WHAT IS A ORIGINAL PRINT?           

"The utmost confusion seems to be caused by  the use of the term ORIGINAL when applied to a print which has been produced by one of the various methods to be described below.

     We should acknowledge at once that the prints under discussion are not UNIQUE, that is, not "one of a kind." There are indeed a varying quantity PULLED from the plates, woodblocks or stones on which they are drawn. Each IMPRESSION, however, is an ORIGINAL work of art, or MULTIPLE-ORIGINAL to adopt a more precise term. It is original because the artist's intent from the very outset is to create an etching, woodcut or lithograph, and when he plans the making of his print, he has foreknowledge of what is to be transferred from block, plate or stone to paper. If he is an experienced craftsman, he will expect in advance the surprises, pleasant and unpleasant, which not infrequently await him. He will know that the choice of paper, the method of inking the plate, the pressure exerted on the paper, the very temperature of the day, will combine to please or confound him. The fastidious artist will make many changes and corrections, either himself or with the aid of his printer, until he arrives at that point where he is moved to mark on the proof BON A TIRER or READY TO PRINT. All the materials used are simply tools to achieve this end in the same sense that canvas, brushes and color contribute to the ultimate making of a painting. The result is a direct, autographic statement of the artist's intent. It results in an ORIGINAL work of art.

     The most distinguished examples of printmaking are produced when the artist has not been satisfied to merely DUPLICATE a sketch or wash-drawing. Those prints which simply repeat or imitate are rarely the outstanding examples which are treasured by collectors. The artist chooses the graphic medium because its idiosyncrasies permit him to achieve specific, calculated results. One need only consider the lithographs in color of Bonnard, Vuillard, Lautrec, or the aquatints and lithographs of Picasso, to find effects rendered unobtainable by the usual techniques of painting or drawing. Were this not true, it is hardly likely that the making of prints should have held such allure for great artists these many centuries.

     I should be obvious that these ORIGINALS are not to be confused with photo-mechanical reproductions. The decision to make a FACSIMILE of an existing painting, sketch or watercolor gernerally comes when the work has been completed. Then, the photographer and the printer combine their talents to produce a satisfactory replica of the original. Often the author of the work is dead, or if alive, has little to say in the matter. The quality of the pigment, the texture of the surface on which the artist worked, must be SIMULATED. Good reproductions fill a real need for decoration, for illustration and instruction in art history. BUT THEY ARE NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH ORIGINAL PRINTS."

Herman J. Wechsler from Prints & Printmaking