videos

A series from The Museum of Modern Art

Renaissance Watercolours: materials and techniques
Renaissance Watercolours: materials and techniques

Find out what qualities of watercolor made it the medium of choice for many Renaissance illuminated manuscripts, portrait miniatures and colored drawings

Science and Paper: Conserving a Drypoint by Michael Heizer
Science and Paper: Conserving a Drypoint by Michael Heizer

Before conducting a treatment on these large prints, conservators weighed the long-term risks and rewards.

Henri Matisse: Conserving <em>The Swimming Pool</em>
Henri Matisse: Conserving The Swimming Pool

Matisse lived with his cut-out pool until his death. See how its conservators are preserving it for future viewers.

Conserving Old Master Drawings
Conserving Old Master Drawings

Old master drawings are particularly vulnerable since they are on paper and hundreds of years old.

Drawing with charcoal: historical techniques of 19th-century France
Drawing with charcoal: historical techniques of 19th-century France

These charred wood pieces produce a range of tones. Easily reworked, they’re also easily lost without a fixative.

Making manuscripts
Making manuscripts

From scraping skin and cutting quills to painting and bookbinding, making a manuscript is a long, complex process.

Lithography process
Lithography process

Lithography was invented in 1796 in Germany.

Introduction to lithography
Introduction to lithography

It's a good thing water and oil don't mix.

Intaglio process
Intaglio process

Intaglio prints can be etchings, engravings, drypoints, aquatints, or mezzotints.

Introduction to intaglio
Introduction to intaglio

In this printmaking technique, the image is incised into the flat surface of a plate.

Relief process
Relief process

No press required! Watch as a woodblock and a linoleum sheet are cut, prepared, inked, and printed.

Introduction to relief printmaking
Introduction to relief printmaking

Using a raised image covered in ink, this is the earliest and most accessible form of printmaking.