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The process of creating an artist's print from an etching is
a venerable craft; having roots in the oldest iterations of printmaking. Its legacy is both primal and precious.
Engraving, or creating an etched imprint of an image on a surface for decoration or communication is found as early
as Petroglyphic cave art, 15,000-10,000 BCE.
Around 3,000 years ago the Sumerians engraved designs
on stones, preserving the first known lexicon of pictographs.
The Egyptians etched their beautifully crafted decorative and symbolic design motifs to preserve their history and share common beliefs.
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Chinese artisans are thought to have produced the first modern prints or reliefs. Engraved seals served as one's unique signature and officiating stamp. Wood-block "Xlography" or relief printing was refined and perfected in Japan in the 18th and 19th centuries; Japanese printmakers created works of art that have been revered and collected ever since.
"Ukio-e" prints, of Japan's Tokogawa period, are widely held to be the inspiration of proto-modernism. Their gorgeous, polychrome, flat, color field reliefs , poetic themes and the subsequent popular private collection of the prints, both within Japan and abroad, greatly influenced the work of European proto-modernists and impressionist painters.
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