Page 37 - De Jaren 80 - Deel I (1980-1984)

Maria van Elk -

lithography and

wood print

Claes Oldenburg was in the process of making a lithograph
in my print shop, Steendrukkerij Amsterdam. It was in 1980
approximately. Claes had drawn a nail on the lithograph
stone; Bragues Nail. Cross-cut Wood (l) & Length-cut Wood (r) (foto Evert De Cock)
But this is about Maria. The bridge came into being by the
wife of Claes Oldenburg, Coosje van Bruggen, also a friend of But still, after treatment with sanding paper and manually
Maria van Elk. Claes told Maria about a patient printer on the inking and printing of the slice in four different printings and
Lauriergracht. And because of that Maria rang our doorbell. colours something did appear. After a follow-up treatment of
Maria had a fantastic idea. She wanted to make a circular Maria and hanging it on a nail in which gravity determines the
drawing on a lithograph stone, break the stone in pieces and position, it has become a timeless piece of art.
print it. She couldn’t know then that the subject of a broken
stone is a tricky subject for a lithographer. As fantastic as her Slowly a whole oeuvre of prints came into being with which
idea was, so little enthusiastic I was to realise it. we made wonderful and successful exhibitions in the gallery
associated with the print shop. On the Lauriergracht many
Conceivably a different viewpoint will appear when the artist prints of many artist were printed. Every print has its own
is willing to discuss the concept. Luckily Maria van Elk and I story.
do not have difficulties bouncing ideas back and forth.
This way the idea arose to make a circular drawing on the Maybe then again Lithograph (1980) a thick sheet of Fabriano
stone and wrinkle the thin paper to be printed and only then paper that again under protest of the press is printed black
print it. While de-creasing the wrinkles afterwards a “broken “ in a lengthwise folded condition. This sheet is hanged folded
circle could be discerned. Too Much Pressure is a fitting title where the seam or crack shows an exiting line of light in the
prompted by the moaning of the press. black plane.

It was a great pleasure to work at the press with
Maria van Elk.

Too Much Pressure (photograph Rob Versluys)

This was the beginning of a productive collaboration that
was coupled with a lot of mutual appreciation and a cautious
friendship.
The unorthodox approach of printing on abused or not
abused paper at the same time is also a shift from the
traditional two-dimensional condition, front and back side of
the sheet, to a three-dimensional one. The sheet gets depth!!
Three-dimensional are also two wood prints, Cross-cut Wood Rento Brattiga and Maria van Elk at the printing press (1988)
and Length-cut Wood (1986). Especially Cross-cut Wood was photograph Ferry André de la Porte | collection Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
a challenge for me as a printer.
Of course, as a printer I am asked: “Rento, what is the most
Visualise a slice of a tree approximately 9 cm thick and 60 beautiful print you have made in these forty years”. I am
cm in diameter. This slice is cut from a trunk with a chain saw cautious with my answer. But I can entrust you that the works
where the lumber jack was indifferent as to the surface to be of Maria van Elk belong to my favourites.
printed. The slice was not equally thick everywhere and there
were many traces of the saw. Rento Brattinga, Steendrukkerij Amsterdam, 2020

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