Chromolithography: what is this technique?

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Modern life is filled with digital technologies that allow you to instantly copy and print any image in monochrome or color. But it was not always so. A century and a half ago, it was a laborious process that took a lot of time and effort. Where did it all begin?

"Printer" of the past

At the beginning of the 19th century, such a printing technique as lithography was widespread in the visual arts. Its principle was very simple: a certain image was applied to a smooth surface, and then, under pressure, it was printed on a sheet of paper. This technology made it possible to make several identical images, contributed to the mass distribution of works of art. However, lithography had a significant drawback: it produced only black and white images.

The "monochrome" problem was solved with an improvement in the method that came to be called chromolithography. The prefix "chromos" comes from the Greek language and means color in translation. Chromolithography is still the same lithography, only there are several stones here and a certain color is applied to each of them. Then the paper sheet is applied toeach of the plates, resulting in a color image.

History of occurrence

The origin of chromolithography is still a controversial issue, which has not yet been found a clear answer. It is believed that the inventor of this technique is Alois Senefelder, who in 1818 outlined its basic principles in his book "The Complete Course of Lithography". Later, his work was studied by the Russian artist K. Ya. Tromonin and put the method into practice. In 1832 he printed illustrations for a book dedicated to Prince Svyatoslav. And in 1837, the French artist Godefroy Engelmann received a patent for the use of technology. However, there is an alternative opinion that the method was used in printing playing cards long before its official opening.

Promotion of masterpieces

The peak of color lithography falls on the second half of the 19th - the first half of the 20th centuries. Then there were many workshops where they copied by this method. In Russia, the most famous such place was called the "Artistic Institution", which was under the leadership of A. F. Marx, a major book publisher of his time. This craft contributed to the widespread distribution of copies of paintings: icons, paintings and graphic canvases, made them more accessible.

Chromolithography has also been used to copy ancient manuscripts and historically important documents. Until now, one of the recognized masterpieces in this area is considered to be a collection of publications of written monuments. Ancient Russia, published since the middle of the XIX century.

Production process

Chromolithography is a chemical process that uses many chemicals and their compounds. On a limestone stone or a zinc plate, the contours of the image are applied with a special pencil or ink. The plates are then soaked in a solution of weak nitric acid and gum arabic (a hard resin obtained from acacia trees). After this procedure, they are coated with a certain color and transferred to paper under pressure. For more accurate color reproduction, additional stones and plates are used. Usually, it takes 20 to 25 forms of different shades to reproduce one image. In order for the color to be imprinted in the right place, the masters use registration marks that fix the stones.

Art controversy

Despite the fact that chromolithography has become a truly revolutionary method of creating an image, society is faced with a dilemma whether to consider it art or not. Many leaned towards the latter option. This opinion was justified by the fact that chromolithography is a mechanized process. More attention was paid to the accuracy of movements and the order of actions in it than to the enchanting flight of fancy. In addition, chromolithographers mostly created copies of paintings, not original masterpieces. The costs of such production were very low, so over time the craft acquired all the features of a profitable business, and not high art.

Todaychromolithography has been superseded by modern and more efficient copying methods. It has turned into a story with unresolved issues and contradictions so far.