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L\'essuyage inachevé du cuivre

English translation: incomplete wiping of the plate

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:L\\\'essuyage inachevé du cuivre
English translation:incomplete wiping of the plate
Entered by: MoiraB

07:24 Nov 30, 2016
French to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Art, Arts & Crafts, Painting / prints/etchings
French term or phrase: L\'essuyage inachevé du cuivre
Describing one of Picasso's prints/etchings (Faun revealing a sleeping woman) from the Vollard Suite, in a museum's collection:

L'essuyage inachevé du cuivre lors de l'impression donne à notre épreuve un effet de nuit où la clarté lunaire répand une atmosphère douce.

What's actually happening here? 'Wiping' seems a bit prosaic. Is there an art term?
MoiraB
France
Local time: 12:57
incomplete wiping of the plate
Explanation:
"Wiping" is fine; I don't know of a more technical term and I don't think there is one. "Cuivre" means the plate and that's the word you would use in English.

Here's an example of this very phrase in a book on the etchings of Segers:

"The streaks in the sky, present in both impressions, but different in each case, resulted from incomplete wiping of the plate".
https://books.google.es/books?id=1v31CAAAQBAJ&pg=PA65&lpg=PA...

Here's one of many examples, taken at random:

"Meryon printed this plate himself, carefully wiping the plate so as to give a luminous glow to the central part of the image. Ex-collection John W. Wilson (Lugt 2581)."
http://allinsongallery.com/meryon/index.html

"WIPING THE PLATE
This is one of the areas where experience and instinct kicks in and I have seen all etchers get it wrong at some time. The main characteristic of intaglio printing is that the ink is printed from out of the lines which of course means that the ink on the surface has to be removed. Invariably some ink will remain - this gives intaglio prints their distinctive plate tone. The danger is in over wiping the plate and losing subtlety in the etched image or under wiping and losing detail in the line work - the balance is a matter of personal choice and often becomes the style of each individual printmaker. It is this stage that prevents etching becoming easy to mechanise"
http://www.limitededitionprints.info/etching-paper-printing-...
Selected response from:

Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 12:57
Grading comment
Thanks a lot, Charles. Excellent references. In fact, the limited edition prints page had a printmaking glossary, where "wiping the plate" was defined: In etching or engraving the plate ink is pushed in to the lines which requires covering the whole surface of the plate with ink (attempting to ink areas more selectively will result in a patchy plate tone) Wiping is the action of removing ink from the surface of the plate whilst leaving it in the lines. This is done using a folded pad of scrim which is swept across the surface of the plate. Care is needed not to rub the plate as this will drag ink out of the lines. The plate can be finished off by hand wiping the plate with the edge of the hand which will heighten the contrast of the print.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +5incomplete wiping of the plate
Charles Davis


  

Answers


21 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +5
incomplete wiping of the plate


Explanation:
"Wiping" is fine; I don't know of a more technical term and I don't think there is one. "Cuivre" means the plate and that's the word you would use in English.

Here's an example of this very phrase in a book on the etchings of Segers:

"The streaks in the sky, present in both impressions, but different in each case, resulted from incomplete wiping of the plate".
https://books.google.es/books?id=1v31CAAAQBAJ&pg=PA65&lpg=PA...

Here's one of many examples, taken at random:

"Meryon printed this plate himself, carefully wiping the plate so as to give a luminous glow to the central part of the image. Ex-collection John W. Wilson (Lugt 2581)."
http://allinsongallery.com/meryon/index.html

"WIPING THE PLATE
This is one of the areas where experience and instinct kicks in and I have seen all etchers get it wrong at some time. The main characteristic of intaglio printing is that the ink is printed from out of the lines which of course means that the ink on the surface has to be removed. Invariably some ink will remain - this gives intaglio prints their distinctive plate tone. The danger is in over wiping the plate and losing subtlety in the etched image or under wiping and losing detail in the line work - the balance is a matter of personal choice and often becomes the style of each individual printmaker. It is this stage that prevents etching becoming easy to mechanise"
http://www.limitededitionprints.info/etching-paper-printing-...

Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 12:57
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 48
Grading comment
Thanks a lot, Charles. Excellent references. In fact, the limited edition prints page had a printmaking glossary, where "wiping the plate" was defined: In etching or engraving the plate ink is pushed in to the lines which requires covering the whole surface of the plate with ink (attempting to ink areas more selectively will result in a patchy plate tone) Wiping is the action of removing ink from the surface of the plate whilst leaving it in the lines. This is done using a folded pad of scrim which is swept across the surface of the plate. Care is needed not to rub the plate as this will drag ink out of the lines. The plate can be finished off by hand wiping the plate with the edge of the hand which will heighten the contrast of the print.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Helen Shiner
47 mins
  -> Thanks, Helen
agree  Tony M
50 mins
  -> Thanks, Tony
agree  Chakib Roula
58 mins
  -> Thanks, Chakib
agree  James A. Walsh
1 hr
  -> Thanks, James ;)
agree  B D Finch: Pencils and brushes are "prosaic" too, it's how they are used that counts.
3 hrs
  -> Quite. But I know that feeling that it can't be so simple, there must be a special word for it. Thanks!
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