How Can I Tell a Lithograph from a Drawing?
August 22, 2013 4:44 AM Subscribe
Without using an eraser :)
I have 3 quite nice drawings/lithographs by a pretty famous artist. I'd like to sell them - but first I need to determine if they are drawings done in pencil or lithographs. How can I do that?
Thanks
Best answer: Weirdly, I only know this because a few weeks ago I found some drawings that I had inherited and then threw in a drawer for 10 years and faced a similar dilemma about how to list them on eBay. I just contacted a local art museum and brought them in where they determined original sketches.
posted by kinetic at 4:55 AM on August 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by kinetic at 4:55 AM on August 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I think a magnifying glass will be your friend here, where you look for the pencil strokes and how the lines have been applied to the paper.
Also, you can look for obvious tells like it being numbered and/or other examples of the same work for sale or having been on sale.
The easiest way, however, is to take it to an auction house for an appraisal. Assuming, if it is, the lithograph is reasonably low volume and the artist is worth something they'll want to talk to you and can give you an expert opinion. Even if you know whether it is original or not it still pays to speak to the expert, get a valuation and potentially get your art into an auction where collectors of that type of work will gather and pay a premium.
More commonly, the issue people have is determining whether something is a print or a lithograph due to the quality of the printing process and looking for tells under magnification like uniformity in the printing process like dots or patterns that won't be there in the original.
posted by MuffinMan at 4:57 AM on August 22, 2013 [2 favorites]
Also, you can look for obvious tells like it being numbered and/or other examples of the same work for sale or having been on sale.
The easiest way, however, is to take it to an auction house for an appraisal. Assuming, if it is, the lithograph is reasonably low volume and the artist is worth something they'll want to talk to you and can give you an expert opinion. Even if you know whether it is original or not it still pays to speak to the expert, get a valuation and potentially get your art into an auction where collectors of that type of work will gather and pay a premium.
More commonly, the issue people have is determining whether something is a print or a lithograph due to the quality of the printing process and looking for tells under magnification like uniformity in the printing process like dots or patterns that won't be there in the original.
posted by MuffinMan at 4:57 AM on August 22, 2013 [2 favorites]
Best answer: This can range from easy to tricky. I have a couple of prints that were then hand-painted? So assessing what they are and how they were made is nearly impossible, without the history.
But yes! Auction results are your friend! Start there. Prints show up regularly. Then I'd call a dealer in the wheelhouse; surely someone represents this person or their estate. You can just say you're trying to ID the pieces.
posted by RJ Reynolds at 5:26 AM on August 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
But yes! Auction results are your friend! Start there. Prints show up regularly. Then I'd call a dealer in the wheelhouse; surely someone represents this person or their estate. You can just say you're trying to ID the pieces.
posted by RJ Reynolds at 5:26 AM on August 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
Raking light. Pencils make impressions even on sturdy paper. Print plates may make an impression around their edges but nowhere inside the drawing.
(also, a professionally made print should be hand signed and numbered, a unique drawing only signed in my understanding).
posted by Namlit at 6:19 AM on August 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
(also, a professionally made print should be hand signed and numbered, a unique drawing only signed in my understanding).
posted by Namlit at 6:19 AM on August 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Can you post a picture?
Here is the relevant excerpt from Bamber Gascoigne's book How to Identify Prints, which is the resource I turn to when confronted with this issue in my work. This is from section 57, "Is the image printed? - Chalk or crayon drawings":
"The most difficult choice will be between a drawing in rather greasy crayon on a rough paper and a lithograph drawn in lithographic crayon on a roughly grained stone, for the crayon will only stick to the raised points of the paper just as the lithographic crayon does to the raised points of the stone. The main clue is in the nature of printer's ink. Through a glass it does have a look different from crayon (more stark, more like something that has been deposited on the paper rather than rubbed into it), and with experience this becomes easier to identify. Another indication is whether the tiny patches and dots of the image coincide with the surface texture of the paper: if they pick up the grain of the paper the image must be hand-drawn, because the ink dots in a print derive from the surface of the stone and bear no relation to the paper."
Plate marks are indicators of intaglio prints (etchings, engravings), so that won't be useful in this case.
posted by CheeseLouise at 7:10 AM on August 22, 2013 [3 favorites]
Here is the relevant excerpt from Bamber Gascoigne's book How to Identify Prints, which is the resource I turn to when confronted with this issue in my work. This is from section 57, "Is the image printed? - Chalk or crayon drawings":
"The most difficult choice will be between a drawing in rather greasy crayon on a rough paper and a lithograph drawn in lithographic crayon on a roughly grained stone, for the crayon will only stick to the raised points of the paper just as the lithographic crayon does to the raised points of the stone. The main clue is in the nature of printer's ink. Through a glass it does have a look different from crayon (more stark, more like something that has been deposited on the paper rather than rubbed into it), and with experience this becomes easier to identify. Another indication is whether the tiny patches and dots of the image coincide with the surface texture of the paper: if they pick up the grain of the paper the image must be hand-drawn, because the ink dots in a print derive from the surface of the stone and bear no relation to the paper."
Plate marks are indicators of intaglio prints (etchings, engravings), so that won't be useful in this case.
posted by CheeseLouise at 7:10 AM on August 22, 2013 [3 favorites]
You could try taking a photograph and doing a Google reverse image search. If it's a lithograph, it may turn up others in the edition.
posted by lemerle at 9:42 AM on August 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by lemerle at 9:42 AM on August 22, 2013 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thank you guys so much. I'm learning a lot from this.
CheeseLouise - I'm a bit skittish about taking it out from its frame and photographing it- it's been housed in there for a few decades - scanning didn't give good results either. I did have a close inspection - got the signature - NO NUMBER - and it does appear to be pencil etching.
posted by watercarrier at 10:26 AM on August 22, 2013
CheeseLouise - I'm a bit skittish about taking it out from its frame and photographing it- it's been housed in there for a few decades - scanning didn't give good results either. I did have a close inspection - got the signature - NO NUMBER - and it does appear to be pencil etching.
posted by watercarrier at 10:26 AM on August 22, 2013
Best answer: Perhaps off topic, but if they've been framed for a few decades it's actually probably better to unframe them or have them unframed by a professional at a frame shop. Chances are the materials used aren't archival quality and could be harming the pieces.
posted by CheeseLouise at 11:12 AM on August 22, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by CheeseLouise at 11:12 AM on August 22, 2013 [3 favorites]
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The graphite of a pencil drawing will normally have a fairly distinctive 'shine', especially under bright light and magnification.
posted by pipeski at 4:54 AM on August 22, 2013 [1 favorite]