The Dying Art of the Collotype

 The Dying Art of the Collotype

Background:

The Collotype, invented by Alphonse Poitevin in 1856, is the most accurate photo-mechanical printing process and is capable of producing high quality reproductions by utilizing a non-screen printing process that makes it possible to capture the accuracy of works of fine art especially paintings. It is the printing process that achieves the finest results in reproducing paintings because of the fine reticulation of the gelatin printing surface and its ability to capture the fine tonal gradations. The first commercial collotypes were produced in 1868 in Germany by Josef Albert (Albertype) and in 1869 in England by Ernst Edwards and gradually replaced the woodburytype. The process of creating high quality Collotype prints is not an easy one, as a result, the practice was limited to only a small population of highly skilled artisan. Even today, Collotype prints are still considered the print of choice by some in art community. Unfortunately, fewer and fewer artisans are practicing the technique and in some regards it is considered a dying art despite its current demand.

Huffman, L. A. (Laton Alton), 1854-1931, photographer.

 Buffalo grazing the big open, North Monatana, 1880.

 

Process:

A solution of gelatin is poured over a sheet of plate glass. When dry the plate is placed in contact with a reverse negative and exposed to light. In proportion to the strength of the transmitted light the gelatin dries and hardens, while the unexposed areas remain capable of absorbing moisture. The surface can then be printed as a lithograph. The gelatin accepts the ink in an inverse proportion to the amount of moisture the surface retains, the driest areas accepting the most and therefore printing darkest. Each plate is capable of producing approximately 2,000 prints before the gelatin begins to fail, making it only suitable for printing in relatively small editions.

Albertype (collotype family) showing the interior of Albert's printing establishment in 1870. This original albertype was inserted in the June 24, 1870 issue of Photographic News.

Below is a video demonstrating how the process is conducted today. (Unfortunately, it's not in English and is without subtitles)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNRo5AomkXM

 Collotype prints can be easily identified by the presence of fine reticulation, a product of cracked gelatin covered plate used to print the image.

Four-color post card 1910s. Photograph provided by the Graphics Atlas 

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Norman Rockwell utilized the Collotype process for many of his well known prints. The Collotype was considered a superior process, thus some of the better known Rockwell prints were published in this way.

Norman Rockwell. "Freedom of worship"

The Collotype, like photogravure, photolithography, woodburytype and other similar processes had one critical disadvantage: they could not be printed on a press together with type. "Although these processes made possible the reproduction of photographs in quantity, the printed sheets had to be bound separately in books or magazines, or the sheets had to be passed through two presses, once for the text and again for the pictures." (Newhall, 251). Because of this, none of these processes could be adopted for the use of newspaper or magazine publishing, which require rapid printing in a rotary press.

References:

Ketterer Kunst Art Auction House

http://www.kettererkunst.com/dict/collotype.shtml

Santa Cruz University Library. "Collotype and Pochoir"

http://library.ucsc.edu/speccoll/collotype-pochoir

Newhall, Beaumont. The History of Photography. The Museum of Modern Art, New York: 1982.

PhotoConservation

http://www.photoconservation.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=91:collotype&catid=36:photomechanical&Itemid=58

Museum of Printing History

http://www.printingmuseum.org/eventdetail.php?id=108