To offer you even more information about the museum and Vincent van Gogh, and serve you better, we use cookies. By clicking ‘Accept’, you are giving us permission to use these cookies. Cookies help us to ensure that the website works properly. We also analyse how the website is used, so that we can make any necessary improvements. Advertisements can also be displayed tailored to your interests. And finally, we use cookies to display forms, Google Maps and other embedded content.
Find out more about our cookies.

Discover the Parisian print world

zincography

The printmaking technique of zincography is closely related to lithography, but in place of the cumbersome, costly lithographic stone, printmakers work on a zinc plate.

The use of tusche, a lithographic wash, often produced a distinct, grainy texture as a result of the oxidation of the zinc plate in the presence of water. This effect, known as peau de crapaud (toad skin), distinguishes a zincograph from the more common lithograph.

View this artwork
View this artwork
  • Zincography in Brittany

    The medium of zincography was favored by Paul Gauguin, Emile Bernard, and others working near the rural village of Pont-Aven in the late 1880s and early 1890s.

    Because of the lack of professional printmaking facilities in Brittany, zincography provided a convenient and affordable alternative to traditional lithography.

    Additionally, the unique graininess of the zincographic print suited the rough, primitive aesthetic extolled by the School of Pont-Aven.

  • View this artwork
  • Experimental techniques

    The artist Emile Bernard experimented intensely with printmaking, combining a variety of complicated techniques.

    It is believed that for his religious imagery, he first carved his designs into a woodblock and then transferred the image to a zinc plate prior to printing.

    This combination allowed Bernard the flexibility to make changes on the zincographic plate while still retaining the Medieval aesthetic of the woodcut.

  • View this artwork

Further reading

Caroline Boyle-Turner, The Prints of the Pont-Aven School: Gauguin and his Circle in Brittany, Lausanne 1986

Agnieszka Juszczak e.a., Paul Gauguin: The Breakthrough into Modernity, Amsterdam 2009

Dennis Delouche, Les Peintres de la Bretagne, Quimper 2012

102 prints in 'zincography'

  • p2552S2010
  • p2552-002S2010
  • p2552-003S2010
  • p2552-005S2010
  • p2552-007S2010
  • p2552-009S2010
  • p2553-001S2010
  • p2554-006S2010
  • p2554-008S2010
  • p2554-010S2010
  • p2507S2009
  • p2471S2005
  • p0568M1990
  • p0569M1990
  • p0570M1990
  • p0571M1990
  • p0572M1990
  • p0915N1996
  • p0917N1996
  • p0918N1996
  • p0919N1996
  • p0920N1996
  • p0939S1998
  • p0511M1986
  • p0529M1990
  • p0567M1990
  • p0894N1996
  • p0895N1996
  • p0896N1996
  • p0897N1996
  • p0900N1996
  • p0901N1996
  • p0902N1996
  • p0903N1996
  • p0904N1996
  • p0905N1996
  • p0906N1996
  • p0907N1996
  • p0908N1996
  • p2437a-kV2004
  • p2438V2004
  • p2437aV2004
  • p2437bV2004
  • p2437cV2004
  • p2437dV2004
  • p2437eV2004
  • p2437fV2004
  • p2437gV2004
  • p2437hV2004
  • p2437iV2004
  • p2437jV2004
  • p2359S2003
  • p1386V2000
  • p1387V2000
  • p1388V2000
  • p1389V2000
  • p1390V2000
  • p1140V2000
  • p1141V2000
  • p1142V2000
  • p1143V2000
  • p1144V2000
  • p1145V2000
  • p1146V2000
  • p1147V2000
  • p1148V2000
  • p2552-001S2010
  • p2552-004S2010
  • p2552-006S2010
  • p2552-008S2010
  • p2552-010S2010
  • p2553-002S2010
  • p2553-003S2010
  • p2553-004S2010
  • p2553-006S2010
  • p2553-005S2010
  • p2553-007S2010
  • p2553-008S2010
  • p2553-009S2010
  • p2553-010S2010
  • p2553S2010
  • p2554-001S2010
  • p2554-002S2010
  • p2554-003S2010
  • p2554-004S2010
  • p2554-005S2010
  • p2554-007S2010
  • p2554-009S2010
  • p2613S2011
  • p2614S2011
  • p2615S2011
  • p2650S2012
  • p2665S2012
  • p2666S2012
  • p2667S2012
  • p2668S2012
  • p2669S2012
  • p2670S2012
  • pa0016
  • pa0020
  • p2859S2018

Search the French print collection

Discover more

Continue your journey into the Parisian print world of the fin de siècle. Discover more printmakers, stories and themes. The connections are endless.

Explore