European printmaking in the 20th century
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Twentieth-century art underwent a profound transformation: in a more materialist, more consumerist society, art was directed to the senses, not to the intellect. The avant-garde movements arose, which sought to integrate art into society through a greater interrelation between artist and spectator, since it is the latter who interprets the work, being able to discover meanings that the artist did not even know.[1]
The most commonly used graphic methods were woodcut, lithography, etching and silkscreen printing, and new techniques such as color aquatint were developed.[2] The offset printing also emerged, which revolutionized graphic art. Offset is a process similar to lithography, consisting of applying an ink on a metal plate, usually aluminum. It was the parallel product of two inventors: in 1875, the British Robert Barclay developed a version for printing on metals (tin) and, in 1903, the American Ira Washington Rubel adapted it for printing on paper.[3]