版画在艺术和画像的历史上发挥了独特而重要的作用。本书探讨了三个世纪以来艺术家接受版画的众多方式。每件插图作品都经过挑选，以反映广泛的技术和目的，并以清晰简明的术语进行解释。这些作品是泰特美术馆鲜为人知的印刷品收藏中的佼佼者，以前没有任何一本书试图调查这一群体。对以下领先艺术家来说，版画已经成为他们实践中重要的试验性部分，如威廉·霍加斯、乔治·斯塔布斯、威廉·布莱克、J.M.W.特纳、巴勃罗·毕加索、芭芭拉·赫普沃斯、安迪·沃霍尔、卢西恩·弗洛伊德、布里奇特·莱利、保拉·雷戈、威廉·金特里奇、卡拉·沃克。

然而，版画这一话题仍然有些神秘，也许是因为原始版画经常被理解为“复制品”，或者被错误地赋予与草图和档案材料相似的地位。事实上，版画是已经完成了的艺术品，往往是经过整体构思、创造性实验的结果。各章节围绕不同类型的版画展开，揭示了艺术家使用不同技术的各种方式。除了120多件作品的完整复制品外，还展示了细节让读者能够仔细研究版画中非凡的视觉效果。

Prints have played a unique and important role in the history of art and image. This engaging book explores the numerous ways artists have embraced printmaking over the course of three centuries. Each of the works illustrated has been selected to reflect the broad spectrum of techniques and purposes, which are explained in clear and concise terms. The featured artworks are among the highlights of Tate’s extensive but little-known print collection, a remarkable grouping no book has previously attempted to survey. Among the leading artists for whom printmaking has been an important and experimental part of their practice are William Hogarth, George Stubbs, William Blake, J.M.W. Turner, Pablo Picasso, Barbara Hepworth, Andy Warhol, Lucian Freud, Bridget Riley, Paula Rego, William Kentridge and Kara Walker.

Yet printmaking remains somewhat mysterious as a topic, perhaps because original prints are often understood as ‘reproductions’, or wrongly given a similar status to preparatory sketches and archival material. In fact, prints are finished artworks, often the result of highly considered creative experimentation with print processes. Chapters are structured around different types of printmaking, allowing each section to reveal the various ways artists have engaged with the different techniques. In addition to complete reproductions of over 120 works, carefully selected details enable the reader to examine closely some of the remarkable visual effects seen in the prints.