Musée de la Lithographie

 

 

 

 

 

 

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History

Lithography is a procedure of engraving the pencil on the chemical covered surface. Through this execution the bed becomes a relief.
There are three important kinds of procedure on which all others are based on :

-the method of engraving by carving wood, used since ancient world
-the method of engraving by enchasing metal, used between the 15. and 16. century
-lithography was invented by Alois Senefelder in 1796 in Munich. It’s the last invented procedure of engraving since patenting lithography.

Alois Senefelder is born in 1771 in Prague, actually lived in Munich. After finishing his law studies he gave himself over to study dramatics and literature. But he couldn’t find a publisher for his transcriptions, so he was obliged to spend money in buying a publishing house. But his expenses were exploding because of plentiful deficient attempts in erasing errors produced from engraving copper.

He reminded having seen small stones at the waterside of the Isar that should replace the pumice. The results totally satisfied him. In fact he was thinking of using them for exercising his writing manner and his attempts in engraving. In 1796 he invented lithography and only three years later it was used by pencil and fether.

Sqeezing machine by Senefelder (in 1797)

 

In 1800 Senefelder presented his « complete descriptions about lithography » to the patent office in London. The year after lithography was imported to London by his partner Antoine André and its patent of importing to france was purchased by his brother Frédéric André in 1802.

Lithography was shown in italy in 1805 at G.Dalli Armi’s. In 1812 denmark was presented lithography the first time, but actually in 1815 it became famous.

In 1818 Senefelder established a studio in Paris and in 1819 he wrote down the history of the inventing of lithography. The original version was published in Munich and translated in french several years after.

These years it also took place that early lithographies of Goya could been gazed at. In 1824 the english artist Richard Parkes Bonnington attracted attention with his artworks in black and white. In france Daumier published his journal « the charivari » during the revolution in 1830.

Senefelder died in 1834 in Munich. The inscription of his tomb is engraved on a lithographic stone. The placard invented by Jules Cheret (1836-1933) caught people’s eyes with the help of Toulouse-Lautrec who painted his early coloured placards in 1892.

 

Lithography of Toulouse-Lautrec in 1893 (museum of lithography)

 

Lithography as an industrial sector has prospered since 1900 in france, the so-to-speak « Belle Epoche », which allowed masterpieces from different kinds of artificial branches. Due to the rapid procedure in lithography, placards or etiquettes were enormously created and edited by the commercial publishers, for instance the textile industry, especially concerning the north of France.

 

Lithographic stones shown in the museum of lithography in Houplines

 

 

Musée de la Lithographie – 21, rue Camille Desmoulins – 59116 Houplines

03 20 30 62 34 – Email : contact@musee-lithos.org