Printing and Process: A Rare Collection of 18 Original Copper Plates and Lithographic Stones

Featuring original copper plates by Rembrandt van Rijn, Joan Miró, Henri Matisse, Marc Chagall, and Salvador Dalí, as well as original lithographic stones by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Henri Fantin-Latour, our April 24th Prints & Multiples auction offers the rare opportunity to acquire part of the history and process of printmaking. These significant examples by the most well-regarded artists in the history of printmaking speak to the entire creation process, from composition and collaboration to the different phases of creative process and the life of the plates after the artist’s involvement.  These plates have created some of the most recognizable prints in the history of printmaking and are now available as beautiful works of art themselves.  

To create either a plate for etching or a lithographic stone involves making marks onto a prepared surface, fixing this image via chemical means, then inking and printing the resulting plate or stone. For etchings, a thin metal plate—most often copper, preferred for its softer qualities—is covered with a waxy, acid-resistant layer, the ground. Traditionally, a hard wax ground is used, such as for Lot 124, Matisse’s copper plate for Visage aux Yeux fixés vers le Sol (1946).  

Here, the artist drew directly onto the plate by pulling a sharp tool through the hard ground, directly exposing the copper. When the intended composition was complete, the plate was submerged in acid, incising the exposed lines into the metal plate. Once the remaining ground was cleaned off, the copper plate was prepared for printing by pushing the ink deeply into the exposed lines. 

Soft-ground etching involves adding a fat such as tallow to the hard ground to make it more pliable. This process allows for a greater variation of marks and textures, as different materials can be used to mark the groundat varying pressures.  For example, in Lot 125, one of the three copper plates used for Joan Miró’s etching, La Main (1947/53), the artist pressed his hand into the soft ground (see top plate below). In this example, you can see very clearly that a broad variation of etched marks can be produced with the softer, more workable ground. 

To make a lithograph, such as Henri Fantin-Latour’s Vénus et l'Amour, Lot 118, an artist first draws on a stone with an oil-based medium.  The stone is traditionally limestone, though today other materials like aluminum may be used.  Once complete, the image is treated with a solution of gum arabic and nitric acid that bonds the image to the surface of the stone.  Once it is cleaned, the drawn area will accept ink while the negative space will repel it, allowing only the drawn composition to be transferred to the paper.  

After the plates are created and the first edition is set, additional steps may follow to fine tune the composition or to extend the life of the plate.  These can result in a ‘second state.’  Often even third, fourth, or fifth states can be produced.  As an example, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s lithographic stone Étude de Femme, Lot 119, features added text in its second state so it could be printed as a title page for a song sheet by Hector Sombre.   

Yet another way the plates can be altered after the regular edition can be seen in five of the copper plates by Marc Chagall which have been ‘steel-faced.’  In this process, pure iron is electroplated onto the copper plate, which, being more durable than copper, reduces scratches and oxidation thereby extending the life of the plate.  Marc Chagall’s Original Copper Plate for La Fenêtre de l'Atelier (from Psaumes de David) (1979), Lot 127, is shown below.  You will note that it exhibits less wear and oxidation than the copper plates presented due to the layer of iron plate on the surface. 

Unlike the traditional stereotype of an artist painting alone in their studio, the creation process for prints often requires ample collaboration between the artist, printer, and publisher.  This relationship is crucial to the eventual success of the project from both a material and commercial standpoint.  For example, the process of printing Chagall’s Psaumes de David series involved Chagall, printer Jacques Frélaut, and publisher Gérald Cramer gathering to print proofs and make amendments, including adding additional plates to the project. Detailing the role of the publisher and printer for Chagall in her introduction to 1979’s MoMA exhibition, Riva Castleman noted: 

[Publisher Gérald] Cramer has…quietly and capably seen to the basic but critical duties that make a project perfectly executed…[and] he is the first to admit that without the inspired and sensitively attuned craftsmanship of Jacques Frélaut his work with these artists would have been impossible. The artist not only derives a sense of security from the good printer - a certainty that nothing he has created will be lost or destroyed - but also he is able to try new techniques and discover new solutions.i 

This collaborative process provides even greater potential to see the artist’s thought process. For example, included as Lot 122 in this collection is a Matisse copper plate meant for the 1932 publication Poésies but was ultimately not used in the edition.  Another plate offered in this auction relates to Chagall’s work on the portfolio Un Poème dans chaque livre (1956), Lot 126, for which another variant of the composition was ultimately chosen for the edition. Plates such as these offer a glimpse into the artist’s vision and, as presented here, gives the collector access to a unique, unpublished work of art. 

Right: Lot 126, Marc Chagall, Untitled (plate for L'amoureuse) 1954-55  

When the published edition of a print is complete, often the artist or publisher will choose to ‘cancel’ the plate.  To do this, marks are etched onto the plate signaling that future printed impressions are outside of the published edition. This will usually take the shape of a few lines through the image (see Lot 122 above, lower left corner). However, artists often have different methods for different projects.  As you will see in Matisse’scancelled plate, Nu couchée s'appuyant sur le bras droit (1929), Lot 120, he has inscribed a dedication to printer Roger Lacourière’s wife, Madeleine, ‘en homage a Madame Lacouriére-H. Matisse’, which would be reversed if printed. These cancellation marks help to preserve the integrity of the published edition by preventing unauthorized future editions and, for this work by Matisse, provide additional historical context about the artist’s relationship with his collaborators.  

Printing presses exert a great deal of pressure on the copper plates, flattening incised lines over time and leading to a loss of precision or tonality in the printed image. This can be seen especially in Rembrandt impressions.  When comparing impressions pulled from the copper plate during the artist’s lifetime to impressions centuries later, the diminishing quality of the image can be extraordinary.  For Rembrandt’s Woman at a Door Hatch Talking to a Man and Children (1641), Lot 135, Alvin-Beaumont, who acquired the plate in 1906, recognized its value as a work of history and art, and had the plate varnished for presentation rather than focus on reprintings.ii  Other owners of Rembrandt’s plates, who wanted to print the images, took it upon themselves to deepen and sharpen the flattened lines with their own hand.  This ‘reworking’ of the plate now helps us date the impressions and has become one of the largest driving factors in the prices of Rembrandt prints on the market with twentieth-century impressions generally being much less valuable than seventeenth-century impressions. 

From hard-ground etching to soft-ground etching, from steel-faced copper to lithographic stones, and from cancelled to reworked plates, the story of the plates presented here is the story of the artist’s creation and refinement of ideas.  These works detail the collaboration of the artist with the printer and reflect how the artist approached the creative process while recognizing and adapting to the unique considerations of working with the medium.  They offer untapped opportunity to gain greater understanding of the makers and their work by providing singular access to the artist’s creativity and art historical legacy as defined and expanded uponthrough their printmaking.