore the rules. That is what invention is about.” “I’d rather risk an ugly surprise than rely on things I know I can … Continued
Minimalist artists emerged in New York in the early 1960s, their art setting out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or concepts. Artists themselves have sometimes reacted against the label due to the negative implication of the work being simplistic. Minimalism is often interpreted as … Continued
Richard Diebenkorn began to have a measure of success with his artwork during the mid to late 1950s. He was included in several group shows and had several solo exhibits. In 1960, a mid-career retrospective was presented by the Pasadena Art Museum (now the Norton Simon Museum). That autumn, a variation of the show moved … Continued
Basquiat Quotes A selection of poignant Basquiat quotes about making art, painting, being an artist and being a famous artist: “I am not a black artist, I am an artist.” “I had some money, I made the best paintings ever. I was completely reclusive, worked a lot, took a lot of drugs. I was … Continued
In 764 the Empress Kōken commissioned one million small wooden pagodas, each containing a small woodblock scroll printed with a Buddhist text (Hyakumantō Darani). These were distributed to temples around the country as thanks for the suppression of the Emi Rebellion of 764. These are the earliest examples of woodblock prints known, or documented, from … Continued
Gerhard Richter created various painting pictures from black-and-white photographs during the 1960s and early 1970s. From his writings, the following refer to quotations regarding photography, its relationship with painting, and the “blur”: “The photograph is the most perfect picture. It does not change; it is absolute, and therefore autonomous, unconditional, devoid of style. … Continued
David Hockney experimented with printmaking as early as a lithograph Self-Portrait in 1954 and worked in etchings during his time at RCA. In 1965, the print workshop Gemini G.E.L. approached him to create a series of lithographs with a Los Angeles theme. Hockney responded by creating The Hollywood Collection, a series of lithographs recreating the … Continued
The surrealist artist Roberto Matta introduced Robert Motherwell to the concept of automatic drawing or automatism, after a trip to Mexico in 1941, which the Surrealists used to tap into their unconscious. This concept had a lasting effect on Motherwell. Surrealist automatism is a method of art-making in which the artist suppresses conscious control over … Continued
Linocut prints is a printmaking technique, a variant of woodcut in which a sheet of linoleum (sometimes mounted on a wooden block) is used for a relief surface. A design is cut into the linoleum surface with a sharp knife, V-shaped chisel or gouge, with the raised (uncarved) areas representing a reversal (mirror image) of … Continued
Neo-expressionism is a style of late modernist or early-postmodern developed as a reaction against conceptual art and minimal art of the 1970s. Neo-expressionists returned to portraying recognisable objects, such as the human body, in a rough and violently emotional way, often using vivid colours. Neo-expressionism dominated the art market until the mid-1980s. It … Continued
Robert Indiana Love Print is Indiana’s most well known image – arranged in a square with a tilted letter “O”. The image first appeared in a series of poems originally written in 1958, in which Indiana stacked LO and VE on top of one another, then in paintings such as 4-STAR LOVE (1961) and “Love is God” … Continued
Chilean Roberto Matta artist and printmaker met artists such as Arshile Gorky, René Magritte, Salvador Dalí, André Breton, and Le Corbusier whilst travelling in Europe in the mid 1930s, . It was actually André Breton who provided the influence on Matta’s art, encouraging his work and introducing him to the leading members of the Paris … Continued
The origins of Pop art prints started in the UK in the late 1950s. However it was in America, following World War II, where Pop art really established itself during an unprecedented period of economic and political growth. The middle classes moved to the suburbs, helped by the availability of affordable, mass-produced homes. Rock ‘n … Continued
Expressionism art is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas. Expressionist artists have sought to express the … Continued
Throughout the 19th century, most French painters produced work that adhered to the traditional tastes of the Académie des Beaux-Arts, a Paris-based organisation that held annual salons. Showcasing a selection of hand-picked artwork, the salons tended to favour conventional subject matter – including historical, mythological, and allegorical scenes – rendered in a realistic style. Tired … Continued
Minimalist artists in 1960s and early 1970s distanced themselves from the Abstract Expressionists by removing suggestions of biography from their art or, indeed, metaphors of any kind. This denial of expression coupled with an interest in making objects that avoided the appearance of fine art led to the creation of sleek, geometric works that purposefully … Continued
Pablo Picasso and Marc Chagall, two of the greatest artists of the 20th century, were friends until a dinner at Chagall’s place in 1964. “When are you going back to Russia?” Picasso asked his host. They were both ex-patriots living in France. Chagall was Russian and Picasso was Spanish. “After you,” said Chagall with a smile. … Continued
Even though Alexander Calder is best known for his wire mobiles, he was also a prolific printmaker from the mid 1920s. As Calder’s professional reputation expanded in the late 1940s and 1950s, so did his production of prints. Masses of lithographs based on his gouache paintings were marketed. Deluxe editions of plays, poems, and short … Continued
Monotype printmaking is a printing technique but with one major difference from other printmaking techniques – the artist creates exactly one print, instead of multiples (or editions). This is due to the way a monotype is made. Monotypes are prints made by drawing or painting on a smooth, non-absorbent surface. The surface, or matrix, was … Continued
Buying art prints can be a formidable task, for there are numerous issues to be addressed: authenticity, paper, quality of impression, edition size, re-strikes, signatures, states, watermarks, condition, provenance, etc. Here I’ll discuss a few of the many issues that I get lots of questions about; I strongly recommend that anyone with any questions on … Continued
Picasso and Jacqueline Roque moved to Notre-Dame-de-Vie outside of Mougins in 1960, and in the process discovered a cache of unprinted plates in the artist’s atelier in Cannes. Picasso went through the plates—created over the last few decades with Jacques Frélaut and carefully selected approximately fifty to be published retroactively. A portfolio in an edition … Continued
This interview is part of a series of interviews which we are conducting with contemporary artists represented by Emanuel von Baeyer – Cabinet, who use printmaking in their work. Each interview focuses on a particular printmaking technique for which the artist is known. It explores the challenges, experiences and sources of inspiration associated with working … Continued
1. Scottish-born Paolozzi’s Italian parents ran a small ice cream parlour in Leith. 2. Paolozzi had always shown a talent for drawing and pursued this by attending Edinburgh College of Art in 1943. He then moved to London and feigned madness to secure his release from army duties in order that he could study sculpture … Continued
Albrecht Dürer Facts 1. Dürer showed talent at an early age Albrecht Dürer was born in Nuremberg, Germany in 1471, one of 18 children born to Albrecht and Barbara Dürer (only three of whom survived to adulthood). His father was a successful goldsmith of Hungarian heritage, and young Albrecht apprenticed with him before deciding on … Continued
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) is of course most famous for his enduringly popular paintings. His career was impressive, having started creating prints in 1899 as a teenager. He then continued his works right up to his very last one 1972 at the age of 90. Picasso had a multi-disciplinary approach to moulding his images. He spend … Continued
The four plates in Picasso’s Suite Vollard that include images of Rembrandt, though small in number, have stimulated a great deal of speculation. Though the Dutch artist’s unkempt and wild appearance may at first seem to be out of place in this serene world of classical beauty and order, his presence is easily accounted for … Continued
Born in Aberdeen, Washington in January 1915, Robert Motherwell was an American artist who had a huge impact on the Abstract Expressionism movement during his active years. The first child of Margaret Hogan Motherwell and Robert Burns Motherwell, his family later relocated to San Francisco so that Motherwell’s father could take up the position of … Continued
David Hockney (b.1937) is perhaps one of the most famed and influential British artists to exist within the 20th and 21st century. Born in Bradford, Hockney attended the Bradford School of Art from 1953 to 1957 and subsequently The Royal College of Art from 1959 to 1962, which provided him with the foundations for his … Continued
