Litography Workshop Petr Korbelář
"Stone print is 200 years old technique. What fascinates me the most about lithography is its almost unlimited possibilities of the ways of expression which an artist can freely choose for his own work."
"Stone print is 200 years old technique. What fascinates me the most about lithography is its almost unlimited possibilities of the ways of expression which an artist can freely choose for his own work."
My name is Petr Korbelar. I have started to print lithographs for artists in 1993 and since 2002 I ran my own professional atelier in suburb of Prague, located on the grounds of the Zdiby Castle. During whole these years of my practice as a lithographer I have got a chance to collaborate with more than one hunderd artists. In the Czech Republic there is the tradition and awarness of lithography still very vivid. The age of artist coming to work in my studio is very various, from young students to the authors of almost 90 years old. Thanks to the unbroken tradition, the practical knowledge and experience has been given trough from generation to generation. And at the same time there is still a great space for experiments and discovering of new possibilities and inspiration. During the years 2000 – 2011, I had an opportunity for 5 interships in the atelier of Rudolf Broulim in Antwerp, who shared his knowledge and experience with me.These study trips were initiated by Oldrich Kulhanek, world renowned graphic artist, in that time the president of the Hollar Foundation, connected to the Czech Graphic Artists Assotiation.
The principle of printing from stone was invented by Prague native, Alois Senefelder more than 200 years ago. However, till these days, it still represents a very modern, natural and free medium. That is why, as a printing technique, lithography is used not only by graphic artists, but by artists of other branches. In my atelier there are 90 % lithographs printed from stones. The authors coming to my atelier, prefere using an offset proofing press Zetaconte (contrapress) adapted for stone - printing (max. paper size 70 x100 cm), for realisation of their works. Some advantages of this press are: an artist does not have to draw in the mirror, he can make use of the whole surface of the stone from edge to edge, and this press offers a perfect register of colours. Larger size works are printed from stone of the max. size 84 x116 cm on a classical lithographic hand press. Further on, I use a mobile hand press on wheels for demonstrations of lithography at opportunities of exhibitions, as promotion of this technique, and for workshops with students of art schools and academies.
The results of cooperation are exhibited in authors’ artworks in the section ‘gallery’. The space of the atelier can be seen in the section ‘videos’ and the artists themselfs in the section ‘photos’.