Art by Medium: Monotype

Awake is an original lithograph realized in 1985 by the italian Contemporary artist Leo Guida (1992 - 2017). Titled and Hand-signed in pencil on the lower margin: Esemplare unico "R...

Figure of Woman is an original monotype realized by Helen Vogt, in 1929. The state of preservation is very good. Not signed. Stamp of the artist on th...

In her Delft Garden series, artist Christine So first drew the outline of a plant in pencil and then painted it in a dark room —not paint– but with the cyanotype light-sensitive emu...

The Couple is an original mono-type by an anonymous artist of the 20th Century. Sheet dimension: 41 x 28.5 cm. Good conditions. The artwork represents a composition of a couple th...

Composition is a beautiful monotype realized by an artist of the XX century. In very good condition. Hand signed (illegible signature) on the lower right margin of the plate. On the...

Composition is beautiful original monotype artwork on cardboard realized by the Italian Artist Valerio Romagnoli. Hand-signed on the lower left. In good conditions, with some foldi...

Figures is monotype on paper realized in 1983 by unknown artist of the XX century. Hand-signed "Sterhis" on the lower in pencil right and dated. The state of preservation of the ar...

Figures is monotype on paper realized in 1950 ca. by un unknown artist of the XX century. The state of preservation of the artwork is good and aged with diffused foxing and small bl...

Figures is monotype on paper realized in 1950 ca. by unknown artist of the XX century. The state of preservation of the artwork is good and with some small foxing stain at the top r...

Woman is a Monotype artwork realized by an anonymous artist in the 1950s.. In a good condition. Sheeet dimensions: 41 x 29 cm. The artwork represents a woman portrait. The artwork...

Woman Profile is a Monotype artwork realized by an anonymous artist in the 1950s.. In a good condition. Sheeet dimensions: 42 x 29.5 cm. The artwork r...

Insects is a beautiful artwork realized by an artist of the 20th century. Original Monotype. In excellent condition. Hand signed on the lower right margin.

Landscape is an original colored monotype print on paper realized by Italian artist Giuseppe Cena. Hand-signed on the lower right. The State of preservation is very good. The artwo...

The present artwork is a vibrant and colorful example of the woodcut prints of Carol Summers. The image is dominated by the form of a red tropical flower, closely cropped around the petals like in the photographs of Imogen Cunningham and the paintings of Georgia O'Keeffe. The playfulness of the image is enhanced by Summers' signature printmaking technique, which allows the ink from the woodblock to seep through the paper, blurring the edges of each form. 9.63 x 11.63 inches, artwork 21 x 23 inches, frame Edition 16/50 in pencil, lower right Titled in pencil, lower right Signed in pencil, lower center Framed to conservation standards using archival materials including 100 percent rag matting, Museum Glass to inhibit fading, and housed in a modern profile gold gilded wood moulding. Carol Summers (1925-2016) has worked as an artist throughout the second half of the 20th century and into the first years of the next, outliving most of his mid-century modernist peers. Initially trained as a painter, Summers was drawn to color woodcuts around 1950 and it became his specialty thereafter. Over the years he has developed a process and style that is both innovative and readily recognizable. His art is known for it’s large scale, saturated fields of bold color, semi-abstract treatment of landscapes from around the world and a luminescent quality achieved through a printmaking process he invented. In a career that has extended over half a century, Summers has hand-pulled approximately 245 woodcuts in editions that have typically run from 25 to 100 in number. His talent was both inherited and learned. Born in 1925 in Kingston, a small town in upstate New York, Summers was raised in nearby Woodstock with his older sister, Mary. His parents were both artists who had met in art school in St. Louis. During the Great Depression, when Carol was growing up, his father supported the family as a medical illustrator until he could return to painting. His mother was a watercolorist and also quite knowledgeable about the different kinds of papers used for various kinds of painting. Many years later, Summers would paint or print on thinly textured paper originally collected by his mother. From 1948 to 1951, Carol Summers trained in the classical fine and studio arts at Bard College and at the Art Students League of New York. He studied painting with Steven Hirsh and printmaking with Louis Schanker. He admired the shapes and colors favored by early modernists Paul Klee (Sw: 1879-1940) and Matt Phillips (Am: b.1927- ). After graduating, Summers quit working as a part-time carpenter and cabinetmaker (which had supported his schooling and living expenses) to focus fulltime on art. That same year, an early abstract, Bridge No. 1 was selected for a Purchase Prize in a competition sponsored by the Brooklyn Museum. In 1952, his work (Cathedral, Construction and Icarus) was shown the first time at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City in an exhibition of American woodcuts. In 1954, Summers received a grant from the Italian government to study for a year in Italy. Woodcuts completed soon after his arrival there were almost all editions of only 8 to 25 prints, small in size, architectural in content and black and white in color. The most well-known are Siennese Landscape and Little Landscape, which depicted the area near where he resided. Summers extended this trip three more years, a decision which would have significant impact on choices of subject matter and color in the coming decade. After returning from Europe, Summers’ images continued to feature historical landmarks and events from Italy as well as from France, Spain and Greece. However, as evidenced in Aetna’s Dream, Worldwind and Arch of Triumph, a new look prevailed. These woodcuts were larger in size and in color. Some incorporated metal leaf in the creation of a collage and Summers even experimented with silkscreening. Editions were now between 20 and 50 prints in number. Most importantly, Summers employed his rubbing technique for the first time in the creation of Fantastic Garden in late 1957. Dark Vision of Xerxes, a benchmark for Summers, was the first woodcut where Summers experimented using mineral spirits as part of his printmaking process. A Fulbright Grant as well as Fellowships from the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation and the Guggenheim Foundation followed soon thereafter, as did faculty positions at colleges and universities primarily in New York and Pennsylvania. During this period he married a dancer named Elaine Smithers with whom he had one son, Kyle. Around this same time, along with fellow artist Leonard Baskin, Summers pioneered what is now referred to as the “monumental” woodcut. This term was coined in the early 1960s to denote woodcuts that were dramatically bigger than those previously created in earlier years, ones that were limited in size mostly by the size of small hand-presses. While Baskin chose figurative subject matter, serious in nature and rendered with thick, striated lines, Summers rendered much less somber images preferring to emphasize shape and color; his subject matter approached abstraction but was always firmly rooted in the landscape. In addition to working in this new, larger scale, Summers simultaneously refined a printmaking process which would eventually be called the “Carol Summers Method” or the “ Carol Summers Technique”. Summers produces his woodcuts by hand, usually from one or more blocks of quarter-inch pine, using oil-based printing inks and porous mulberry papers. His woodcuts reveal a sensitivity to wood especially its absorptive qualities and the subtleties of the grain. In several of his woodcuts throughout his career he has used the undulating, grainy patterns of a large wood plank to portray a flowing river or tumbling waterfall. The best examples of this are Dream, done in 1965 and the later Flash Flood Escalante, in 2003. In the majority of his woodcuts, Summers makes the blocks slightly larger than the paper so the image and color will bleed off the edge. Before printing, he centers a dry sheet of paper over the top of the cut wood block or blocks, securing it with giant clips. Then he rolls the ink directly on the front of the sheet of paper and pressing down onto the dry wood block or reassembled group of blocks. Summers is technically very proficient; the inks are thoroughly saturated onto the surface of the paper but they do not run into each other. The precision of the color inking in Constantine’s Dream in 1969 and Rainbow Glacier in 1970 has been referred to in various studio handbooks. Summers refers to his own printing technique as “rubbing”. In traditional woodcut printing, including the Japanese method, the ink is applied directly onto the block. However, by following his own method, Summers has avoided the mirror-reversed image of a conventional print and it has given him the control over the precise amount of ink that he wants on the paper. After the ink is applied to the front of the paper, Summers sprays it with mineral spirits, which act as a thinning agent. The absorptive fibers of the paper draw the thinned ink away from the surface softening the shapes and diffusing and muting the colors. This produces a unique glow that is a hallmark of the Summers printmaking technique. Unlike the works of other color field artists or modernists of the time, this new technique made Summers’ extreme simplification and flat color areas anything but hard-edged or coldly impersonal. By the 1960s, Summers had developed a personal way of coloring and printing and was not afraid of hard work, doing the cutting, inking and pulling himself. In 1964, at the age of 38, Summers’ work was exhibited for a second time at the Museum of Modern Art. This time his work was featured in a one-man show and then as one of MoMA’s two-year traveling exhibitions which toured throughout the United States. In subsequent years, Summers’ works would be exhibited and acquired for the permanent collections of multiple museums throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. Summers’ familiarity with landscapes throughout the world is firsthand. As a navigator-bombardier in the Marines in World War II, he toured the South Pacific and Asia. Following college, travel in Europe and subsequent teaching positions, in 1972, after 47 years on the East Coast, Carol Summers moved permanently to Bonny Doon in the Santa Cruz Mountains in Northern California. There met his second wife, Joan Ward Toth, a textile artist who died in 1998; and it was here his second son, Ethan was born. During the years that followed this relocation, Summers’ choice of subject matter became more diverse although it retained the positive, mostly life-affirming quality that had existed from the beginning. Images now included moons, comets, both sunny and starry skies, hearts and flowers, all of which, in one way or another, remained tied to the landscape. In the 1980s, from his home and studio in the Santa Cruz mountains, Summers continued to work as an artist supplementing his income by conducting classes and workshops at universities in California and Oregon as well as throughout the Mid and Southwest. He also traveled extensively during this period hiking and camping, often for weeks at a time, throughout the western United States and Canada. Throughout the decade it was not unusual for Summers to backpack alone or with a fellow artist into mountains or back country for six weeks or more at a time. Not surprisingly, the artwork created during this period rarely departed from images of the land, sea and sky. Summers rendered these landscapes in a more representational style than before, however he always kept them somewhat abstract by mixing geometric shapes with organic shapes, irregular in outline. Some of his most critically acknowledged work was created during this period including First Rain, 1985 and The Rolling Sea, 1989. Summers received an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, Bard College in 1979 and was selected by the United States Information Agency to spend a year conducting painting and printmaking workshops at universities throughout India. Since that original sabbatical, he has returned every year, spending four to eight weeks traveling throughout that country. In the 1990s, interspersed with these journeys to India have been additional treks to the back roads and high country areas of Mexico, Central America, Nepal, China and Japan. Travel to these exotic and faraway places had a profound influence on Summers’ art. Subject matter became more worldly and non-western as with From Humla to Dolpo, 1991 or A Former Life of Budha, 1996, for example. Architectural images, such as The Pillars of Hercules, 1990 or The Raja’s Aviary, 1992 became more common. Still life images made a reappearance with Jungle Bouquet in 1997. This was also a period when Summers began using odd-sized paper to further the impact of an image. The 1996 Night, a view of the earth and horizon as it might be seen by an astronaut, is over six feet long and only slightly more than a foot-and-a-half high. From 1999, Revuelta A Vida (Spanish for “Return to Life”) is pie-shaped and covers nearly 18 cubic feet. It was also at this juncture that Summers began to experiment with a somewhat different palette although he retained his love of saturated colors. The 2003 Far Side of Time is a superb example of the new direction taken by this colorist. At the turn of the millennium in 1999, “Carol Summers Woodcuts...

Gypsy is an original monotype on paper, realized by an Anonymous artist of the XX century. Sheet dimension:26 x 20 cm. In very good condition, glued on a paper. This modern unique...

Voyaging among humanity words and thoughts of affection and care which fill the air, leaving traces of love. Can you feel them? Angelica’s multi-layered works are informed by her on...

Monica DeSalvo’s “From here to the end, which isn’t very far away” is a 9.5 x 9.5 inch abstract collage over an acrylic on paper. Golden hair, a bronze wing, clear gemstones, and yellow flowers blend into ethereal violet purple tones accented with lavender dots. Soft gray yarn and a matrix of curved blocks add contrasting textures, enhancing depth. The underlying monotype was made using a Gelli plate...

Color monotype on Arches paper. Signed in pencil and with the artist's signature black ink stamp in lower right. Titled in pencil in lower margin. Published by Novak Graphics, Tor...

Monica DeSalvo’s “Thar She Blows” merges two acrylic abstract monoprints into a 20 x 16 inch work with a vertical seam. Crisp masses of yellow and oliv...

This striking set of three original abstract monotypes by acclaimed Denver modernist Wilma Fiori (1929–2019) showcases her signature use of color and form. Rendered in a refined pale...

Monotype print on paper (Acrylic) Fred Borghesi is an Italian artist born in 1987 who lives and works in London, UK. He is above all a multidisciplinary artist, constantly switching...

Inspired by her close connection to nature, and by what she calls “the spirit of investigation and observation of the natural world,” Suzi Davidoff creates mixed-media drawings and p...

Les Figures is an original artwork realized by the French artist Fernand Hertenberger in 1945. Titled in pencil on the lower left corner. Hand-signed, dated, and dedicated on the lo...

Female Portrait in Profile is an original artwork realized by the French artist Bernard Lemaire between the end of the XIX and the beginning of the...

"Reliq" is an original black and white monotype by Beckett Berning. The artist signed the piece. It depicts a face above a gravestone. 9 1/4" x 6 3/4" art 18" x 15 3/4" frame Beck...

Monica DeSalvo’s “We didn’t take the plane—the plane took us!” is a lively 30 x 22 inch surreal collage on paper. Abstract areas of lime green, red, royal blue, and deep yellow embed...

This vibrant original abstract monotype by acclaimed American artist Wilma Fiori (1929–2019) is a striking example of late twentieth-century geometric abstraction. Composed of bold i...

Otto Neumann (1895-1975) was a German Expressionist painter and printmaker. His monotypes evolved from sharp, angular, black and whites to late abstract prints in a variety of colors. Neumann lived through revolutionary changes in the art world of prewar and postwar Germany. He was a prolific artist in Germany during a time of the country’s unprecedented academic and intellectual growth. His early work shows the influence of both French masters like Cezanne and the contemporary style that was then being developed by German Expressionists like Kirchner. A master printmaker, Neumann was also inspired by the works of Albrecht Durer, whose allegorical subject-matter and unmatched drawing technique Neumann would emulate throughout his career. A lifetime preoccupation with the human figure informs his work, with frieze-like human figures recalling ancient Greek art...

Unique monotype, signed and numbered. Artist Robert Roach lives and works in Santa Fe, New Mexico. His one-of-a-kind, abstract monoprints are inspired b...

Masquerade, 40x30cm, monotype/paper

Sven Berlin (British, 1911 – 1999) For sculpture of horse’s head Signed and dated ‘Sven Berlin 49’ (lower right) Monotype 5 x 16.1/2 in. (12.7 x 42.7 cm.) Provenance: Porthmeor Galle...

Clinton Storm was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan and received his bachelor of fine arts from the University of Michigan. He has shown in numerous solo an...

Stamped, verso, with estate stamp for Victor Di Gesu (American, 1914-1988) and created circa 1950. A dynamic, mid-century monotype by this Paris-trained, California Post-Impressioni...

Signed, titled, and number MS (Mono screenprint ). This is one of a small group of prints done during a session working with Gronk at Self Help Graphics in Los Angeles. Lorenzo de la Mota was the master printer helping Gronk to create a series of abstract prints. His work is similar to Gronk, who found inspiration in graffiti and mural art...

Signed, titled, and number MS 1 (Mono screenprint 1/1). This is one of a small group of prints done during a session working with Gronk at Self Help Graphics in Los Angeles. Lorenzo de la Mota was the master printer helping Gronk to create a series of abstract prints. His work is similar to Gronk, who found inspiration in graffiti and mural art...

Villanueva was born in California to Mexican migrant workers, and grew up in Mexico. This work was completed at Self Help Graphics in Los angeles. Signed, titled unique monotype scr...

From my ongoing series, 'Portable Landscape or Landscape for the Traveler.' Before European contact, the Lenape Manhattan's original inhabitants called the island Manahatta, which me...

Angelica’s multi-layered works are informed by her ongoing efforts to create a less reactive and more responsive presence in the world. They act as the muse to meditations on the man...

Clinton Storm was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan and received his bachelor of fine arts from the University of Michigan. He has shown in numerous solo an...

Untitled, 1981, unique embossed monotype print on handmade paper. Created at the Institute of Experimental Printmaking by lauded American artist, Sam Francis (1923-1994). The Sam Fra...

Stamped, verso, with estate stamp for Victor Di Gesu (American, 1914-1988) and created circa 1955. Provenance: Janet Ament De La Roche, from estate stamp verso. A cabinet sized, Pos...

Inscribed and signed lower center: "Monoprint H Lee-Smith" Provenance: The Waintrob Project for the Visual Arts (Foundation); Sidney and Abraham Waintrob This item is in our New Yo...

Color monotype with collage. Kushner recently completed a series of monotypes, many with collaged decorative papers. He worked from still-lives of flowers, fruits, pitchers and Bett...

Color monotype. The ‘okina is the Hawaiian representation of the glottal stop. It is a separation of doubles. The monotypes in the ‘Okina series are doubles; the prints are divided...

A striking monotype depicting the head of a faun in monochrome. Signed in graphite. Presented in a gilt frame. On paper.

Signed in pencil to the lower margin. Number 13/15. Presented in a complimenting red gloss frame with a white card mount. On paper.

From my ongoing series, 'Portable Landscape or Landscape for the Traveler.' Before European contact, the Lenape Manhattan's original inhabitants called the island Manahatta, which me...

Color monotype with collage. Kushner recently completed a series of monotypes, many with collaged decorative papers. He worked from still-lives of flowers, fruits, pitchers and Bett...

Clinton Storm was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan and received his bachelor of fine arts from the University of Michigan. He has shown in numerous solo an...

Color monotype. Rafael Ferrer depicts the intense life of the Caribbean in his paintings and prints. With hot colors, deep shadows and mysterious relationships among his figures, Fe...

Nina Tichava has created a set of nine vibrant monotypes created with etching ink on paper mounted on a panel and varnished with cold wax. Each print is framed floating in white with...

Ashforth is precise in how she studies her subject, researching color and consistency of ink, paint or drawing medium. Her approach is summed up by Christopher Shore, Master Printer ...

"Untitled II" is a work that displays Bert Yarborough's experimentation with emotion and monotype in his abstract and expressive style. This print made...

"Untitled I" is a work that displays Bert Yarborough's experimentation with emotion and monotype in his abstract and expressive style. This print made ...

Set of 4 Monotype Prints

Miki Leal (Spanish, b. 1974) is one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary Spanish art. His practice blends references to art history, pop culture, and everyday imagery with ...

Color monotype. Rafael Ferrer depicts the intense life of the Caribbean in his paintings and prints. With hot colors, deep shadows and mysterious relationships among his figures, Fe...

Color monotype. The ‘okina is the Hawaiian representation of the glottal stop. It is a separation of doubles. The monotypes in the ‘Okina series are doubles; the prints are divided...

Inspired by the beauty of the of the Pacific in the Islands, this beautiful abstract original work "Silence Below The Audible 'A'" by master print maker Linda Whittemore displays ric...

Ed Baynard (American, 1940- 2016) Untitled Monotype with handcoloring on paper! 1981 28-1/2 x 36-3/4 inches (72.4 x 93.3 cm) (paper size) Frame is included. Approx - 34.5 x 40.75...