Howard Simon lived in Paris, France, where he studied printmaking. In 1926 he met Arkansan Charlie May Hogue who was studying sculpture. Five days later, they married. Eventually they collaborated on storytelling. Charlie May became a celebrated writer, and Howard became a noted illustrator for her stories. He worked with other authors to illustrate their works, and he wrote Five Hundred Years of Art in Illustration: From Albrecht Dürer to Rockwell Kent, about printmaking.
Artists often work with a master printer to edition their prints, or to create a series of multiple print impressions of the same image Highlighted here is a group of fine art prints from Simon's collection. Many were created by him and others were designed by his contemporaries that are part of the Charlie May Simon Papers (UALR.MS.0006).
Woodcut/Relief Printing
Howard Simon studied with Japanese printmakers. Japanese woodcuts introduced flat spaces, asymmetry, diagonals, and bird’s-eye-view to the tradition of western art. This eastern aesthetic transformed modern art and the world of design. Simon practiced his art in print studios throughout the United States including San Francisco.
Prints allowed pleasure of owning art within the reach of a broad public. Printmaking is an indirect process that results in multiples that are each unique, original works of art. The artist is involved in the entire process. Each print in the edition is signed and numbered (i.e., 10/100), including the "Artist Proof." An original art print differs from mass-produced commercial images in that the artist controls the entire process. It is not a copy of work done in another media, or a photographic print, although photographers today apply printmaking techniques to emulsion.
A woodcut is the process of transferring ink, which is similar to the process of rubber stamping. An artist cuts away areas not meant to print, then inks the wood plate and presses to transfer the ink onto paper. The mirror image in plate transferring requires reverse typography. This is the oldest print-making method used to produce text and books, textiles, and cards. Not until the 15th century was paper cheap enough to create the "information revolution." The Diamond Sutra is the oldest surviving wood cut image, made in China in 868 B.C., and is part of the earliest known printed book.
In a woodcut, a relief process, the areas cut away are not meant to print. A relief describes any printing method in which the image to be printed is raised from a background. Like a rubber stamp, the text and image need to be formed in a mirror image of the printed product. For a woodcut, the raised design in the wood blocks is inked with a roller. Paper is placed over the block and the image is transferred onto the paper using a hand printing method that uses a burnishing tool or a press.
Japanese wood cuts introduced the eastern aesthetic, which influenced the modern art movement, especially Degas and Cassatt. This vision is termed ukiyo-e, which means pictures of the floating or passing world. The aesthetic of flat spaces, asymmetry, diagonals, and bird's-eye-view transformed modern art and the world of design. Sharaku's entire known output of 150 prints was created in a single burst of activity that lasted for only ten months. Here we see one of his portraits of actors.
Engraving and Etching
Engraving is the oldest of intaglio printmaking methods, developed from incising designs in medieval armor and jewelry. The method is similar to pen and ink drawing. In this process, pressure on burin creates thick and thin lines, hatching, cross hatching, and stippling. The clean, sharp lines create the possibility of a full tonal range.
Etching is the reverse of relief; the areas removed hold ink and are printed. A metal plate, either copper or zinc, is covered with a waxy ground. A needle is used to scratch through the ground to expose metal. An acid bath is used to etch the exposed metal. Then the ground is removed from the plate. Ink is pressed in the grooves and the design is transferred to damp paper by running the plate through a strong roller press.
In etching, the plate is coated with a ground, which is then exposed with an etching needle. The plate is submerged in acid baths, portions of it are recoated, and is it then resubmerged for varying times to create a variety of darks.
Lithography
Lithography involves drawing directly onto a flat piece of limestone with a greasy ink or crayon. The stone is then subjected to acid, which "fixes" the image. The stone is dampened, ink sticks to the greasy areas, and the water naturally repels ink from the other areas. This printing method lends itself to gestural drawing and spontaneous mark making.
Lithography was accidentally invented by the German actor and playwright named Alois Senefelder, as he wrote his laundry list on limestone. After seeing the unexpected transfer of ink, he perfected the method to include etching with acid.
A flat stone is drawn directly on with a greasy ink called tusche or lithographic crayon, then subjected to acid that "fixes" the image. The stone is dampened so that ink sticks to the greasy areas and is naturally repelled by the water. Because of the free drawing technique, this maintains an element of spontaneity similar to using regular crayon.
The printmaking studio is a collaborative environment where techniques are shared, prints are exchanged, and artists learn from each other. This explains the rich collection of prints held by Howard Simon.
Simon, Howard. Five Hundred Years of Art in Illustration: From Albrecht Dürer to Rockwell Kent. Cleveland, Ohio: The World Publishing Press, 1942.
Brad Cushman is the UA Little Rock Gallery Director/Curator and a studio artist living in Little Rock, Arkansas. He received a BA in Studio Art from Illinois College, Jacksonville, Illinois, and an MFA. In Painting from Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. In 1989 Cushman received a six-week summer study grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to study Post Modernism Theory at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.
Cushman exhibits in regional and national exhibitions featuring paintings, polymer gravure etchings and mixed media works. He is the voice of Picture This on NPR in central Arkansas. His audio essays on art and design have been broadcast since 2005 and he can be seen hosting Inside Art, a television program produced on University TV.