Lino-cutting From its development as a flooring material in the 1860s until about 1900 it was known only for the warmth and hygiene it brought to cottages, mansions and battleships.
Lino-cutting past and present. Linoleum might seem to be too prosaic a material to inspire artists, yet the variety of images that can be printed from it is impressive.
Linocuts first stared appearing in artists’ magazines in about 1900, and then as illustrations for books and posters throughout Europe. For some year’s linocuts developed in two directions: educational and illustrative. Today we associate linocutting primarily with figurative and expressionism work. Why, this should be so is an interesting question. The answer lies in the nature of the material itself. To begin with linoleum was used as a cheap substitute for wood. (16)
