Michael Parkes

Michael Parkes had his first one-man show at Steltman Galleries back in 1977.
Steltman Galleries made one-man exhibitions of Michael Parkes at Basel Art in Switzerland, Art Chicago, Art Fair NY, Frankfurt Bookfair, Amsterdam Art Fair, Tefaf Art and Antiques Fair Maastricht and numerous exhibitions in
their galleries in Amsterdam and New York from 1977 onwards.
The Limited edition stone lithographs
published by Steltman Galleries.

Michael Parkes began making stone lithographs in the early eighties and regarded it as an extension of his drawing techniques. Since then he has been making three to four new lithograph editions a year and now the complete collection of his lithographs comprises more than seventy different images.
The prices of the Michael Parkes stone lithographs range between $1,000- $6,000.

Posters, Giclées, and Granolitho's are photographic reproductions of original oilpaintings by Michael Parkes.
Steltman Galleries has the posters available. Giclées and Granolitho reproductions are not for sale at Steltman Galleries.

"How is stone lithography different from photography?"
Excerpt from the interview by Suzanne Graham with Michael Parkes
( see the book "Michael Parkes - Drawings and Stone Lithographs -" published by Steltman Galleries in 1991).

"What is done with stone lithography is not a reproduction but an ongoing creative process, which continues until the edition is complete. Printing an edition takes a daunting amount of time and energy. The artist is the constant creative element in the process, adapting, changing the image, reacting to problems as they arise, making artistic decisions every step of the way. Printing a lithograph is a genuinely creative process, involving a myriad of artistic decisions that in various stages can substantially change the image on the paper.

With contemporary photo lithography, by contrast, one is really talking not about a creative process but about reproduction by mechanical means. Photo lithography is the process used to print books, magazines and posters. An artist can produce an initial image in any medium - oil, watercolor, drawing - take the work to a good printer, have it photographed, and then it's effectively out of the artist's hands. The artist or anyone only has to approve one proof, and then the press can reproduce any number of copies, from two to two million. Then the copies can be signed and numbered, and it's all called a limited edition! These reproductions are often of very high quality, but they are nonetheless only reproductions. The artist's involvement and creativity stopped before the printing process began."
End of excerpt

The Stone lithograph technique

Michael Parkes designed and printed his lithographs in Switzerland. Although many artists have turned to the easier zinc or aluminium plates, Michael Parkes prefered the use of stones. He considerd the 160 million years old Solnhofen stones he uses for his lithographs to be an integral part of the creative process.

The process starts with drawing the image on the stone by using a greasy lithographic pencil. This usually takes three to twelve days, depending on the size and complexity of the image. The main problem is that mistakes cannot be erased. Small corrections can be made with a sharp knife, but if major corrections are needed, it is necessary to start again on a new stone.

After the basic design is drawn on the stone, the printer becomes involved. The tradition of master printer is handed down from one generation to the next. The printers Parkes works with were taught by the master that printed Kokoschka, Giacometti and Leger. Questions of composition, colour and atmosphere are discussed between printer and artists before printing begins. The initial drawing only gives a suggestion of what the actual lithograph will become. The unpredictability of the process means that the original ideas might have to be changed several times to correct mistakes or to take advantage of 'accidents' that look promising.

Now the drawing is on the stone, it needs to be etched onto the surface of the stone to be used for printing. What makes the lithographic process possible is the principle that oil and water do not mix. The etch makes the image more receptive to the ink while the stone remains perfectly flat. But if the stone is not properly prepared and etched the image is either etched away or starts to fill in with the ink after only a short time.

After etching, the colour is mixed to begin printing. During the printing, which is done on a Heidelberg press built in 1906, the stone must be kept wet at all times. The ink is controlled in small quantities during printing to maintain a balanced edition. Even though there are numerous techniques for printing a stone lithograph, the traditional approach is to use one litho stone for each colour. When printed, the colours and designs are superimposed to complete the finished image. This technique was created primarily for security the last century when large editions were printed.

Michael Parkes uses quite a different process for printing his work. His technique is described by some artists as the "suicide run", because it relies on only one stone to produce the total image. When the basic design is drawn and each new element is added to the stone, a portion of the original drawing is destroyed. Add to this the fact that when printing on wet paper your time is limited, it becomes clear that this technique is not for everyone. Parkes' lithographs can use as many as twelve different colours, and so twelve different printings.

Once the edition is printed, it is dried over four or five days. Parkes signs and numbers each lithograph. Then, the image on the stone is ground away to prepare it for the next artist. This guarantees the limited number of the edition. Some of the stones have been used for over 100 years and still have enough surface for many years to come. The historical tradition of lithography seems especially clear to Parkes as he works on a stone that has witnessed the passing of time through the work of artists like Whistler, Toulouse Lautrec, Giacometti, Picasso or Wunderlich. For Michael Parkes the project's end means the journey is beginning once again.

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