ArtPage on Drypoint

drypoint - An intaglio printing process in which burrs are left on the plate by the pointed needle (or "pencil") that directly inscribes lines. A kind of engraving which has a soft, fuzzy line because of the metal burrs.

Its disadvantage is that because such plates wear out quickly, editions are usually limited to 50 or fewer prints.

Examples:

Federico Barocci (Italian, c. 1535-1612), The Annunciation, c. 1581, drypoint with stipple etching, 44.5 x 31.2 cm, Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia.

Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606-1669), Christ Presented to the People, 1655, drypoint, 14 x 17 7/8 inches (35.6 x 45.4 cm), Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

James McNeil Whistler (American, 1834-1903, active in England), Drouet, 1859, etching and drypoint, 8 7/8 x 6 inches (22.5 x 15.2 cm), Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881-1967), Minotaur Caressing a Sleeping Woman, 1933, drypoint, from the edition of 303, 11 5/8 x 14 1/2 inches (29.6 x 36.7 cm), San Diego Museum of Art, CA. See mythology.

Milton Avery (American, 1893-1965), Self-Portrait, 1937, drypoint, image 19.5 x 16.2 cm, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, CA. See self-portrait.