Linocut, also known as lino print, lino printing or linoleum art, is a

printmaking Printmaking is the process of creating work of art, artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand proces ...

technique, a variant of

relief printing Relief printing is a family of printing methods where a printing block, plate or matrix (printing), matrix, which has had ink applied to its non-recessed surface, is brought into contact with paper. The non-recessed surface will leave ink on th ...

in which a sheet of

linoleum Linoleum is a floor covering made from materials such as solidified linseed oil (linoxyn), Pine Resin, pine resin, ground Cork (material), cork dust, sawdust, and mineral fillers such as calcium carbonate, most commonly on a Hessian fabric, hes ...

(sometimes mounted on a wooden block) is used for a

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

surface. A design is cut into the linoleum surface with a sharp knife, V-shaped

chisel A chisel is a hand tool with a characteristic Wedge, wedge-shaped cutting edge on the end of its blade. A chisel is useful for carving or cutting a hard material such as woodworking, wood, lapidary, stone, or metalworking, metal. Using a chi ...

or gouge, with the raised (uncarved) areas representing a reversal (mirror image) of the parts to show printed. The linoleum sheet is inked with a roller (called a brayer), and then impressed onto paper or fabric. The actual printing can be done by hand or with a

printing press A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a printing, print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in whi ...

. Multi-color linocuts can be made by successively printing with a different block for each color as in a color woodcut, as the artists of the Grosvenor School frequently did. As

Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

demonstrated, such prints can also be achieved using a single piece of linoleum in what is called the "reductive" print method. Essentially, after each successive color is imprinted onto the paper, the artist then cleans the lino plate and cuts away what will not be imprinted for the subsequently applied color.Judging the Authenticity of Prints by The Masters
by David Rudd Cycleback. Retrieved: 2011-12-17.

Technique

Since the material being carved has no directional grain and does not tend to split, it is easier to obtain certain artistic effects with lino than with most woods, although the resultant prints lack the often angular grainy character of woodcuts. Lino is generally much easier to cut than wood, especially when heated, but the pressure of the printing process degrades the plate faster and it is difficult to create larger works due to the material's lack of rigidity. Due to ease of use, linocut is widely used in schools to introduce children to the art of printmaking, using it to complete many tasks in the art lesson rather than going straight for the pencil and eraser. Similarly, non-professional artists often cut lino rather than wood for printing. Nevertheless, in the contemporary art world the linocut is an established professional print medium, because of its extensive use by the artists of the Expressionist art movement, Grosvenor School, followed by Pablo Picasso and

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual arts, visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, ...

Emergence of the technique in America

"Linoleum art" was first displayed in New York City in 1911 by the Czech émigré Vojtěch Preissig. In his publications on linocuts (1926–29) the respected American printmaker, Pedro Joseph de Lemos, simplified the methods for art schools and introduced new techniques for color linocuts, including the printing of the key block first. The first large-scale color linocuts made by an American artist were created by Walter Inglis Anderson, and exhibited at the

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...

in 1949.

Selected artists

Josef Albers Josef Albers ( , , ; March 19, 1888March 25, 1976) was a German-born American artist and Visual arts education, educator who is considered one of the most influential 20th-century art teachers in the United States. Born in 1888 in Bottrop, Westp ...

, German * Peeter Allik, Estonian * Valenti Angelo, American printmaker and illustrator * Walter Inglis Anderson American * Sybil Andrews English-Canadian * Hans Anton Aschenborn, German * Torsten Billman, Swedish * Emma Bormann, Austrian * Gail Brodholt, English * Horace Brodzky, Australian/British artist * Angel Botello, Spanish-Puerto Rican artist * Margaret Burroughs, American artist * Carlos Cortez, American poet and artist * David Call, American Deaf artist * Stanley Donwood, British artist * Yvonne Drewry, English artist * Janet Doub Erickson, American printmaker and artist *

M. C. Escher Maurits Cornelis Escher (; ; 17 June 1898 – 27 March 1972) was a Dutch graphic artist who made woodcuts, lithography, lithographs, and mezzotints, many of which were Mathematics and art, inspired by mathematics. Despite wide popular int ...

, Dutch artist * Bill Fick, American printmaker and illustrator * Folly Cove Designers American design collective * Jacques Hnizdovsky, Ukrainian/American * William Kermode, Australian * Gaga Kovenchuk, Russian *

, French painter *

, Spanish painter * Cyril Edward Power, English artist * Everett Ruess, American * Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, German printmaker and painter * John Shaw, American/Canadian painter and printmaker * Irena Sibley, Australian * James Blanding Sloan, American * Ethel Spowers, Australian printmaker * Ken Sprague, English artist * Frank Weitzel, New Zealand * Hannah Tompkins, American * Tom Hazelmyer, American * Gwen Frostic, American * Vanessa Lubach, British * Paweł Brodzisz, Polish artist

References

External links

Large scale hand printed linocut video

Explanation of art term 'Linocut' on Tate Gallery website

The Lino Printing Process
{{Authority control Printmaking Relief printing * fi:Taidegrafiikka#Linoleikkaus

Technique

Emergence of the technique in America

Selected artists

See also

References

Further reading

External links