Alumni Chris Wallace Co-Author of technical study for stone Paper matrix lithography

Photos from the technical study into Géricault’s stone paper matrix lithographic process.

Alumni Christopher Wallace (MFA, Printmaking, 2013) is a co-author of a recent study in the Journal of the American Institute for Conservation.

Title:  "Géricault’s Lion Devouring a Horse Stone Paper Matrix: Technical Study"
Co-Authors: Christina Taylor, Georgina Rayner, Christopher Wallace & Katherine Eremin
Published online: 20 Apr 2020
Download citation: https://doi.org/10.1080/01971360.2020.1726141


ABSTRACT
Théodore Géricault (1791–1824), one of the early proponents of lithography, experimented with the use of stone paper, a hand-coated paper that was formulated specifically for lithographic printing. Géricault’s Lion Devouring a Horse stone paper matrix is in the collection of the Harvard Art Museums and is the focus of this study. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis of the stone paper coating revealed the presence of lead and the absence of calcium, whereas previously published stone paper recipes all included calcium. Small samples were taken for analysis which confirmed that the material was dominated by lead white (basic lead carbonate) combined with a drying oil binder, casein and gum. Stone paper mockups revealed that the addition of casein was crucial to forming a resistant, stable coating for printing, but it also formed a brittle film, and casein was likely a contributing factor to the development of losses in the image during printing. Etch tests carried out on mockups showed that stone paper reacts more like a metal plate than a limestone, and that etching with tannic acid was most effective at stabilizing the matrix. Analysis of Géricault’s stone paper in combination with the preparation of mockups revealed qualities of the process that help to understand the use and subsequent abandonment of the stone paper process.
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Christopher Wallace is an artist, lithographer and educator based in Cambridge, MA. He received his MFA in Printmaking from the University of North Texas in 2013, and his BFA in Printmaking from the Kansas City Art Institute in 2010. He has held teaching positions at the University of Houston, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston’s Glassell School of Art, and Lonestar College. He currently teaches printmaking at Maud Morgan Arts in Cambridge. Address: Independent artist/printmaker, USA. Email: wallace.printmaker@gmail.com.

Christopher Wallace and Christina Taylor working on the study

Géricault’s Lion Devouring a Horse, lithograph, from the collection of Harvard Art Museums.