Screenprints: a history

From the 1960s onwards, screen printing became one of the most important techniques in the development of limited-edition art prints, as demonstrated by the works of artists such as Roy Lichtenstein, Eduardo Paolozzi and Damien Hirst.

This book examines the history and practice of printmaking, while paying tribute to the artistic applications of this versatile medium, from the commercial origins of the screen-printing process in 1920s America, its essential role in 1960s Pop Art and Op Art by artists such as Andy Warhol and Bridget Riley, to its adoption by Damien Hirst and the YBAs of the 1990s, and its continuing presence in contemporary art.

The origins of the screen-printing process are presented through early artistic precursors, such as stencil printing in the making of Henri Matisse's Jazz and other artists' books. Emphasis is placed on lesser-known names who pioneered the use of screen printing in the fine arts in the UK, USA and Europe, including Francis Carr and Ben Shahn, while tracing its global spread across Africa, the Caribbean and Australasia.