British Printmakers, 1855-1955

This text examines the developments in British printmaking which started in the mid-19th century with the Etching Revival and continued into the mid-20th century with the experimental work carried out at Corsham and St Ives in the 1950s. During this period, printmaking came to be regarded as a direct means of artistic expression, rather than a means of reproduction. The book contains full-length essays devoted to wood engraving, etching, lithography, the colour woodcut, the linocut, modern lithography, the posterprint, the monotype and St Ives and Corsham. The main emphasis of these essays is the development of printmaking techniques through the century, as new techniques enabled artists to develop their ideas and expression. This approach avoids the usual method of catagorizing artists into schools and trends. An A-Z of artists includes biographies and reference material for over 400 principal artists, all of whom are represented by at least one illustration. 14 appendices provide lists of artists, exhibitions and published prints as well as a catalogue of all known poster-prints.
"British Printmakers" is inended to be a source of reference for collectors, art historians, museum curators and printmakers.