Every year sees tens of thousands of old books destroyed or lost. Aside from wear and tear, books with artwork are often plated—steel engravings are cut out to be sold separately—and the remainder of the books, often filled with stunning woodcuts are thrown away. Even if art books are kept whole on someone’s shelves, the work of those masters is out of sight.

Interpretive Reprints™ from One-Off Press presents a growing number of examples of some of the best work of that period. There is a movement to preserve our older books on CD or DVD. This is truly commendable given the losses, and inaccessibility of many rare books. But if art in a book is virtually out of sight, the CD is even less accessible to casually browse through except on a monitor. The woodcuts and steel engravings come from The Aldine, The Art Journal, Picturesque America, Picturesque Europe, Picturesque Palestine, Sinai & Egypt, The Magazine of Art, Scientific American, etc., and represent artists like Thomas Moran, J. M. Turner, Albert Bierstadt, J. O. Davidson.

Reprinting these images presents several problems. The ink and paper have oxidized over the last one hundred plus years. Some of the images have foxing, water stains, tears, or other signs of ware. Was the paper bright white? Was the ink pure black? As remarkable as the engravings and woodcuts are in translating paintings, photographs, or drawings, these images were limited in the sense that a fine art print might have been manipulated by selective and multiple inkings, these were printed in one pass, allowing no manipulation by the artists involved. If the artists had choices, what might they have done?

After years of reprinting this material in collage form, using non-silver and silver photographic papers, Illfochrome (color) papers, toners, extensive reducing and spotting techniques, Mendelson brings digital image editing technologies to focus on these reprints. The images are enlarged, between 120% - 180% depending on the quality and size of the original, squared, and restored and retouched if there is physical damage. The paper tone outside the image area is painted out, however the color of the aged paper is usually retained. Then the image is worked to bring out its potentials, based on the image itself and the style of the artist from other drawings, paintings, and engravings. Through the use of masks and layers, curves and levels, hues and saturation, layer blending, dodging and burning, and selective sharpening, the image is interpreted.

Lake Tahoe, by Thomas Moran

Original from Picturesque America

Above are the four major masks used to make this print. The red mask hides covered areas from changes. These masks divide the image into four areas (from left to right): the foreground, the mountains, the sky, and the water. Other masks and patches were used to further isolate working areas, and quite a bit of work was done to individual engraving lines and the spaces between them.

Prints

All prints are Epson UltraGiclée prints. We use the Epson Stylus Pro 7600 with Ultrachrome inks on Epson UltraSmooth, heavy weight, acid free, 100% cotton, paper. Each print has print data on the back and is signed. All prints are coated front and back with a UV inhibiting acrylic spray. The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, has selected the Epson UltraGiclée as their choice for reprinting art work because of color fidelity and longevity.

Ordering Is Simple, Safe, and Easy

Send us an email to order, include which image(s) or portfolio you are ordering, your name, shipping address, phone number, email address. We will confirm the order by email. We bill only at the time of shipment, usually 1-2 weeks. When the order is ready to ship you will get a PapPal invoice for the amount due. The invoice links to PayPal's payment site. You pay using the secured payment method of your choice, and you do not need a PayPal account. As soon as we are notified by PayPal that your payment has been received, we ship.

All shipments are insured and signature is required. Images are shipped flat in AirFloat™ reinforced print pads, designed exclusively for shipping art work. All work is guaranteed. If for any reason you are dissatisfied with these images, contacts us for shipping instructions and you will receive a full refund less return shipping costs.

For orders, information, questions, please contact us as Contact

 

Interpretive Reprints™ Currently Available

After the Battle, by J. O. Davidson

From: The Aldine, Vol.VII, No. 7. 1874-1875. Original size: 13.06" x 9.13"; woodcut.

Reprint size: 18.25" x12.00" image, on 22" x 17"

Price: $300

Echo Lake, New Hampshire, by J. F. Cropsey

From: The Art Journal, 1876. Original size: 9.9" x 5.9"; steel engraving.

Reprint size: 18.25" x12.00" image, on 22" x 17"

Price: $300

O fair as Hope was New Year's Morn, by Thomas Moran

From: The Aldine, Vol. VII, No.1. 1874. Original size: 8.00" x 10.50". The original is a tint, that is two color, often called a chromolithograph. The original had rounded corners at the top.

Reprint size: 12.00" x 18.25" image, on 17" x 22"

Price: $300

"O fair as Hope was the New Year's morn,
That broke through the night, o'er a world forlorn!
the glad bells toll'd for the Old Year gone,
And rang for the New, a merry sweet song."

The Rescue, by J. O. Davidson

From: The Aldine, Vol. VII, No.1; 1874-1875. Original size: 13.00" x 9.06"; woodcut.

Reprint size: 18.25" x 12.00" image, on 22" x 17"

Price: $300