During April and May, Warnock Fine Arts will
exhibit masterworks of the mezzotint printmaking medium,
featuring works by more than 50 artists from 11 countries,
and spanning a period of nearly 300 years. Early works
by William Pether, Valantine Green, James Tissot and Frank
Short will be shown, along with modern masters such as
Reynold Weidenaar, Mikio Watanabe, Guntars Sietins, James
Groleau, Konstantine Chmutin, Holly Downing, Sharon Augusta
Mitchell and Katsunori Hamanishi. A catalogue for the show
is available.
Originally developed in 1642 in Holland by
Ludwig von Siegen, the mezzotint is characterized by the
wide range of textures and rich tonal qualities it can
achieve. The surface of a copper plate is roughened with
a tool called a rocker, a curved blade with steel teeth,
which produces a rich black tone when printed. The lighter
tones of a mezzotint are brought from dark to light by
smoothing the roughened plate with burnishing and scraping
tools.
While the process was developed by artists
in Holland, it was in England that the full potential of
the mezzotint was realized, and the 18 th century is considered
the golden age of the mezzotint.
However, the process became primarily a reproductive
method, used to copy paintings by prominent artists. With
the advent of photography there was less need for this,
and the technique nearly disappeared. Sir Frank Short attempted
to revive the medium and document the process, but the
medium was little used during the first half of the 20th
century.
While individuals, such as Reynold Weidenaar
in the United States, continued working in the medium,
it was primarily through the success and popularity
of Yozo Hamaguchi that the mezzotint began it’s
slow resurgence.
Today many artists around the world practice
this labor intensive form of printmaking. Artists such
as Konstantine Chmutin of the Ukraine, or Holly Downing
based in California portray still life objects in exquisite
black and white detail with dramatic lighting effects.
But the mezzotint technique is equally being employed
in the use of color such as in the portrayal of landscapes
in James Groleau’s prints of Maine, or Berkeley,
California artist Sharon Augusta Mitchell’s enigmatic
images of animals.
