Original heliogravure. From the suite Reponses A Vasarely, printed in an archive edition of 20. The overall edition size for this suite is 540. Héliogravure is the oldest process for reproducing photographic images. It was first invented in the early 19th century by Joseph Nicéphore Niepce, of France, and later perfected by Talbot, Niepce de Saint-Victor, Baldus and Klic. The process involves two distinct steps. First, in a complex photochemical procedure that creates the intaglio surface, the photographic image is fixed and etched upon a specially prepared copper plate. The finished plate is then placed on a hand-turned press, and the image is printed onto dampened etching paper using special inks. Héliogravure is praised by specialists the world over, who marvel at its incomparably rich palette of blacks and shades of gray, its breadth of tonal range, its exquisite expressiveness.
