... In addition to the added decorative
octagon & statuary embellishments, above lithograph is a better look be-cause, in this case at least, the litho-graph
process captured the smooth-ness of the subject's face much more effectively ...
...The small irregular "spotty" texture, characteristic of a lithograph, is
clearly revealed...
...There are countless "antique" deal-ers who either
pretend ignorance, or are simply confused on the point...(I can't begin to count the times I've seen half-tone prints declared
to be "original lithographs" or worse, "origi-nal watercolors"...by amateur dealers and collectors alike...)
UP TO THIS POINT, we have illustrated three fundamental cate-gories in the printing process :
1) Line & stipple, mezzotint, etching;
these are all different types of en-gravings within the same catagory, "intalglio".
2) Halftones fall in the "photographic" catagory
and finally
3) Lithographs (including chromolith-ographs) fall
into the "planographic" catagory.
... Though some may prefer color over all, it is
important to know that the presence of color neither precludes nor assures quality. While the above chro-molith, published
in "Leslie's Pop-ular Monthly" in 1882 ( without credit to either artist ) is still a good render-ing, it simply is not
as well drawn as Forberg's etching : take note of the overall delicacy of the figure, espe-cially the face and hands;
the skill of the etcher's tool trumps the chromo-lith's more hastily drawn subject. The key word "Popular" may be the issue
here; did the American publisher Leslie assume a lack of sophistication of his American clients, compared to the Ger-man public?
The scary part is he may have been right even up to this day ...
... this enlargement brings home why some would prefer
the color of the flowers ... However, when returning to the whole (as this is not about flowers; confirmed by the German title)
the pic is really about a young, beautiful Span-ish woman who happens to be a "Flower Girl" ... a common trade with many young women
in 19thC Europe ...
... a little cruder and formulaic,
but in color and overall, not bad;
keeping in mind that much more skill
(and training) is required for an artist
to draw the contours of the hand than
of the face, a fact long lost on most
|