One Artist, Two Media
Two prints show the way the choice of medium radically affects the final appearance of two works by the same artist.
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48. Erich Heckel, German, 1883 – 1970
Ostend, 1916
drypoint
plate: 15.9 x 18.1 cm (6-1/4 x 7-1/8 in.)
Burton Emmett Collection, 58.1.552 |
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49. Erich Heckel, German, 1883 – 1970
Among the Dunes, 1911
woodcut
image: 18.1 x 29.8 cm (7-1/8 x 11-3/4 in.)
Burton Emmett Collection, 58.1.558 |
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Line: the Conventions of Engraving
The linear systems of engraving arose out of the nature of the medium in combination with the need to represent tonal images. But these systems became conventions into which artists deliberately fit their work.
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50. Pieter Bruegel, Flemish 1525 – 1569, draftsman
Hieronymus Cock, Flemish, circa 1510 – 1570, etcher
Landscape with Christ Tempted by the Devil, probably 1554/55
etching
image: 30.3 x 43.3 cm (11-15/16 x 17-1/16 in.)
Ackland Fund, 84.32.2
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51. Pieter Bruegel, Flemish, 1525 – 1569, draftsman
Joannes or Lucas van Doetecum, Dutch, 1550 – 1600, etcher
Country Chores (Solicitudo Rustica), probably 1555/56
etching and engraving
image: 32.4 x 43.2 cm (12-3/4 x 17 in.)
Ackland Fund, 63.38.3
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52. Adam Willers, Flemish, 1577 – 1664, painter
Magdalena van de Passe, Dutch, 1600 – 1638, engraver
Landscape with a Beached Whale
engraving
plate: 20.8 x 26.5 cm (8-1/5 x 10-7/16 in.)
The William A. Whitaker Foundation Art Fund, 2004.15.2
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53. Esaias van de Velde, Dutch, circa 1590 – 1630
Landscape with a Rider and Pedestrian (Hillegom), circa 1615
etching and engraving
image: 8.4 x 17.8 cm (3-5/16 x 7 in.)
The William A. Whitaker Foundation Art Fund, 2003.20.1
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54. John Flaxman, British, 1755 – 1826, draftsman
James Parker, British, 1750 – 1805, engraver
Ulysses at the Table of Circe, drawn 1793, engraved 1805
engraving
plate: 24.3 x 35.4 cm (9-9/16 x 13-15/16 in.)
Ackland Fund, 73.23.4
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55. William Blake, British, 1757 – 1827
Then the Lord Answered Job out of the Whirlwind, from Illustrations of the Book of Job, 1825
engraving
plate: 21.4 x 16.8 cm (8-7/16 x 6-5/8 in.)
Burton Emmett Collection, 58.1.1067.2
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Line: the Two Faces of Drypoint
The act of scratching a metal plate to make lines has led to two strikingly different modes of artistic expression.
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56. James [Jacques Joseph] Tissot, French, 1836 – 1902
Entre les Deux mon Coeur Balance (My Heart Wavers Between the Two), 1877
drypoint and etching
plate: 25.1 x 35.6 cm (9-7/8 x 14 in.)
Gift of the Ackland Associates, 78.13.2
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57. Max Beckmann, German, 1884 – 1950
The Merry-Go-Round, plate 7 from Jahrmarkt, 1921, published 1922
etching
plate: 29.1 x 23.5 cm (11-7/16 x 9-1/4 in.)
UNC Art Department Collection, 56.5.5
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Line and Mass: Woodcut
Woodcut also lends itself to two opposing strategies: black-on white vs. white-on-black.
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58. Peter Paul Rubens, Flemish, 1577 – 1640, designer
Christoffel Jegher, Flemish, 1596 – 1652/3, block-cutter
Susanna Surprised by the Two Elders, 1632/36
woodcut
image: 44.7 x 58.3 cm (17-5/8 x 22-15/16 in.)
Ackland Fund, 76.29.1
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59. Felix Vallotton, Swiss, 1865 – 1925
Indolence (La Paresse), 1896
woodcut
image: 17.8 x 22.2 cm (7 x 8-3/4 in.)
Burton Emmett Collection, 58.1.152
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60. Maximilian Kurzweil, Austrian, 1867 – 1916
The Cushion, 1903
woodcut
image: 28.6 x 26.0 cm (11-1/4 x 10-1/4 in.)
The William A. Whitaker Foundation Art Fund, 80.68.1
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61. Otto Dix, German, 1891 – 1969
Electric, from Nine Woodcuts, 1920, published 1922
woodcut
image: 28.1 x 23.8 cm (11-1/16 x 9-3/8 in.)
Ackland Fund, 59.1.9
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Line and Tone: Intaglio, Lithography, and Screenprint
Because of their versatility tonal print media may seem to have less individual character than engraving, drypoint, or woodcut. But closely viewed, they show distinctive qualities of color and surface texture, each appropriate to different styles.
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62. Eugène Isabey, French, 1803 – 1886
Boat Tying up to a Buoy, 1844
color lithograph
image: 23.2 x 35.4 cm (9-3/16 x 13-15/16 in.)
Gift of the Ackland Associates, 84.13.1
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63. Rodolphe Bresdin, French, 1825 – 1885
The Holy Family at the Edge of a Stream, 1853
lithograph
image: 22.5 x 17.8 cm (8-7/8 x 7 in.)
Burton Emmett Collection, 58.1.50
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64. Pablo Picasso, Spanish, 1881 – 1973
Blind Minotaur Led by a Young Girl through the Night, November, 1934, from The Vollard Suite
mezzotint (burnished aquatint) and engraving
plate: 24.8 x 34.9 cm (9-3/4 x 13-3/4 in.)
Ackland Fund, 64.3.1
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65. Andy Warhol, American, 1928 – 1987
Liz, 1964/65
color offset lithograph
image: 55.3 x 55.3 cm (21-3/4 x 21-3/4 in.)
Anonymous Gift, 89.19
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66. Sam Gilliam, American, born 1933
Fire, 1972
color lithograph on rice paper
image: 61 x 41.0 cm (24-6/16 x 16-1/8 in.)
Ackland Fund, 72.45.1
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67. Ronald B. Kitaj, American, born 1933
The Most Important Film ever Made, 1972
color screenprint and photo-screenprint
image: 70.1 x 104.6 cm (27-5/8 x 41-3/16 in.)
Gift of Renato Valente through the Ackerman Foundation, 79.45.3
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68. David Hockney, British, born 1937
Henry with Tulips, 1976
color lithograph
sheet: 106.0 x 75.4 cm (41-3/4 x 29-11/16 in.)
Gift of the Ackland Associates, 79.21.1
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69. Romare Bearden, American, 1914 – 1988
The Open Door, 1979
color lithograph
image: 59.6 x 44.6 cm (23-1/2 x 17-9/16 in.)
Ackland Fund, selected by The Ackland Associates, 94.9.1
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Playing with the Medium: States
The ability to change part of an image and retain the rest, a common method in the development of a print, but seldom used to tell a story, as here.
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70. Daniel Chodowiecki, German, 1726 – 1801
M. de Vollange Playing the Guitar, 1788
etching in three states
plate: 8.1 x 10.2 to 10.6 cm (3-3/16 x 4 to 4-1/16 in.)
The William A. Whitaker Foundation Art Fund, 2004.23.1.1-3 |
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Playing with the Medium: Screens
Mellan takes a linear convention and makes a philosophical statement out of it. Pop artists do the same with the half-tone screen, the great convention of 20th-century printing.
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71. Claude Mellan, French, 1598 – 1688
The One is Formed by the One, [Saint Veronica's Veil], 1649
engraving
plate: 43.0 x 31.6 cm (16-15/16 x 12-7/16 in.)
Burton Emmett Collection, 58.1.1060
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72. Roy Lichtenstein, American, 1923 – 1997
Crying Girl, 1963
photomechanical color offset lithograph
image: 44.0 x 59.1 cm (17-5/16 x 23-1/4 in.)
Ackland Fund, 63.37.1
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73. Robert Rauschenberg, American, born 1925
Surface Series from Currents, No. 13, 1970
color screenprint
image: 88.9 x 89.0 cm (35 x 35-1/16 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Milton Adams, 76.8.46
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Hand and Printing Press
Printmaking is inherently a mechanical craft, intended to circumvent the handwork of creating one individual image after another.
But many artists have combined the printing press with various forms of handwork to produce a series of images, each different from the others.
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74. Jean-Louis Desprez, French, 1743 – 1804, designer and colorist
Francesco Piranesi, Italian, 1756 – 1810, etcher
Interior View of St. Peter's in the Light of the Great Illuminated Cross, circa 1783
watercolor over etching
image: 69.7 x 47.5 cm (27-7/16 x 18-11/16 in.)
Gift of Carol Selle, 2003.11
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75. Jimmy Ernst, American, 1920 – 1984
4-10, 1953
etching, hand-colored
plate: 32.2 x 20.2 cm (12-11/16 x 7-15/16 in.)
Ackland Fund, 2002.24.2
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76. James Abbott McNeil Whistler, American, 1834 – 1903
Nocturne, from the Venice Set, First Series, 1880
etching
plate: 20.3 x 29.4 cm (8 x 11-9/16 in.)
Gift of W. P. Jacocks, 58.2.146
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77. Edgar Degas, French, 1798 – 1863
Twilight in the Pyrenees, circa 1890/93
color monotype
plate: 29.7 x 39.8 cm (11-11/16 x 15-11/16 in.)
Ackland Fund, 71.21.1
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78. Max Weber, American, 1881 – 1961
Mother and Child, 1919/20
woodcut printed in color
image: 10.6 x 4.9 cm (4-3/16 x 1-15/16 in.)
Burton Emmett Collection, 58.1.535
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Collaboration: The preceding section showed the collaboration between hand and machine. This one shows the collaboration between two or more artists or craftsmen,
to produce an object that neither could have produced alone.
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79. Giovanni Battista Bertani, Italian, 1516 – 1576, draftsman
Giorgio Ghisi, Italian, 1520 – 1582, engraver
The Judgment of Paris, 1555
engraving
image: 39.8 x 53.2 cm (15-11/16 x 20-15/16 in.)The William A. Whitaker Foundation Art Fund, 90.26
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80. Wayne Thiebaud, American, born 1920, designer
Reizu Monjyu, Japanese, block-cutter
Tadashi Toda, Japanese, printer
Dark Cake, 1983
color woodblock print
38.2 x 44.6 cm. (15-1/16 x 17-9/16 in.)
Ackland Fund, 85.5.1
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