Yes, this is a bold statement! Hand pulled lithographs are the Rolls Royce of fine art prints. What do we mean by this and why does it matter? There are numerous limited edition reproductions on the market and most of them are published using the offset printing method. With offset lithographs, the colours consist of thousands of dots. By contrast, the colours in hand pulled lithographs are solid while the lines are crisp and clean.
About our Lithographs
Our lithographs are produced using the hand pulled method by the S2 Art Group (before Jack Solomon passed away in 2012). The lithographs are printed on low-tech, rare antique, German Dufa and French Marinoni Voirin printing presses which deliver highly pigmented inks.
Identity of Meaning - Rafal Olbinski
The Method:
The hand pulled method is a very slow, labour intensive process. Under the direction of the artist, the chromist hand draws the images onto the Mylar surface. Separate plates are drawn for each colour that will be included in the finished print. Metal plates are then created from the mylar by transference.
The master printer, then slowly hand-pulls each image from the metal plate on one of the antique editioning presses. The archival 100% cotton paper is then pulled through the press numerous times, one colour at a time, one pull for each colour, in perfect registration.
Antique French Marinoni Voirin Press 1865
Some of Our Artists
S2 Art published and signed, limited edition lithographs for Tom Everhart, Waldemar Swierzy, Rafal Olbinski, Matt Rinard, Al Hirschfeld and many more. They also published reproductions of 19th century art nouveau, artists such as: Alphonse Mucha work in conjunction with the Mucha Foundation, Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, Jules Cheret, Theophile Steinlen, Georg Belwe and the man, whom created the most famous poster in the world, James Montgomery Flagg (I Want You). This series is called The Golden Age of Advertising (1835 - 1939) and it includes many more posterists from Europe and America.
The Last Brunch - Waldemar Swierzy
Hunde Ausstellung Dachshund - Georg Belwe
Art of the Movies
In 2003, S2 Art collaborated with AFI to reproduce the AFI top 100 movie posters of all time. S2 Art called the collection, Art of the Movies. These vintage 1-sheet, 3-sheet and half-sheet posters were reproduced as fine art lithographs created using the hand pulled method on antique, 19th century printing presses.The posters are exact replicas of the originals and because you cannot distinguish them from the original versions they are embossed with the publisher's chopmarks and the signature of chromist.
King Kong 3-Sheet Movie Poster Lithograph
So, next time you're looking for a piece of art to decorate your bare walls, consider a hand pulled lithograph. They are affordable and will maintain their brilliance for more than a lifetime. Consider it an investment.