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Printmaking Practices

The final product of printmaking can look an awful lot like a drawing--even some of the processes can be called drawing! It is believed to have been invented during the Tang dynasty (600-900 CE) in China. However, it did not arrive in Europe until the 14th century in the form of simple wood block prints. However, it is a very labor intensive practice. That was until the 15th century.

In Germany in 1439 Johannes Gutenberg, a goldsmith by profession, developed a printing system by adapting existing technologies to printing purposes, as well as making inventions of his own. Gutenberg's most important innovation was the development of hand-molded metal printing matrices, thus producing a movable type based printing press system. His newly devised hand mold made possible the precise and rapid creation of metal movable type in large quantities. Movable type had been hitherto unknown in Europe. In Europe, the two inventions, the hand mold and the printing press, together drastically reduced the cost of printing books and other documents, particularly in short print runs.

The printing press spread within several decades to over two hundred cities in a dozen European countries. By 1500, printing presses in operation throughout Western Europe had already produced more than twenty million volumes. In the 16th century, with presses spreading further afield, their output rose tenfold to an estimated 150 to 200 million copies. The operation of a press became synonymous with the enterprise of printing, and lent its name to a new medium of expression and communication, "the press".

The printing press also allowed artists to create art prints and mass produce them. It was more cost effective, easier to create and sell multiple copies, and made their work more portable, meaning it could reach wider audiences. 

The following website explains the different printing processes. Read about printmaking and click through all 4 of the instructional interactives and view the works in the galleries:

https://www.moma.org/interactives/projects/2001/whatisaprint/flash.html(

After going through the website, answer the following:

1. In your own words describe the four different processes of printing.

2. Compare and contrast the look of the final product for all four processes utilizing one example for each from the galleries on the site. What are characteristics of each type of printing process? How can you tell them apart?

Albrecht Durer

A supremely gifted and versatile German artist of the Renaissance period, Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528) was born in the Franconian city of Nuremberg, one of the strongest artistic and commercial centers in Europe during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. He was a brilliant painter, draftsman, and writer, though his first and probably greatest artistic impact was in the medium of printmaking. Dürer revolutionized printmaking, elevating it to the level of an independent art form. He expanded its tonal and dramatic range, and provided the imagery with a new conceptual foundation. 

Below is a playlist of videos on YouTube from the Clark Art Institute that go into depth on a number of Durer's prints.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8WJnMNCUmtwkokgqp3rgZw

Watch at least three, and describe what you learned about each work. After watching the videos, how would you describe Durer's prints? What does he typically represent in his work? How does he represent them? How do his prints look? Do you like them? Why or why not?