In s3e31 of Platemark, host Ann Shafer speaks with Lothar Osterburg, artist, professor and leading expert on the fine art of photogravure. These are basically photographs transferred to copper plates and printed as etchings. (It's, of course, more complicated than that.) In this way, it is possible to get images to print with continuous tone, as opposed to half-tone, or stepped biting. 

The results are luminous photographs printed with printer’s ink. It's a result that cannot be achieved in any other way. Of course, one can manipulate the plate after etching the photographic image into it, adding drypoint, engraving, and even further etching. These hybridizations are intriguing, rare, and special. There are very few practitioners who are truly experts in it. 

Lothar helps us understand the process, and we take a look at both his work as a master printer at Crown Point Press in the 1990s, and his own work in which he builds sculptures (often in miniature) and photographs them to create eerie scenes that recall the antique and conjure fantasy.

Episode image: Elizabeth Brown

Christian Boltanski (French, 1944–2021). Untitled, from the portfolio Gymnasium Chases, 1991. Portfolio of 24 photogravures. Plate: 461 x 319 mm. (18 1/8 x 12 9/16 in.); sheet: 592 x 419 mm. (23 5/16 x 16 ½ in.). National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

John Baldessari (American, 1931–2020). Hand and Chin (with Entwined Hands), 1991. Photogravure with color spit bite aquatint. Plate: 24 x 14 in.; sheet: 33 x 22 in. Published by Crown Point Press.

Markus Raetz (German, 1941–2020). Reflexion, 1991. Set of three photogravures with aquatint. Plate (each): 19 x 26 in.; sheet (each) 36 x 42 in. Published by Crown Point Press.

Francis Bacon's studio at 7 Reece Mews, London, 1998. Photo: Perry Ogden. © Estate of Francis Bacon.

Lothar Osterburg (American, born Germany, 1961). Lunch Box Studio, 2022. Lunch Box, lens, paper, paint, LED lights. 10 ½ x 5 x 8 in.

Lothar Osterburg (American, born Germany, 1961). Gloomy Artist’s Studio, 2022. Photogravure with surface roll. 11 x 11 in.

Lothar Osterburg (American, born Germany, 1961). The Tower of Babel, 2017. Wood, cardstock, and book pages. 7 x 7 x 28 feet. 2017. Installation at the Esther Massry Gallery, Albany, New York.

Ole Worm (Danish, 1588–1654). Frontispiece from Museum Wormianum seu Historia Rerum Rariorum. Amsterdam: 1655. Special Collections, University of Reading.

Lothar Osterburg (American, born Germany, 1961). Cabinet of Buttons, 2022. Wood, lens, Japanese, silk, buttons, metal, paper, and LED lights. 11 x 13 x 9 in.

Lothar Osterburg (American, born Germany, 1961). Cabinet of Buttons, 2023. Photogravure with surface roll. 11 x 11 in.

Rembrandt (Dutch, 1606–1669). St. Jerome in a Dark Chamber, 1642. Etching, engraving, and drypoint. Sheet (trimmed to platemark): 6 × 6 15/16 in. (15.3 × 17.6 cm.). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Lothar Osterburg (American, born Germany, 1961). Portfolio Review, 2022. Wood, paper, glass, LED lights.

Lothar Osterburg (American, born Germany, 1961). Portfolio Review, 2023. Photogravure. 16 x 21 in.

Lothar Osterburg (American, born Germany, 1961). A Shakerbox Full of Chairs, 2022. Shaker box with lens, paper, LED lights. 11 x 8 x 5 in.

Lothar Osterburg (American, born Germany, 1961). A Room Full of Chairs, 2023. Photogravure with surface roll. 10 x 14 in.

Leo Zhao (American, born 1999). Printmaker’s Aquarium, 2023. Various techniques. Sheet: 30 x 44 in.

Key to techniques used.