A printmaking technique that involves drawing with greasy crayons or a liquid called tusche, on a polished slab of limestone; aluminum plates, which are less cumbersome to handle, may also be used. The term is derived from the Greek words for stone (litho) and drawing (graph). When the greasy image is ready to be printed, a chemical mixture is applied across the surface of the stone or plate in order to securely bond it. This surface is then dampened with water, which adheres only to the blank, non-greasy areas. Oily printer’s ink, applied with a roller, sticks to the greasy imagery and not to areas protected by the film of water. Damp paper is placed on top of this surface and run through a press to transfer the image. In addition to the traditional method described here, other types of lithography include offset lithography, photolithography, and transfer lithography.
Lithography
9 examples
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Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Mademoiselle Cha-u-kao, The Seated Clowness (Mademoiselle Cha-u-kao, La Clownesse assise) from Elles 1896
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Edvard Munch The Sick Child I (Det syke barn I) 1896
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Emil Nolde Young Couple (Junges Paar) 1913
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George Bellows Dempsey and Firpo 1923–24
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Henri Matisse Large Odalisque in Striped Pantaloons (Grande Odalisque à culotte bayadère) 1925
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David Alfaro Siqueiros Moisés Sáenz 1931
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Nomathemba Tana You will indeed be clever to come through fire with water 2000
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Jean-Charles Blais Panoply #3 2000
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Carmen Herrera Untitled 2018
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