Self Portrait (1967) by Andy WarholDetroit Institute of Arts
Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol was captivated by mass production. In his eyes, repetition and sameness characterised the era. Fashion, films, art, and soup were being replicated, broadcast, eaten, and worn, again and again and again and again…
Warhol first started making silkscreen prints in 1962. He infamously told an interviewer, "The reason I'm painting this way is that I want to be a machine, and I feel that whatever I do and do machine-like is what I want to do."
How do you make a print? It all begins with a photograph. Here, Warhol has used an image of himself, but he also cropped pictures from newspapers, books, and film reels. Some of his most famous subjects include Marilyn Monroe, Mao Zedong, and the almighty US dollar bill.
The original image is photographed and projected onto fabric screens (usually made of silk) coated with photographic chemicals. The chemicals harden and turn the screens into giant stencils. You need one screen for each color, then you're ready to print.
At the time, silkscreen printing was used mainly by commercial poster printers. It was cheap - in terms of looks and in terms of cost - but Warhol's striking, acidic, pop art prints turned this industrial process into fine art.
Though Warhol described himself as a machine, there's a lot of human work that goes into the process. Plus, the screens degrade over time as they become clogged with ink. The result is that each print is actually unique.
But what links an artist of the swinging '60s to a Japanese artist of the Meiji Era?
New Published 32 Faces and Supplement to 100 Faces (明治15年 1882) by Kobayashi KiyochikaKeio University Library
Kobayashi Kiyochika
Kobayashi Kiyochika was a Japanese artist who specialised in ukiyo-e, images of contemporary society. Living at the end of the 19th Century, Kiyochika saw Japan undergo immense change as a result of the country's 'opening up' to Western contact.
Kiyochika was born in 1847 and became an artist around the age of 26. He took up traditional Japanese woodblock printing, even though this style of art was declining in favour of western-style painting and photography.
The prints he produced depicted landscapes, tourist sights, and new technologies and fashions brought by westerners. Though he's fondly remembered for his simple caricatures and observations of daily life - as seen here.
The basic techniques of Japanese woodblock printing have remained unchanged for centuries. First, the artist begins by sketching the image in full colour. Then the sketch is copied to a series of wooden blocks - one block for each colour required.
The wooden blocks are then carved, though it's actually the uncarved areas which will print. More detail means more carving, and the most detailed block is usually the black one.
The printing process is similar to using a stamp: each block is covered with ink, then the paper is aligned and pressed against the block. When the paper is dry, it goes to the next block for the next color, and the process repeats.
Unlike the screen printing process, the production of woodcuts is incredibly laborious. It's easy to see why Japanese artists were keen to embrace different methods.
Kiyochika is considered to be one of the last great ukiyo-e artists. He found that the market for prints was shrinking and that he made more money from drawing newspaper cartoons. He even later abandoned printmaking in favour of photography.
It's ironic that at exactly the same time that woodcuts were being abandoned by Japanese artists, they were being admired by European ones. Looking back, it's not hard to trace a line from the ukiyo-e prints of Japan, to Andy Warhol's Grace Kelly.
Our forces occupy Ryuko Island (1895.3) by Artist: Kobayashi Kiyochika, Publisher: Matsuki HeikichiSmithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art
If you enjoyed learning about Kobayashi Kiyochika, then why not take a look at more of his prints, such as Hotoke, from the series Ancient Patterns and Our forces occupy Ryuko Island.
