Daumier and many others soon followed. Tolouse Lautrec, with his advertising wall-papers for the Moulin Rouge, gave this new artistical way a vast popularity. From then on, the contribution of litography graphic art has been huge, as it is proved by the interest of almost every modern artist.
Few people know what a litograph is, the execution method and the secrets for a good work.
The matrix can be a thick plate of calcareous stone or, for practical matters, a zincograph. Then the entire surface is damped by sponge soaked with water, that permeates the stone grain and is rejected by the marks, previously drawed with the tusche pencils. Then the stone is inked with a roller, and the ink fixes on the marks, drawed by the pencils, while it is rejected by the previously damped portions. The paper sheet is placed directly on the drawed matrix, previously damped, inked and placed on a hand-press trolley. In multi-colored litographes a different matrix is used for every color stage.