Lithograph
Description
A planographic printing process developed in Germany in the 1790s. The technique relies on the tendency of water and oil to repel each other. Traditionally, a design is made on a Lithograph stone with a Lithograph crayon. The stone is wet with water. Ink is applied to the stone with a roller. The ink sticks where the crayon has been applied, and not where the stone is wet. Images are printed from the stone onto paper.
Lithography was widely used to make posters in the 19th and 20th centuries. Later 20th century developments in lithography allowed greater freedom for artists to make designs in Tusche or to use surfaces such as metal and plastic.
Additional Images
Jasper Johns
MFA# 1980.38
Honoré Daumier
MFA# 2012.359
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
MFA# 65.45
Resources and Citations
- Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Lithography's First Half Century: the Age of Goya and Delacroix. 1996.
- Bamber Gascoigne, How to identify Prints. New York: 1986.
- Richard Benson, The Printed Picture. New York: 2008.