Photogravure
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| Gateway - Hidalgo Strand, Paul, b.1890-1976 The Mexican Portfolio, 1933, 8 x 10 in Photogravure |
Photogravure, from the Greek ~phos for light and the French ~gravure
for engrave, is an intaglio process which uses light to transfer a positive transparent
photograph onto a copper plate, by way of a gelatin relief.[7] The plate is sprinkled
with aquatint grains and etched before being inked to create multiple copies of
the same image, often for use in high quality books.[7]
Inventors: Joseph-Nicephore
Niepce, William Henry Fox Talbot and Karl Klic.
Niepce created the first prototype for the photogravure in
1826 when he used the sun to make an etching of an engraving on a pewter plate.[4]
In 1852 Talbot began to improve the process by changing the relief material
from Bitumen of Judea to gelatin treated with potassium bichromate.[4] Talbot
also patented the use of fine aquatint grains, which create many small etches
instead of one large depression, to help the ink stick to the plate when
printing.[2] In 1879 Kilc improved both the process of applying the image to
the copper plate as well as the process of applying the aquatint grain.[4] The
final process was known as the Talbot-Klíc Dust-Grain photogravure and was in common
use through 1916.[4] Photogravure, or grain gravure[1], was phased out by the
cheaper rotogravure and an interest in Straight Photography instead of Naturalistic
Photography.[4]
Ways in which it was
used: Photogravures were predominantly used as reproductions of photographs
in high quality books.[3] The images are associated with the evolution of photography
as a fine art as well as the Naturalistic Photography and Pictorialism movements.[4]
Famous users: Peter
Henry Emmerson, Alfred Stieglitz, Edward S. Curtis, Paul Strand
Emmerson, as a practitioner of Naturalistic Photography
believed that photos should be soft and impressionistic like human sight.[4] He
preferred the use of photogravures since they were had the above mentioned
characteristics.[4] His books of gravures from 1887-1895 are some of the
earliest fine art photographs.[4] Stieglitz founded the Photo-Secessionists
group in 1902 and used its quarterly publication, Camera Notes, to spread Pictorialism through photogravures.[4] After
leaving Camera Notes in 1903,
Stieglitz went on to produce Camera Work,
the definitive example of photogravure printing.[4]The last publication of Camera Work was in 1917 signaling an end
to the impressionistic Pictorialism movement, the start of Straight Photography,
and the death of mainstream photogravure.[4] Curtis continued to use photogravures
throughout his twenty volume, twenty-three year (1907-1930) publication of The North American Indian, despite the existence
of cheaper methods, perhaps due to the nostalgic, rose tinted feeling of
photogravures.[4] Paul Strand chose to use photogravures in his 1940 seminal portfolio,
Photographs of Mexico, to depict the pride
of the people after their revolution.[4]
How to identify:
- · Has fine aquatint grains (random tiny white blobs)[6]
- · Matte finish
- · Ink on paper (any color, usually black or sepia)[6]
- · Usually in books[6]
- · Smooth gradation of tone[6]
- · Can have a depression from plate outside of printing area[1]
Dating: Most were
created between 1880 and 1917, though the photogravure process has been used sporadically
up through the current day.[4]
Preservation
concerns: One of the reason photographers made photogravures of their
images was the permanence that came along with the known stability of ink and paper.[5]
Photogravures face many of the concerns all paper objects must grapple with
including foxing, tearing, mold, and fading, while avoiding most of the
concerns that plague other photo processes.[5]
Bibliography
[1] Crawford, W. (1979). The Keepers of Light - A
History and Working Guide to Early Photographic Processes. New York:
Morgan and Morgan.
[2] Denison, H. (1974). A treatise on
photogravure. Rochester: N.Y. Visual Studies Workshop.
[3] Gaffney, D. (2005, February 14). What is a
Photogravure? Retrieved from PBS Antique Roadshow:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/fts/memphis_200403A10.html
[4] History of the
Photogravure. (2006). Retrieved
from Art of the Photogravure:
http://www.photogravure.com/history/chapter_introduction.html
[5] Messier, P. (2006). Photogravure Conservation.
Retrieved from Art of Photogravure:
http://www.photogravure.com/resources/conservation.html
[6] Photogravure
Prints. (2015). Retrieved from
Graphic Atlas: http://www.graphicsatlas.org/identification/
[7] Taylor, P. (n.d.). Photogravure.
Retrieved from Renaissance Press:
http://www.renaissancepress.com/photogravure/
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