Two exhibitions will remain open to the public until December at the Hambis Printmaking Museum in Platanistasa, Limassol district. The exhibitions present Ex-Libris prints and a second exhibition titled “Lithography and Its Evolution, with Works from the 19th Century to Today.”
Internationally known Ex-Libris are small print artworks traditionally attached to the inside cover of a book to identify its owner.
Lithography and its evolution
The art of lithography, which emerged at the end of the 18th century as the third major printmaking technique after woodcut and engraving, is presented in a new exhibition at the Hambis Printmaking Museum.
The exhibition, titled “Lithography and Its Evolution,” curated by Hélène Reeb, begins with lithographs produced from a single stone (19th–21st centuries), both monochrome and hand-coloured using stencil or brush.
It continues with the first colour lithographs, printed in two colours during the second quarter of the 19th century, followed by multicolour lithographs commonly known as chromolithographs.
From the 19th century onwards, many lithographic workshops replaced the heavy and expensive lithographic stones with thin sheets of zinc or aluminium. The exhibition includes a notable collection of zinc lithographs, as well as photolithographs, offset lithographs and monotypes.
Works by important artists from many countries are presented, including Eugène Delacroix, Honoré Daumier, François Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Dimitrios Galanis, Hap Grieshaber, Alekos Fassianos, Panagiotis Tetsis and Dimitris Alithinos.
Many other artists are also represented, including Hippolyte Bellangé, Louis Stanislas, Louis Henri Rudder, Bernard-Romain Julien, Joseph-Rose Lemercier, Paul Gavarni, Théophile Steinlen, Victor Prouvé, Willi Baumeister, Nota Siotropou, Christos Christou, Aristidis Patsoglou, Panagiotis Pasantas, Hidayet Üstün, O’galop (Marius Rossillon), William Simpson, Edmond Morin, David Teniers II, Johan Wölfle, William Husband MacFarlane, Pavel Semechkin, Max Tilke, Hippolyte Lecomte, Godefroy Engelmann, Sarantis Karavousis, Youlika Lakeridou, Alexander Chebotarev, Eduardo Arroyo, Philippe Benoist, Bengt Lindström, John Corbidge, Christodoulos Gkaltemis, Mihoko Sekiguchi, Giorgos Varlamos, Paris Prekas, Claude Hilaire (Hastaire), Stavri Kalinov, Gaston Ventrillon, Lydie Aricks, Glyn Hughes, Paul Lacroix, Alfred Lemercier, Andreas Charalambides, Hambis and Katia Savvidou.
The works displayed come from acquisitions by the museum as well as donations.
“Ex-Libris & Occasional Prints”
The museum also hosts the exhibition “Ex-Libris & Occasional Prints.”
The exhibition opens with a brief history of Ex-Libris from the 16th to the 21st century, starting with handwritten bookplates and tracing their evolution, particularly within state and municipal libraries. Early forms included stamped marks with the name of the library or institution, eventually evolving into small engraved artworks placed on the inside cover or the first blank page of a book before the title page.
These bookplates often featured heraldic symbols, mottos or symbolic imagery identifying the owner.
The exhibition presents Ex-Libris created using engraving, woodcut, zinc lithography and linocut techniques. It also includes “Sex-Libris” and small occasional prints such as original engraved Christmas and New Year greeting cards, as well as wedding invitations.
The exhibition was curated by Hélène Reeb and features works by artists including Wim Aerts, Jean-Claude Renaud, Jean Morisot, Giannis Kyriakidis, Jocelyn Mercier, Charles Favet, Albert Haefeli, Raymond Simonin, Jean-Paul Marchal, Takis Tsentemaiidis, Panagiotis Pasantas, Marina Mironova, Vaso Psaraki, Pembe Gaziler, Stelios Stylianou, Kosmas Oikonomou, Spyros Gousis, Anna Gajova, Janet Neilson, Kostas Oikonomou, Johanna Almeida, Andreas Karabelas, Olga Ovasapova, Robert Cami, Dimitra Siaterli, Vasilis Smoleski, Mohammad Kibria, Rinos Stefani, Mariam Soukhanova-Foukara, Hambis, Konstantinos Terlikkas and Elena Agiomamiti, among others.
The works come from museum acquisitions and donations.
Information
Exhibition: Ex-Libris & Occasional Prints
Venue: Hambis Printmaking Museum, Platanistasa
Opening hours (summer): Wednesday to Sunday, 10:00–13:00 and 16:00–18:00
Duration: Until December.