Lithographs

Lithography is a printmaking technique based on the chemical principle that oil and water repel each other. In traditional lithography, an image is drawn with a greasy medium directly onto a flat surface, typically a limestone block. The surface is then treated so that the non-image areas attract water and resist ink; when the block is moistened and inked with a oil-based ink, the ink adheres only to the greasy image areas and can be transferred to paper.

The method was invented by Alois Senefelder in 1796 in Bavaria and quickly spread as a direct, economical way to reproduce drawings. Early stones were often limestone quarried in the region, and lithography enabled broader distribution of artworks, maps, and theater posters. In the 19th century chromolithography expanded color printing, while the 20th century saw offset lithography, which uses a planographic process and rubber blankets to transfer the image, greatly increasing printing efficiency for commercial work.

Materials and surfaces have evolved from traditional limestone to metal plates (typically zinc or aluminum) and newer synthetic substrates. The process relies on creating hydrophobic image areas that accept ink and hydrophilic non-image areas that hold water. For color work, multiple stones or plates are used, with careful registration to align each color impression.

Today lithography remains important both as a fine art medium and as a workhorse of commercial printing. Notable artists who used lithography include Honoré Daumier, Toulouse-Lautrec, Picasso, and Chagall, while offset lithography dominates modern mass production of books, magazines, and posters.