The Development Process form Lithography to Chromolithography

The word lithography is derived form the Greek term “stone printing.” A Bavarian author Aloys Senefelder invented the first lithography process in 1796.  He searched for a cheap way to print his own dramatic works. He started to experiment with etched stones and metal reliefs. Eventually he came up with the idea to etch a stone away around grease-pencil writing and make into a relief printing plate. His continuous experimenting lead to the invention of lithographic printing, in which an image is neither raised nor incised. Rather, the image was formed on the flat plane of the printing surface. The process of printing from a flat surface is called planographic printing. 

Lithography is based on the concept that water and oil repel each other. The process proceeds as follow:

• An image is drawn on a flat stone surface using an oil-based crayon, pen or pencil.
• Water it spread over the stone to moisten all areas except for the image, which will repel the water.
• Using a roller, an oil-based ink is evenly spread over the stone surface. Needless to say, this ink will only adhere to the image.
• A sheet of paper is placed over the image
• Using a printing press, the inked image is transferred onto the sheet of paper.

Senefelder started to experiment with multicolor lithography in the 1800s seeing as the process of applying color by hand was a very time consuming and costly process at the time.

Godefroy Engelmann, a French printer, invented the process of chromolithography in 1837. He studied the colors of original art pieces. Using a printer, he separated them into a series of printing plates. These plates were applied to a sheet of paper one-by-one. This invention had vast social and economical ramifications and served as the origin of color printing today.

American chromolithography originated in Boston, where an ensemble of talented practitioners pioneered a school of lithographic naturalism. They achieved technical perfection and imagery of compelling realism. In 1846 Richard M. Hoe perfected the rotary lithographic press. His invention was nicknamed “The Lightning Press” because of its ability to print six times as fast as the lithographic presses that were the norm at that time. This rotary lithographic press proved an important boost in lithography’s competition with the letterpress. Due to this innovation economical color printing poured form the printing houses with millions of impressions each year.

Forst, Averell & Co., poster for the Hoe printing press, 

The Rotary Lithography Press, 1870. 

This press made mass editions of chromolithographs possible. 

John H. Bufford, a master craftsman, was the next pivotal inventor of chromolithography.  His crayon style images achieved a remarkable realism. His trademark was his meticulous tonal drawings that were very convincing and his flawless integration of image and lettering into a unified design.

He specialized in art prints, posters, covers and books and magazine illustrations. He always used 5 colors or more and his meticulous tonal drawing of his black stone always became the master plate. This original master plate drawing was duplicated precisely onto a lithographic stone.  From there, separate stones were created for the printing of the flesh tone, reds, yellows, blues and the slate gray background. Browns, grays and oranges were created when he above mentioned color plates were overprinted with perfect registration. Thus, the colors of the original art piece were separated into component parts and then reassembled.

S. S. Frizzall (artist) and J. H. Bufford’s Sons (printers), 

poster for the Cleveland and Hendricks presidential campaign, 1884. 

The loose style of the flags and other symbolic imagery framing the 

candidates emphasizes the extreme realism of the portraits.

American lithography maintained its German heritage by importing authentic Bavarian lithographic stones, along with craftsmen. Nations all around the world were supporting this practice by importing skilled German craftsmen and excellent stones as well. From 1860 the 1900 chromolithography dominated color printing.

One of the German immigrants to America, Louis Prang, had an international influence due to the quality of his work. Growing up he mastered the complex procedures of his dad’s fabric printing process. After arriving in America in 1850 he settled in Boston. His knowledge of printing chemistry, color, business management, designing, engraving and printing itself was of great assistance when he established a chromolithography firm with Julius Mayer in 1856.

The stones were designed and prepared by Prang while Mayer did the printing on a single hand press. The firm grew rapidly due to Prang’s colorful works. In 1860 Prang bought Mayer’s shares and renamed the firm L. Prang and Company.

Popular narrative and romantic painting of the Victorian era was closely linked with the graphic illustration of chromolithographers who often commissioned artists and held competitions to acquire subjects for printing images. Prang produced millions of album cards called scrap. Collecting these “beautiful bits of art” was a major pass time for Victorians. Prang’s wildflowers, butterflies, children, animals and birds became the ultimate expression of the period’s love for sentimentalism, nostalgia and traditional values.  He was perceived as the father od Christmas cards even though the earliest one dated back to 1843 and was created by John Callcot Horsley.

Many designers got onto the card designing wagon and a full line of designs followed. Prang’s firm produced Easter, birthday, Valentine’s and even New Year’s Day cards annually during the 1880s. The designs were so intricate that Prang sometimes had to used up to 40 stones for one design. 

In the 1870s album cards evolved into advertising cards.  Chromolithographic advertising cards were popularized when Prang distributed 20 000 – 30 000 business cards with floral designs at the 1873 Vienna International Exhibition. These business cards enabled manufacturers and merchants to place an advertising message on the back or in an open space on the front.

Prang made a life long contribution to art education. Unable to find high-quality, non-toxic art material for children, he began to manufacture and distribute watercolor sets and crayons. He also devoted a staggering amount of time on the development and publishing of art-instruction books.  Never stopping to rest, Prang explored the industry of magazines and eventually started publishing his own two magazines called Prang’s Chromo in 1868 and Modern Art Quaterly in 1893.