DOI Heft:
No. 54 (September, 1897)
DOI Artikel:Algraphy: a substitute for lithography
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18389#0273
Algraphy
be judged most convincingly from the repro-
ductions given here from drawings made on these
aluminium plates by the well-known Dutch artist,
Storm van Gravesande. He has from the first
recognised the possibilities of "Algraphy," and has
used it with very considerable success. Five of
his drawings were recently exhibited in the Salon
du Champ de Mars, and the same works are at
present on view in the Glass Palace at Munich.
Two of them have been purchased by the German
Government for addition to the collection of en-
gravings in the Royal Museum. This practical
testimony to the importance of the invention is
certainly worth mention, for Storm van (iravesande
is an artist of very great experience in black and
white work, an etcher of wide repute, and a skilful
manipulator whose knowledge of artistic methods
is especially exhaustive. His adoption of "Al-
graphy " for serious efforts proves that its qualities
are reliable, and that it has evident advantages as
an artistic process. No artist of his standing
would so definitely countenance an invention
which did not promise to give worthy results, nor
246
would he stake his reputation in notable exhibi-
tions upon work which he did not think calculated
to do him complete justice. We may fairly expect
that his example will be followed by other artists
who are interested in reproductive processes.
From the point of view of the printer and of
every one who has to deal with the working of
lithography there is much to be said in favour of
the aluminium plates. A stone of the kind at
present in use is, except in the smallest sizes, a
very unwieldy affair. Unless it is of considerable
thickness it will not bear the pressure to which it
has to be subjected in printing; and even as
matters are at present arranged, the breakage of a
stone in the press is by no means an uncommon
accident in a lithographic printing room—an
accident which necessitates for the completion of
the work in hand a fresh drawing on a fresh stone.
To minimise this risk a slab of any great size must
be some inches thick, and even for a drawing nine
inches by twelve a stone weighing probably more
than thirty pounds would be required. An
aluminium plate giving the same number of square
be judged most convincingly from the repro-
ductions given here from drawings made on these
aluminium plates by the well-known Dutch artist,
Storm van Gravesande. He has from the first
recognised the possibilities of "Algraphy," and has
used it with very considerable success. Five of
his drawings were recently exhibited in the Salon
du Champ de Mars, and the same works are at
present on view in the Glass Palace at Munich.
Two of them have been purchased by the German
Government for addition to the collection of en-
gravings in the Royal Museum. This practical
testimony to the importance of the invention is
certainly worth mention, for Storm van (iravesande
is an artist of very great experience in black and
white work, an etcher of wide repute, and a skilful
manipulator whose knowledge of artistic methods
is especially exhaustive. His adoption of "Al-
graphy " for serious efforts proves that its qualities
are reliable, and that it has evident advantages as
an artistic process. No artist of his standing
would so definitely countenance an invention
which did not promise to give worthy results, nor
246
would he stake his reputation in notable exhibi-
tions upon work which he did not think calculated
to do him complete justice. We may fairly expect
that his example will be followed by other artists
who are interested in reproductive processes.
From the point of view of the printer and of
every one who has to deal with the working of
lithography there is much to be said in favour of
the aluminium plates. A stone of the kind at
present in use is, except in the smallest sizes, a
very unwieldy affair. Unless it is of considerable
thickness it will not bear the pressure to which it
has to be subjected in printing; and even as
matters are at present arranged, the breakage of a
stone in the press is by no means an uncommon
accident in a lithographic printing room—an
accident which necessitates for the completion of
the work in hand a fresh drawing on a fresh stone.
To minimise this risk a slab of any great size must
be some inches thick, and even for a drawing nine
inches by twelve a stone weighing probably more
than thirty pounds would be required. An
aluminium plate giving the same number of square