For the NCAC / MAMA Fine Art Benefit Auction . . .
The appraisals for each lot in this catalog were obtained either from recognized major fine art galleries, fine art publishers, private fine art dealers, recent auction sales, the artist, or may be an opinion based on comparative works by the same artist or similar school of art.
AQUATINT:
An etching made by a process in which negative spaces rather than lines are etched with acid, producing tones which give the effect of a wash drawing or a watercolor.
ARTIST'S PROOF:
An Artist's Proof should be exactly the same as the edition in quality and image through they are outside the numbered edition. They are identified with A.P., or Artist's Proof or Epreuve d'artiste or E.A. on the impression. They are often retained by the artist or publisher.
BLIND STAMP:
An identifying mark embossed on a print to identify the workshop, printer or publisher of the print. A blindstamp is usually stamped with ink on the verso of the print.
BON A TIRER:
A literal translation from the French meaning "good to pull" and refers to the first print the artist decides to use for editioning. This print is then used as a guide for the printer of the edition. The print is annotated Bon a Tirer, B.A.T. pr R.T.P. (Right to Print), and is outside the edition.
CANCELLATION PROOF:
A proof pulled from a defaced plate, screen or block, to guarantee that no other prints may be made from that edition, thus insuring a limited edition.
CERAMIC:
Object made of baked clay, pottery, earthenware, porcelain or tile, and fired at varying degrees of temperature in order to produce the desired result.
COLLOTYPE:
A photomechanical process by which inked reproductions are transferred to paper directly from an image formed on a sheet of hardened gelatin.
COLOPHON:
A notation often placed in a book, at the end, giving facts about its production. Also, the distinctive emblem of a publisher, as on the title page or cover of a book.
DECKLE EDGE:
The uneven edge on hand-made paper or mold made paper.
DRY POINT:
An image printed from a metal plate that has been engraved with a fine, hard needle, such as a diamond needle, without using acid.
EDITION:
The total number of prints pulled from one image which represents the largest body of work for sale from that image. These prints are consecutively numbered to show that the edition is limited by the publisher or artist.
ENGRAVING:
A printed impression made from an engraved surface. The artist draws, etches or cuts into a metal plate or wooden block, inks the surface and prints out what is called the engraving. The ink rests within the plate contrary to a lithograph where the ink rests on the plate.
ETCHING:
The artist draws directly on a copper or zinc plate with sharp tools such as burins, needles, or rockers. The image is further etched with acid. Ink is applied to the prepared plate and pressed onto paper under pressure of 2500 pounds per square inch.
INK WASH:
Pen and ink are used to draw an initial image which is then spread with water before it dries.
LINOLEUM CUT:
A print made from a linoleum block engraved with a design. The block is covered with ink, and paper is laid out on top of it and pressed until the image has transferred to it.
LITHOGRAPH:
The artist draws an image on stone or metal plate with a grease crayon or liquid called tusche which is then covered with ink. Paper is then placed over the inked plate or stone and placed under a press, thus producing a single image in one color. Multiple colors and images require multiple stones or plates.
MEZZOTINT:
A method of engraving on a copper or steel plate by scraping or polishing parts of a roughened surface so that an impression of light and shade can be produces.
PAINTING:
A painting can be in acrylic or in oil, although it can incorporate a variety of media which would make it a mixed media instead. The surface on which a painting is created does not determine whether or not it is a painting. Thus a painting can be on canvas, paper, canvas board, wood, metal or any chosen surface.
PEN AND INK:
A wide spectrum of colored inks of various chemical compositions producing a variety of effects are used in pens of many types to produce fine drawings, usually on paper.
POCHOIR:
An elaborate and time-consuming technique resembling serigraphy, but one in which the ink is actually pushed through the silk by highly skilled people who are almost as well trained as the artist. No longer used today because the artisans who operated these procedures have not been replaced by others with comparable training and skills.
POSTER:
A poster is not necessarily made from the original piece and, in fact, will often be made from a photograph of a piece in a book or catalog. Posters are usually produced in mass quantities and have no real collector's value unless they address a select audience of collectors who specialize in one area, e.g. science fiction posters predating 1950.
PRINT:
A picture or design printed from a plate, block, roll, or negative. Prints are made from the original piece and, in some cases, are the original piece - when they are made in the plate - and can be numbered. Limited editions - usually around 250 or less - have more value than large editions even if numbered. A print that is resigned in pencil generally sells for more than one which has not been resigned, although it need not be resigned to be valuable.
PROOFS:
Artist Proof (AP) or Epreuve d'artiste (EA), Publisher's Proof, Hors Commerce (HC), Printer's Proof (PP), are impressions included in the initial printing of the edition. These are usually the property of the artist, his printer, his dealer, etc., which are also sold and collected in the market. Proofs are usually considered to be of the same value as numbered impressions.
SCULPTURE:
Any object created by means of carving wood, chiseling stone, casting or welding metal, modeling clay or wax, or assembling components in a variety of media and ways into a three-dimensional representation such as a statue, a figure, or an abstract form.
SERIGRAPH:
The artist draws on a tightly stretched screen of silk across a frame. Then the design is "blocked out" on the outside with a glue-like substance. The opening allows the applied ink to be transferred to the paper behind the screen. For each color a separate screen must be used.
SIGNATURE:
A print does not have to be signed and numbered to be original or more valuable. Signing and numbering prints is a relatively modern practice. Artists usually sign their works in pencil on the original plate or stone. The artist's estate may sign on behalf of the artist with a facsimile signature stamp. Regarding numbers, 11/250 means that there were 250 impressions in the edition of which this is number 11. Usually, there is no difference in value between the edition numbers or proofs because the numbers are assigned arbitrarily.
WATERMARK:
The mark that papermakers form in their papers by sewing the design into the mold before the papermaking process. The watermark can be seen when held to the light as it is more translucent than the rest of the paper.
WOODCUT:
A print made from a wooden block engraved with a design and then covered with ink. The ink is then transferred to paper directly from the block.