Lithography

Lithography (from the Greek lithos, «stone», and graphein, «to write») is a planographic printing technique based on the mutual repulsion of grease and water. The artist draws the image with a greasy crayon or ink on a smooth limestone or metal plate; the surface is treated so that the image areas attract printing ink, while the non-image areas, dampened with water, repel it. Unlike intaglio or relief printing, there are neither recesses nor raised areas — printing takes place from a flat surface. Lithography was invented by Alois Senefelder in Munich around 1796. The technique quickly gained popularity for its ability to reproduce free drawing faithfully; it was used brilliantly by Honoré Daumier in political caricature, by Toulouse-Lautrec in colour posters, and by Odilon Redon. Lithography opened the age of the mass-reproduced image and remains an important medium of artistic graphics. In Ukraine, lithography was widely used in publishing and easel graphics of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.