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The Stone Palette: Lithography, the Early Years

Presented by University of Arizona - Museum of Art at University of Arizona - Museum of Art

August 4-October 4, 2009

The term lithography comes from the Greek, lithos "stone," and grapho "to write," thus "to write on stone." The process of "chemical printing" (as the inventor called it) is just that: "writing (drawing) on stone." Lithography was invented by Alois Senefelder in Austria in 1798 and patented as a printing medium in 1799. As refinements in drawing materials and chemical processes were made, so were improvements in the presses used to print from stone. Traditional printing methods at the time -- flat platen presses for woodcuts and roller presses for etchings -- proved ineffective for stone lithography. Senefelder devised an adequate method where a scraper bar was passed over the paper and stone under great pressure. Subsequent improvements in wood and iron involved a flat bed press which moved the stone and paper under a stationary scraper bar. This method provided sharp and uniform images and has remained virtually unchanged to this day for fine art printing of lithographic prints. Lithography offered uniquely different opportunities for creative expression. This exhibition explores 19th-century lithography as a creative medium from the Museum's permanent collection. It has been curated to complement the exhibition, The Machine Stops (or Inkjet My Foot!), and to provide a historical context from which to consider these works in lithography produced in 2008, 210 years after the invention of the medium.