The invention
At the end of the 18th century, exactly two hundred years ago, a new printing technique was invented in Germany: lithography, which literally means 'stone-drawing'. Until then prints had to be made by cutting or scratching a composition in wood or copper, but this invention made that no longer necessary, lithography being a surface printing technique. An advantage of lithography over other printing techniques was that it was easy to draw on the stone. Moreover, many more impressions could be made. Thus the technique lent itself exceptionally well to the reproduction of paintings and drawings, while large editions made it possible for works of art to be disseminated on a large scale. The prints could easily find their way to the general public.
In fact the inventor of lithography, Alois Senefelder (Prague 1771-1834 Munich), was not an artist, but earned his living by writing plays. Over 20 years after his invention he described in his `Vollständiges Lehrbuch der Steindruckerei' how he had long been searching for a cheap way of printing his texts. one day he replaced the copper plate with a polished stone and began to experiment with engraving on stone. He had just polished a stone when his mother called him to write a laundry list. Senefelder could not find a piece of paper so wrote the list with his ink made of wax and soap on the stone. When he later tried to wash the stone clean he began to realize that it might be possible to print from the stone after working on it. After much experimentation, lithography, a technique based on the mutual repulsion of water and grease, was born. Senefelder called this process `Chemical Printing'.
The technique
Porous limestone from the quarries of Solnhofen in Bavaria is the most suitable for lithography. The stones are sawn in thicknesses varying from 6 to 10 centimetres, depending on their size. They are then worked up in the artist's studio or the printer's workshop , which means they are roughened or polished smooth, according to whether the drawing is to be executed in crayon or ink. If an artist uses crayon, then the surface of the stone must be slightly grainy. If he draws in ink, then a well polished stone will ensure that it does not run. A fundamental aspect of the procedure is that the crayon or ink, with which the composition is drawn on the stone, must have a certain greasy component.
The printer treats the surface of the stone with a solution of gum arabic, to which some nitric acid has been added. This anchors the composition in the stone, the grease of the drawing material forming a chemical compound with it, which remains even when the printer has cleaned the stone with turpentine and the composition seems to have completely disappeared. After that the stone is moistened and inked with a roller. Only the greasy, drawn parts take up the ink, the moist parts of the stone repelling it. Once that has been done, a damp sheet of paper is laid on the stone, they are passed through the printing press together and the lithograph is ready, unless, colour is to be added to the composition, in which case a separate stone and thus an additional printing will be needed for each colour.
The printing firms
At first it was thought that the lithographer must also be a printer, but printing soon became a separate profession. One of the contributory factors here was that lithography proved so suited to commercial printing. Thus the emphasis in the 19th century lay on mass production, which consistuted the printer's greatest source of income. The artistic lithograph demanded a different approach. Here the printer came increasingly to play the role of technical adviser, who enabled the artist to achieve the precise shades of grey or colour printing. The colour lithograph in particular made high demands on the technique, because each colour requires a separate printing, which must fit the others precisely. Printing presses were made in Germany and France. After 1850 the rapid press was introduced, the inking and moistening of the stone now being carried out mechanically. Lithographic presses were worked by hand at first, but from 1870 onwards they were driven by steam. During the course of this century offset printing has superseded the lithographic press.
The development of lithography
Lithography was used at first for printing music. Shortly after discovering his invention Senefelder entered an association with Anton André, an Offenbach music publisher, who encouraged him to apply for patents for his invention in various countries.
Engeland
In 1800 Senefelder went to England with Anton's brother Philipp André, who established a lithographic printing firm in London in 1801. Here the accent lay not so much on the printing of music as on the making of artistic prints. Philipp André sent instructions on lithography to various artists, including Benjamin West, Thomas Hearne and Henry Fuseli, publishing their work in 1803 under the title `Specimens of Polyautography'. This publication, which contained 12 lithographs, brought the work of renowned artists on to the market for the first time by means of the new technique. All the prints had been drawn on the stone with a pen, because at first this technique yielded the best results. In 1805 André left London and his firm was continued under a different name. Apart from the printing firm of Charles Hullmandel, where, among others, the French artist Géricault had his lithographs printed in 1820 and 1821, England ceased to play an important role in the development of lithography until the end of the century. After that it was Whistler who, with his sensitively drawn lithographs, again gave the technique a place on a par with etching, which was so popular at that time.
Germany
In Germany lithography was carried out in several places after 1798. Various lithographers were active in Bavaria (in particular), where the technique had been invented. Here it was initially used for printing music, cards and portraits and copying paintings and drawings. It could almost be described as a lithographic industry. At the beginning of the 19thcentury Senefelder's workshop was much visited by artists and printers who wanted to learn the new technique. This great interest in litography and its successful application led to its rapid development in Germany, with lithographs of outstanding quality being produced in the Romantic period in particular.
The Netherlands
In the Netherlands the technique was introduced in 1809. The first half of the 19th century is not the most prosperous period of the Dutch history of art. The lithographs of that time confirm that view. In contrast to the enormous dedication of many artists later in the century to acquire the technique of lithography, at first there was little interest in litography. So for a long time people in Holland knew little of this invention and its development. This was also due to the fact that several artists presented themselves as inventor of the technique.
So compared with other countries the introduction of the lithography in Holland came rather late. The first publication about the new technique appeared in a paper of 1807. In the publication "Koninklijke Courant", a short article appeared entitled "About Polyautography, or the art of printing with stone". In this article Senefelder was described as the inventor and emphasis was laid on the facility and low cost of the technique, pointing out the suitability of the new invention for printing music.
Johann Anton André was Senefelder`s first associate, so it is no accident that in Holland lithography was used for the first time by a music publisher called Lodewijk Plattner (1767 - 1842), an immigrant from Germany. He was of Bavarian origin, as Senefelder was, and had he settled in the Netherlands, in Rotterdam around 1800. There he established a shop selling musical instruments and a printing-shop.
At first he printed his music from pewter plates, but that proved a very time-consuming and expensive process, so he chose lithography for his music publications. He was probably familiar with this technique from the music publications of Johann André,which were imported from Germany at that time, or perhaps he read the article in the paper of 1807. At any rate, he learned the technique from Franz Niedermayr, who came into contact with lithography in 1799 in München. Niedermayr, who printed music for composers and started an atelier in Regensburgin 1800, came to Rotterdam and set up a lithographic printing-shop (for Plattner).
Then in 1809, Plattner asked Louis Napoleon, then king of Holland, for a patent on the new technique for ten years, in describing himself as the inventor of lithography. But he was unaware that king Louis Napoleon had visited the printing shop of Alois Senefelder in München in 1805. Moreover Senefelder had just published his "Musterbuch" in which he wrote about his invention. Nevertheless, Plattner received a patent for five years and untill 1815 was officially the only person in Holland to publish music using lithography. In his patent request Plattner includedsome trials of drawings on stone. They are of a very poor quality and were drawn on the stone by Simon Petit (1752-1814) a draughtsman, who also lived in Rotterdam. Though Plattner claimed he had executed them himself in crayon.
In the period of Plattner's activity there were others who tried to find out how to print from stone. We know of at least one other establishment in Rotterdam. But untill 1815 Plattner officially had the only lithographic workshop in the Netherlands.
After 1815 new printing-shops appeared in Amsterdam, The Hague and Rotterdam and litography became generally known. Some printers learned the profession in Paris or visited Germany.
In Holland lithographs mainly used German presses from Leipzig, Berlin and Munich. Very little is known about the organization and structure of the Dutch printing-shops. At any rate they were small in comparison with France and Germany and simple in conception.
What kind of lithographs were printed? Lithography was used for commercial purposes, for cards (in military circles) and as a reproduction technique for paintings. Between 1828 and 1833 the paintings of the Royal Museum in The Hague, now The Mauritshuis, were all reproduced in litho. The invention of lithography gave the world a relatively inexpensive way of printing portraits and the demand for portraits grew during the first half of the 19th century.
Drawings and prints of the 17th century formed a very important source of inspiration for artists who favoured landscapes and animal studies. They went back to Paulus Potter, Cornelis Visscher, Nicolaes Berchem and others.
So during the first half of the 19th century lithography was not very popular as a technique for artistic aims. It was seen as a purely reproductive technique lacking originality. Engraving and etching were still seen as the only artistic media.
Of course this view changed when lithography became a more professional medium later in the century, used by artists like Jan Toorop, Theo van Hoytema and Simon Moulijn.
France
In France the situation was quite different. In Paris Friedrich André, another brother of the Offenbach music publisher, set up a lithographic firm, but it proved a complete failure. There were no lithographic printing firms of any significance in France until 1815, but in that year the technique was given an enormous boost by the establishment of two important concerns in Paris, those of Charles de Lasteyrie and Godfroy Engelmann. In a short time lithography blossomed and in Paris in particular leading firms became established. Géricault, Delacroix and Daumier, to name only a few artists, brought great renown to the technique. In the middle of the century there was a revival of etching, but after 1870 France was the country where the most beautiful and sought-after lithographs were made. This was thanks to the inspiring collaboration between artist, printer and publisher, which, in the 1890s in particular, resulted in large numbers of superb colour lithographs. The art dealer Ambroise Vollard published many albums, for which he commissioned well-known artists to supply colour lithographs. Between 1891 and 1901 Toulouse Lautrec made over 350 lithographs, including some 30 posters which constitute a pinnacle of achievement in the history of the technique.
The new century
During the course of the 20th century new, photo-mechanical techniques have come to take the place of lithography, but the technique has nonetheless remained an attractive one. Harald Vlugt (1957) for example, made a marvellous lithograph especially for the exhibition `The Festival of Lithography' to show that after 200 years lithography is still very popular for many artists.
