Evening star., 1913-11-30
Progress of Woodcutting.

In the EXHIBITS pertaining 10 illustrating
the progress in woodcutting is shown by
relief prints from .'planks'' cut with the
grain, and also from lockwood blocks with
the carving across the grain. These are
all hand engraved and represent the ef-
forts of both early and modern artists.
There are some very old wood cuts by
unknown engravers, and others by AL
brecht Durer, Thomas Bewick- John An
drews, Timothy Cole and Henry Wolf.
In this connection, Japanese woodcut-
ting and woodcut printing form special
feature The exhibit consists OF the va
rious planks engraved in relief, used in
reproducing the original painting, each
plank reproducing the portions TO
which that particular color applies. The
proofs of the different color-plankS and
the result OF each successive step are
illustrated IN the composite print. as well
as in the completed picture. showing the
various colors in their respective places.
The resulting print is remarkable. con-
sdering the hand method employed, the
ragistration is perfect, and it is said that
some Japanese printers can run off 5000
black prints and from 600 to 1,soo col
ored prints per day. while English and
American printers cannot approach this
output on a hand press. This division
of the collection includes a complete jap
anese outfit for printing as well as en-
craving. This comprises box of tools,
boards for dampening the paper TO be
printed on, the slanting table used for
holding the planks from which the prints
are taken, the bamboo-leaf covered
barren" water-color ink, and so forth.
Etchings Made in 1880.
Some of the etchings in the collection
We're made as early as 14S0 and are re-
markably old, since the first authentic
print known is dated 1923. Albrecht
Durer. Martin Schongauer. Hendrix
Goltzius and many other famous old
Seymour Hayden and other modern etch-
ers. Engraving covers the same time
and 10 a certain extent the same artists.
The processes of engraving and etching
arc often combined, since most engray-
ers start their work by etching and fin
ish with engraving. The picture of Ari-
adne, by a. r. Durand, the first i'm
portant engraving made in the United
States. is d good example: the various
proofs taken show how the work pro-
gressed.
IL the etching series the various stages
OF the plate are shown; the clean bright
copper, the waxed surface before and
after smoking. the drawing cut through
the wax by the artist with the needle
the plate after the application of the
etching acid. which affects only the parts
OF the plate exposed through the lines cut
in the wax by the needle. and the finished
plate with ii print therefrom. \ number
OF prints supplement this series and are
The work Of many noted artists.
In the exhibit of lithography there ar.
shown the first reproduction by thi.
method made In the United States. to
Sether with many others: also stone!
and all the tools necessary in makint
prints from stone and zinc.
Nearly the same principles used il
hthoSraphy are employed in collography
but this is a photo-mechanical process
the principle OF which was discovered
about ls1;' and developed commercially il
about 1877. In this method bichrorna
tiZed gelatin film mounted on copper j:
used TO p int from instead Of the stone.
The photo-mechanical method is Illus
tTated in each of the three different di
yisions-relief, intagiio and photographic
The Woodbury. type and the early I've.
process are shown with half-tone reliefs
also the Osborne photographic process to
gether with photographers, three-colo
rellefs and other modern methods.