Charles Fritz ~ An Artist with the Corps of Discovery

Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark did not succeed in finding an easy water route across the North American continent as instructed by President Jefferson, however they did lead the Corps of Discovery on an adventure beyond their wildest expectations. The discovery of the geography, flora, fauna, and encountering the Native peoples within the boundaries of the Louisiana Purchase was meticulously documented. What they lacked, and lamented, was the inclusion of a professional artist. Until now.

We Proceeded On by Charles Fritz

Artist Charles Fritz set off on the entire length of the Lewis and Clark Trail. Painting en plein-air, he visited the sites at the same time of year as the expedition to accurately capture the colors, light, weather, etc. that the group encountered in 1804-06. With exacting research, each of the one hundred paintings in the exhibition references a journal entry and is accompanied by additional text embellishing the painting’s context in the collection.

“With the completion of Charles Fritz’s monumental project, a huge void has been filled! Through the eyes of a gifted and dedicated American artist, we now have a view of the world of Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery. This book will hold a special place in the William Clark family library, and it is a must for any serious student of Lewis and Clark or anyone who appreciates the adventure and magic of early Western exploration.”
Peyton C. Clark – great, great, great grandson of Captain William Clark

Mr. Fritz has long been a friend of Rimrock Art Frame and we’re proud to announce that his exhibition of “One Hundred Paintings Illustrating the Journals of Lewis & Clark” will be on display at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming from June 6 through August 30, 2009. We are your source for Mr. Fritz’s fine art prints and his newly released 136 page book illustrating “The Complete Collection”. Log on to www.rimrockart.net to buy now!

Certain text courtesy Charles Fritz Fine Art, Buffalo Bill Historical Center and Far Country Press

Russell Chatham Original Lithography

I just love it when a client asks “so what’s the big deal about a Russell Chatham print, and why are they more expensive?” My eyes light up and I reach for the jeweler’s loupe. Here we go!

Original lithography is becoming a rare cat. Fewer and fewer artists are willing to expend the energy, time and expense to produce this quality artform. While original lithography is technically printmaking, there are substantial differences between a “print” and an original lithograph.

The following is a very well written narrative prepared by Mr. Chatham describing “Original Lithography”:

December Evening by Russell Chatham

Almost all commercial printing that we see today is done using the process called lithography. For the art buyer, distinguishing between an original lithograph and a four-color reproduction is not simply a question of semantics. Depending, naturally, upon the quality of the artist, the former may have real value. Regardless of the quality of the artist, the latter is always worth very little.

To fully appreciate the meaning of the term original lithograph, it is important to understand just how one is produced. To determine if a print is an original, you must closely examine how the ink has been applied to the paper. This can be somewhat difficult with the naked eye, but can easily be done with a magnifying glass or jeweler’s loupe.

Process lithography always begins with a photograph of something. It can be a photograph of an original painting, a landscape, or a new car. In a laboratory the photograph is separated by a special camera into the four basic color elements which are red, yellow, blue and black. A negative is then made for each color. In the print shop the four color negatives are used to produce four printing plates. The structure of the images on these plates is that of mechanically spaced dots. These plates are then mounted on a four-color press and all four colors are printed simultaneously. It is possible to proceed from the photograph to the finished product in two days. In viewing a print produced in the above manner through a magnifying glass, the four standard- colored inks will appear as dots neatly arranged in rows. This tells you the plates were made photo-mechanically, and not by an artist’s hand.

Russ overseeing the process

By contrast, each plate used in the printing of an original lithograph has been hand drawn by the artist. In viewing the product of this process under the magnifying glass, the colors will appear either as a continuous tone, or as very irregular, oddly shaped, colored dots. In all cases this reflects the artist’s various methods and tools. As many as fifty different colors may be used in one work, each one requiring a separate plate. Every one of the inks for an original print is specially mixed by the artist and the printing process is similar to paint being blended and layered on a painting.

During the production of an original lithograph, the artist is directly involved in a hands-on manner, drawing each plate, choosing and mixing each ink and approving each color as it comes from the press. A single plate for an original lithograph may require twenty minutes or twenty hours of an artist’s time, depending upon its complexity. A lithograph with forty-one colors, or forty-one plates, could very well require 200 hours of the artist’s and printer’s time.

Rimrock Art & Frame is proud to have been selected by Mr. Chatham to represent his original lithographs. Please visit www.rimrockart.net to view his recent works, place an order or to contact us.