Vintage Collectable Antique Mezzotint Prints
The mezzotint printmaking method was invented by the German amateur artist Ludwig von Siegen (1609–c 1680). His earliest mezzotint print dates to 1642 and is a portrait of Amelia Elizabeth, Landgravine of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel). This was made by working from light to dark. The rocker seems to have been invented by Prince Rupert of the Rhine, a famous cavalry commander in the English Civil War, who was the next to use the process, and took it to England. Sir Peter Lely saw the potential for using it to publicise his portraits, and encouraged a number of Dutch printmakers to come to England.The process was especially widely used in England from the mid-eighteenth century, to reproduce portraits and other paintings. Since the mid-nineteenth century it has been relatively little used. Robert Kipniss and Peter Ilsted are two notable 20th century exponents of the technique; M. C. Escher also used mezzotint from time to time.wikipedia |
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