Printmaking

Woodcut

“Nightvision” by Penck 1982
Woodcut was the perfect choice for A.R. Penck’s Nightvision as the effect of the roughly cut away wood hightened Pencks tribal-like figures. These primitive stick figures of the piece are derived from a personal system of symbols and signs that embody a message of commonality. The thick, angular lines created by the figures in addition to the patterns that surround them would have been very hard to create with other techniques such as etching and lithography. In fact, the unrefined aesthetic of the piece is commonly associated with woodcuts. 

Etching

“The Skull” by Otto Dix 1924

Skulls have always been used in the past as messages of wartime. Dix’s Skull is a gruesome image of decay and worms investing a human skull, which is meant to symbolize the indescribable horrors of the first World War. The details of the piece are qualities that are often attributed with etchings. These details and precision are achieved by the fine tools that are used to incise the designs on metal plates and would have been extrememly hard to do with woodcarving, where the grain of the wood might not permit it, or lithography, which would have left much room for error.

Lithography

“Profile of Light” by Redon 1886

Lithographs are known for their similarities to drawings themselves and are one of the most direct methods of printmaking. This is due to the process behind this technique. Instead of using a specific tool in a subtractive manner, lithographs are drawings in either crayons or tusche on polished slabs of limestone or metal. Many artists find this method preferable for a variety of reasons like Rodin who appreciated lithography’s proximity to drawing and the deep, mysterious blacks it can produce as seen in Profile of Light. This drawing-like quality is seen in the headpiece of the woman and in the lines of her face.

Serigraph

“Brushstroke” Roy Lichtenstein 1965

This hard-edged image was one of a series of paintings depicting enlarged brushstrokes that Lichtenstein created in 1965-1966. This series was created to make a direct comment on the elevated content and loaded brushwork of Abstract Expressionism. This piece is very clearly a screen print as evident in not only the clean, and sharp lines of the ‘brushstroke’ but in the bold areas of solid color. These qualities would have not been as easily produced through other techniques such as lithography and etching. 

Painting

The Birth of the Virgin Wiki Commons

Domenico Ghirlandaio’s Tornabuoni Chapel in Santa Maria Novella is truly a wonderful example of an exquisite fresco cycle. Using classical pilasters and entablatures, Ghirlandaio divided the two enormous walls under the wall rib in this Gothic chapel into six horizontally rectangular picture fields. In this particular piece, The Birth of the Virgin, set in a 15^th century Florentine Palazzo, the Tornabouni family are active participants in the piece, crowding around the bed of Mary’s mother. The painting is a truly a fresco as seen in the texture of the piece. Unlike oil and tempera, fresco is rougher and lends more to the shape of the pigments that the binding agent. The fresco also lacks the vibrancy of color that oil and tempera can achieve as seen in the blue cloaks of the 3^rd and 6^th women from the right. Also typical of fresco’s, The Birth of the Virgin, has seen better days. The lower right hand corner has loss o pigment and crumbling plaster.

Descent from the Cross Wiki Commons

Fra Angelico’s move into San Marco in Florence was beneficial for both parties, as Angelico had a peaceful place to work on and further develop his art and the church and cloister gained a collection of art that has placed it on the map. In Angelico’s 1440 triptych tempera, Descent form the Cross, the artists development of space and lines is evident. This early Renaissance piece is the quintessential tempera. The bright colors in the shades of red in the work are due to the vibrancy that came from the mixture o the pigments and egg yolk, something that was lost with fresco paintings.  There are few gradations of tone, seen in the figure to the far left, a quality that would have easily been achieved with oil.

The Holy Family with Saint Agnes, Wiki Commons

Fra Paolino’s oil painting, The Holy Family with Saint Agnes done in 1525 and hanging in San Marco, is a beautiful example of a High Renaissance oil painting. It is evident that this piece is an oil painting due to the overall sheen of the painting. Unlike frescos, which appear matte, and tempera, which have more of an eggshell appearance, oil paintings have a decidedly shiny appearance due to the glazes that an artist applies over time. When areas such as Mary’s blue mantle and the dress of the angel are examined, one can see the blending of the paint, something that is achieved quite easily with the slow-drying medium.  

A Universal Language

After Raphael, pencil

 “The art of life is to show your hand.” 
– E.V. Lucas

The hand has played a part in the creative life of every known society, and it has come to be symbolic or representative of the whole person in all forms of art.

They are the organs of the body that, except for the face, have been used most often in the various art forms to express human feeling. The hands point or lead or command; the hands cry out in agony or they lie quietly sleeping; the hands have moods, character, and, in a wider sense, their own particular beauty.

Caliari, chalk

Throughout the history of art hands in particular have played an important role in communicating meaning within paintings. In the Renaissance with the importance on humanism and portraying the human form as accurately as possible, it became vital that artists be able to capture hand gestures. Thus hand studies became common. The four studies of the human hand, done by Carlo Caliari, Bartolommeo Passarotti, Leonardo da Vinci, and a sixteenth century drawing done in the style of Raphael, all reflect on the time and trials that the artist underwent in the search for the perfect pose, the ideal lighting and placement.

The work of Carlo Caliari is precise and delicate, both technically and in the physical types. Caliari’s oily black chalk, heightened with white on gray paper study of hands and arms are more developed than the black and white sketches of the other artists. In his sketches, Caliari seems to be developing and grasping the highlights and shadows of the bones and muscles visible in the hand. He explores the grip of the hand in the second from the top sketch can indicate much. If the hand is tight on an object, the individual controlling it may be experiencing heightened emotions, fear anger etc. whereas if they have a looser grip such as the one in the sketches, they may be calmer, and more collected.

Passaroti, pen and ink

Praised by early biographers as a draftsman and engraver, Bartolommeo Passarotti employed a distinctive cross-hatching technique in most of his drawings. His anatomical interest in powerful, acrobatic figures is dramatically evident in his drawings. In this particular sketch, done in the last half of the 16^th century, eight different hand gestures are being studied. Whereas some have slight variations from another, it is obvious that Passarotti was working through them in order to find the perfect one that spoke to him for his piece. Passarotti’s choice in medium of pen and ink allowed for him to develop shadows and highlights with cross-hatch only. The cross-hatching technique creates the illusion of three dimensionality on the two dimensional surface.

Leonardo da Vinci is known for his Mona Lisa and Madonna of the Rocks, but his true fascination lied in the human anatomy. Truly revolutionary for his time, da Vinci spent time observing the human body, dead and alive. Therefore, it is no surprise that Da Vinci’s sketches are still captivating artists to this day. Da Vinci employed specific symbolism within the hand gestures in his paintings, symbolism which have been easily understood in the 15^th Century. This particular silverpoint collection of sketches shows the same female hand and it’s many gestures. He studies how the slightest turning of the hand can change the meaning of the motion. The grace that he gives to the subject truly reflects on his skill as an artist.

Leonardo da Vinci, silverpoint

The final sketch was completed in the 16^th century in the style of Raphael. The sketch is done in pencil captures two simple gestures. In the upper left-hand corner two hands appear to be folded inwards, possibly towards a chest and in the center two hands of the same figure are being held out, almost as though the figure has raised them in either blessing or is about to put both down. The shading of the piece is done in horizontal lines and the foreshortening is truly amazing for a study.