Print Room Talks: Intaglio, Part 1: Drypoint, Engraving, and Mezzotint

For the 2022-23 series of Print Room Talks, we will go back to the basics. Printmaking is most simply defined as the process by which an image is transferred from one surface to another, but for many museum visitors, specific printmaking terms and techniques remain a mystery. For example, what is the difference between an engraving and etching? This series will discuss the most commonly used printmaking techniques up-close through the work of permanent collection artists. Although often developed for commercial purposes, artists from Albrecht Dürer to Andy Warhol and beyond have harnessed printmaking for its unique expressive properties.

Intaglio is the broad family of printmaking techniques wherein the image is recessed below the surface of a printing plate, traditionally copper. In the first of two parts, we will explore the three processes that require direct carving or incising by the artist to create lines and tones: drypoint, engraving, and mezzotint. Examples of artists working in these processes include Marc Chagall, Jackson Pollock, and Félix Buhot.