Poen de Wijs - Hand-signed color lithograph | 'Child's Play - Girl with White Cat' | 2006

A beautiful and touching lithograph by Poen de Wijs. Very realistic and almost dreamy in character.

The whole is in mint condition. Signed in pencil by the artist in the lower center.

The six lithographs "Child's Play," miniature masterpieces, were created in the summer of 2005 when Poen de Wijs was working on his series "The Four Elements - Fire, Earth, Air, and Water." Children play the leading roles in the series, and he also drew them on the stone. He playfully allows the children to create their own world in which they can fully immerse themselves. They allow us to once again share in this unique experience, which for many has been lost as they grow older.

Poen de Wijs creates lithographs in the studio of Swiss lithographer Ernst Hanke. They have worked together for years, as Ernst Hanke specializes in printing realistic art. The prints they create together attract international attention for their delicacy, the richness of tone and color, from the deepest dark to the highest light, their incredible perfection.

The perfection with which Poen de Wijs applies the design to the stone must also be present in every facet of the stone. This perfection begins with the grinding and graining of the lithographic stone. Etching the design—using gum and acid to enhance and fix the grease-water repellency on which the principle of lithography is based—requires insight and precision from the printer. The actual printing with the lithographic press requires many, many years of experience. Adjusting the complicated machine, containing hundreds of gears, floats, axles, and rollers, is a skill in itself, requiring the printer to be a skilled mechanic. But besides the fine adjustment and setup of the press, the printer must also master the artistic side of the trade: mixing printing inks in the correct color, tone, and transparency; applying corrections to the stone; juggling the many chemicals that can affect the printing process; understanding the various properties of the paper types; and the thousand and one tricks required for the lithographer's trade. In this digital age, few artists bother to master the complicated lithography technique. That alone makes Poen de Wijs's prints truly special.