Collotype

Collotype originates from the Greek word kolla for (flour paste) glue. Poitevin patented collotype printing the same year it was invented in 1855. The process was shown in 1859 by Ferdinand Joubert (1810–1884). == Process ==

Poitevin's collotype In Poitevin's process, a lithographic stone was coated with a light-sensitive gelatin solution and exposed through a photographic negative. The gelatin would harden in exposed areas, leading to the stone becoming hydrophobic in light areas (and thus receptive to the greasy ink) and hydrophilic under dark areas (ink-repelling). Later collotype The collotype plate is made by coating a plate of glass or metal with a substrate composed of gelatin or other colloid and hardening it. Then it is coated with a thick coat of dichromated gelatin and dried carefully at a controlled temperature (a little over 50° Celsius) so it "reticulates" or breaks up into a finely grained pattern when washed later in approximately 16 °C water. The plate is then exposed in contact with the negative using an ultraviolet (UV) source which changes the ability of the exposed gelatin to absorb water later. The plate is developed by carefully washing out the dichromate salt and dried without heat. The plate is left in a cool dry place to cure for 24 hours before using it to print. Related processes, or processes developed from collotype, or even alternate names for collotype include albertype, , autocopyist, artotype, , heliotype, , indotint, ink-photo, leimtype, lichtdruck, papyrotype, photogelatin, photophane, phototype, Roto-Collotype, Rye's, and Sinop. the Gelatone process, introduced in 1939; and the Optak process, introduced in 1946. == Characteristics ==

Collotype was most often printed in monochrome in various colors of ink, most commonly black, brown, green, blue. In double-rolled collotype, the plate was first inked with stiff black ink and then re-inked with a softer colored ink; only one impression was taken. This process was most common in fancy postcards. Richard Benson has described the finicky nature of collotype printing, primarily problems of registration with damp paper and the varied tones from sheet to sheet. == Historical use ==

The collotype printing process did not achieve commercial viability until Joseph Albert invented the first mechanized collotype press in 1868. Short runs can printed on a proofing press, but longer print runs are carried out on a flatbed machine, where the plate is made square, level and fixed on the bed. The plate is then dampened with a slightly acidic glycerine–water mixture which is selectively absorbed by the different gel hardnesses, blotted before inking with collotype ink using a leather nap or velvet rollers. Best results are achieved with hard finished paper such as Bristol, placed upon the plate and covered with a tympan before slight pressure is applied. The collotype process uses much less pressure than other types of printing, such as lithography, letterpress or intaglio. While it is possible to print by hand using a roller or brayer, the best consistency in pressure and even distribution of ink is most effectively achieved on a mechanized press. The collotype printing process was used for volume mechanical printing before the introduction of simpler and cheaper offset lithography. It can produce results difficult to distinguish from metal-based photographic prints because of its microscopically fine reticulations which compose the image. Many old postcards are collotypes. Its possibilities for fine art photography were first employed by Alfred Stieglitz in the United States and by the Youzheng and Shenzhou Guoguang publishing houses in China in 1908. Because of its ability to print fine detail, it was also used for business cards and invitations with fine script lettering. == Famous works ==

Animal Locomotion: an Electro-Photographic Investigation of Connective Phases of Animal Movements (1883–86, printed 1887) used collotype to print the photographs.|184x184pxEadward Muybridge's Animal Locomotion: an Electro-Photographic Investigation of Connective Phases of Animal Movements (1883–86, printed 1887) was printed in collotype from photographs transferred to gelatin. After collotype had fallen out of commercial use, artists began to experiment with the process. Pablo Picasso's 1920 artist's book Le Tricorne was printed in (black) collotype with applied pochoir color. Surrealist Max Ernst printed the frottages in the portfolio Natural History (1926) in collotype. Marcel Duchamp's La Boîte-en-valise (Box in a Suitcase), produced in the 1930s and 1940s, combines the techniques of collotype and stencil to create its "copies." Gerhard Richter's Mao (1968) is a collotype portrait of Mao Zedong. == Contemporary use ==

Commercial As of 1983, there were only two commercial collotype firms in the United States, and as of 1997, there were no commercial collotype printers in the United States. As of 2015, there were two commercial collotype printers in Kyoto, Japan. In Europe, the firm Fratelli Alinari (Florence) and Lichtdruck-Kunst (Leipzig) still produce collotypes, primarily as high-quality art reproductions for museums. Non-commercial or artistic In 2010, only a small number of facilities in the United States, primarily art studios or organizations, still have the ability to create collotypes. == Gallery ==

Monochrome collotypes File:Arapaho woman Pretty Nose, 1879, restored.jpg|Pretty Nose, collotype with black ink, 1879. File:Photo-engraving and photo-lithography in line and in half-tone, also collotype and heliotype (titel op object), RP-F-2001-7-451.jpg|alt=A book opening showing on the left a collotype of a woman seated in a studio, while the right is the title page reading "Photo-Engraving"|Collotype (on left page), 1887. File:Baltimore Orioles and New York Giants, Temple Cup Series - DPLA - 370417303719ed746ed249e88fa594d6.jpg|Collotype reproduction of original painting by Henry Sandham, 1896. File:Bernard, Claude (1813-1878) CIPA0598.jpg|Collotype in black ink of a painting, 19th century. File:Guilherme Gaensly - Avenida Paulista II, Acervo do Museu Paulista da USP (cropped).jpg|Collotype with green ink, 1908. File:Horgan's half-tone and photomechanical processes (1913) (14778035584).jpg|Collotype in sepia ink, 1913. File:Koeln in Bildern, Tafel 54. Das Moltke-Denkmal.jpg|Collotype in blue-grey ink. Monochrome collotypes with applied color File:Kazumasa Ogawa (Japanese - Tree Pæony - Google Art Project.jpg|Hand-colored collotype, 1896. File:Guilherme Gaensly - São Paulo - Jardim da Luz III, Acervo do Museu Paulista da USP 2 (cropped).jpg|Collotype with handprinted color, 1900. File:Edward Burne-Jones Witches Tree (Flower Book).png|alt=A woman in a brown cloak stares at a figure in a black cloak among greenery and flowers.|Edward Burne-Jones' The Flower Book (1905), collotype with applied pochoir. File:Frankfurt Am Main-Morgenstern-KAVFFM-010-Mainbruecke und Sachsenhausen in Frankfurt a M.jpg|Collotype (of an engraving) with applied watercolor, 1913. File:272 BIARRITZ. - Vue générale et les Pyrénées. - LL. (3021802285).jpg|alt=Postcard of a coastal scene with the ocean on the right and a city on the left|Postcard of Biarritz, collotype print with applied color, ca. 1916. File:Washington D.C. - White House - 1877 LCCN2017648282.jpg|Hand-colored collotype, ca. 1877–1920. Multicolored collotypes File:Carte postale ancienne de Chéméré 20.jpg|Collotype with brown and blue ink. File:MaryPickford4.jpg|Lobby card of Mary Pickford, 1921. File:Marc Gazelle-lichtdruck.jpg|alt=Gazelle by Franz Marc|Gazelle by Franz Marc, 1923: a collotype reproduction of a painting. ==References==

• Defibaugh, Denis (1997). The Collotype: & History, Process, Photographic Documentation [MA Thesis]. Rochester, NY: Rochester Institute of Technology. • Dusan C. Stulik, Art Kaplan, Collotype. Getty Conservation Institute, 2013 (Atlas of Analytical Signatures of Photographic Processes) • Video of collotype printing at Benrido Press, Kyoto, Japan (2009). • http://collotype-vienna.com