Prints have played a unique and vital role in the history of art and image. Yet printmaking remains a mysterious discipline, often considered in terms of reproduction instead of as an innovative and highly considered creative process.

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. This insightful publication explores the numerous ways these and many other notable artists have embraced printmaking over the course of three centuries.

The 130 works showcased here reveal a fascinating spectrum of printmaking techniques and purposes, and provide a survey of Tate’s extensive but little-known print collection, a remarkable and diverse grouping no previous book has considered as a whole.