ART OF ETCHING

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 683, 7 June 1929, Page 9

ART OF ETCHING

METHODS EXPLAINED X-RAY USED ON PICTURES The processes employed in the art of etching were explained last evening by Mr. T. V. Gulliver in a lecture given under the combined auspices of the Auckland branch of the New Zealand Institute of Architects and the Auckland Society of Arts. First giving an historical account of the etcher's art, Mr. Gulliver went on to explain its technical methods. Graphic art, he said, was divided into those employing surface-printing, and the others which used an intaglio process. For surface-printing, the block or plate, after being engraved, was inked with a roller. In the print the graver scratches came out as white lines on a dark ground. An opposite result was obtained with the intaglio processes, of which etching was one. The surface was inked with a pad, the ink, thus filling the scratches. The whole plate was then wiped to remove ink from the smooth portions, and the plate was brought in contact with damp paper under extreme pressure. In explaining the method of designing, Mr. Gulliver said the plate, which was either of zinc or copper, was prepared for use by covering it with au acid-proof wax ground on which the design was made in reverse after the ground had been smoked. The plate was then immersed in acid, which produced the lines by eating into the exposed surface. SCIENCE AIDS ART During the evening Dr. E. B. Gunson, president of the Society of Arts, gave a talk on the relationship between science and art. Special reference was made to the method of examining pictures by X-rays for the purpose of determining their age and authorship. Modern work, he said, could be identified because aniline pigments which came into use in the middle of the nineteenth century transmitted the rays more freely than the mineral pigments used by the old masters. The appearance of a canvas helped to date a picture, and the identification of favourite pigments helped to establish the authenticity of the work of certain artists.