What Is a Lithograph? How to Tell an Original from a Reproduction
A lithograph is an artwork printed from a flat surface, traditionally a slab of limestone, on which the artist has drawn with a greasy crayon or a greasy ink. That is the short answer. The longer answer matters more to anyone who wants to buy one, because the same image can appear on a poster, on a museum-shop reproduction and on a genuine lithograph by Chagall or Miró. In this post I would like to explain how a lithograph is created, what makes it original, and how it differs from an offset reproduction sold under the same name.
Lithograph meaning: drawing on stone
The name comes from the Greek word lithos, which means stone. Lithography was invented in Munich at the end of the eighteenth century by Alois Senefelder, and it rests on a simple fact: grease and water do not mix.
The artist draws the design on a flat stone, or on a metal plate, with a greasy crayon or a greasy ink called tusche. The stone is then dampened with water and inked. The ink adheres to the greasy drawing and is repelled by the rest of the surface. A sheet of paper is placed on top, and the stone and paper pass through a press together.
Nothing is carved away. This is why lithography is called a planographic technique: the medium itself is not physically altered by incision or carving. For a colour lithograph, a separate drawing on a separate stone is needed for each colour, and the colours are aligned with registration marks. Our Secrets of Printmaking page compares lithography with relief and intaglio techniques.
What makes a lithograph original
On our Authenticity page we use a definition I stand by: a work of art is original if the medium is created by the hand of the artist and printed by or under the artist's supervision.
For a lithograph, this means that the artist drew the image on the stone or plate. The Paris workshop of the Mourlot family is the classic example. Picasso, Matisse, Chagall and Miró all created lithographs there, working together with master printers.
Our Henri Matisse lithograph "Piscine" (Swimming Pool) #1, $1,525, is a good illustration. Between 1950 and 1954, at the end of his life, Matisse created brightly coloured gouache paper cut-outs, and in 1953 he decided to reinterpret these works as lithographs. Collaborating with the renowned lithographers Mourlot Frères of Paris, he directed and supervised the first printings in 1954. The lithographs were published after his death, in 1958, in Verve by Tériade.
Offset lithograph: the reproduction that borrows the name
An offset lithograph is produced by a commercial printing process. A photograph of an existing painting or drawing is separated into colours, usually cyan, magenta, yellow and black, and each colour is reproduced on its plate as a screen of tiny dots of varying size. In offset printing, the image is transferred from the plate onto an intermediate surface before it is printed onto the paper. The artist never worked on these plates.
An offset reproduction is sometimes called a "lithograph", but this is incorrect, misleading and often done with fraudulent intent. It is not an original print or fine art print in the sense a collector or an appraiser means. At Chali-Rosso we do not carry reproductions of any kind.
Lithograph vs print: are they the same thing
Every lithograph is a print, but not every print is a lithograph. "Print" is the family name for any image made by transferring ink from one surface to another. It covers woodcuts, linocuts, etchings, engravings, aquatints, screenprints and lithographs, all of which are original when the artist created the medium for them. In everyday speech, however, "print" often refers to a poster or a photographic copy, which is why collectors and dealers use the terms "original print" and "fine art print".
Serigraph vs lithograph
A serigraph is a screenprint, a form of stencil printing in which ink is forced through a fabric screen stretched over a frame, while a stencil blocks the areas that should not print. The term "serigraph" was originally used to distinguish an artist's screenprint from commercial work. A lithograph, by contrast, is drawn with crayon or ink directly on the stone or plate. Both techniques produce original works when the artist creates them.
How to tell if a lithograph is original
Nothing replaces proper documentation and a catalogue raisonné entry, but these are the first things I look at when someone brings an artwork to the gallery.
Look through a magnifying glass
A regular pattern of tiny coloured dots means a photomechanical reproduction. In a four-colour reproduction, these dots appear under magnification as grids and small multi-coloured circles across the image. An original lithograph is drawn by hand with crayon or ink, so it does not carry this mechanical dot screen.
Read the signature and the numbering
Lithographs can be signed by hand in pencil, or signed "in the stone", which means the artist drew the signature on the stone as part of the image and it was printed together with it. Our Miró lithograph from the Escultor suite, for example, is signed by the artist in the stone. A printed signature should never be described as hand signed. Numbering, such as 48/150, identifies the individual impression and the size of the edition. If you would like to know what E.A., H.C. and other annotations mean, our Terminology page has the definitions.
Match it to the catalogue raisonné
Lithographs created by major artists are recorded in a catalogue raisonné, the scholarly reference that lists an artist's works together with their details. For Miró, the reference for his lithographs is Maeght/Mourlot, Joan Miró Lithographs. For Chagall, it is Mourlot's catalogue of his lithographs, published in six volumes; our Marc Chagall catalogue raisonné page lists the works by their Mourlot numbers. The image, the dimensions and the edition of the artwork in front of you should all agree with the catalogue entry.
Unsigned original lithographs
Unsigned lithographs can also be originals, and we have quite a collection of them in the gallery. The major point is that a signature does not make a print "more" original. Originality is decided by whether the artist created the artwork. An unsigned lithograph that the artist drew on the stone, and that was printed by the artist or under the artist's supervision, is a genuine original lithograph, and it often allows a collector to own a work by a great master at a more accessible price.
Original lithographs by modern masters under $2,000
Many people assume that an original Miró or Chagall is out of reach. In our collection, however, there are original lithographs by both artists for under $2,000.
Joan Miró's untitled lithograph of 1972, $1,350, was printed at the Mourlot studio and is referenced as Mourlot number 863. Marc Chagall's "The Circus", $1,500, dates from 1960 and is referenced as Mourlot number 289. For a smaller budget, Miró's lithograph "Persia" from the Escultor suite, created in 1974, is $950. It is signed by the artist in the stone, comes from an edition of 1,500 on guarro vellum paper, and is referenced as number 934 in Maeght/Mourlot. You can see more in our collection under $2,500.
Every work comes with a Certificate of Authenticity based on reliable documentation, entries in the respective catalogue raisonnés and other trusted references, and these documents can be verified by third-party authenticators. Chali-Rosso Gallery stands behind all of its artworks as original, with a lifetime guarantee.
Frequently asked questions
Is a lithograph an original or a copy?
It can be either. An original lithograph is created by the artist on the stone or plate and printed by the artist or under the artist's supervision. An offset lithograph is a photomechanical copy of an existing image, produced on a commercial press. Although the same word is used, these are very different objects, so always ask the seller which kind it is and for the catalogue raisonné reference.
How can I tell if a lithograph is real with a magnifying glass?
Look closely at an area of even colour. A regular pattern of tiny coloured dots means a photomechanical reproduction, while an original lithograph shows the marks of the artist's crayon or ink.
Are lithographs worth anything?
Original lithographs by recognized artists have a real market. Their value depends on the artist, the edition size, whether the artwork is hand signed in pencil or signed in the stone, the size, the subject matter, the colours and the condition. Some lithographs, linocuts or etchings can cost well over a million dollars. If you need a documented figure for insurance, estate or charitable donation purposes, our gallery provides independent art appraisals.
Is a lithograph signed in the stone still original?
Yes. A signature in the stone was drawn by the artist as part of the image and printed with it. It is described differently from a pencil signature, but the artwork itself is still an original lithograph.
You are welcome to see original lithographs in person at the gallery. Browse our Joan Miró collection, our Marc Chagall collection or everything under $2,500, and email gallery@chalirosso.com or call 604.733.3594 for a price and condition report.