In the Dutch Museum of Lithography you can see a unique collection of visual material and techniques. The historical technical and artistic sides of lithographic printing are shown, you can watch and experience for yourself the phenomenal invention, development and its range of application.
The collection, brought together by Peter-Louis Vrijdag, includes book illustrations,
cartography, commercial posters, lithographed music and playing cards besides poetry albums and labels, picture postcards, caricatures, (satirical) magazines, children`s games and tin-plate printing. Among them you will see work from well-known artists such as Kees van Dongen, Alphonse, Mucha, Adolphe Willette and Jan Sluyters.
The collection also comprises a diversity of historical lithographic printing presses.
You will see the three metre-high replica of the very first wooden lithographic printing press made by the inventor Aloys Senefelder. Also two imposing six- ton weight `high-speed pressess` from the 19th and 20th centuries are on display, all in perfect operational condition.
You can be part of this process, by giving proof of your ability in mixing colours or by drying a stone during a guided tour. Alternatively, you can work a lithographic hand- operated press. If you wish to extend your knowledge further, it is possible to take part in one of the many workshops.
A computer programme shows you the principles of colour-mixing, and you can depart after your tour with a `proficiency test certificate` as proof of your ability.
