Paper is such a magical material. It’s so simple, but yet it can be used in so many ways and form so many things. With paper, you can create something that has never existed before and you can take something that is strange or forgotten and bring it back to life. Artists have been doing this for the past 100 years and even though the materials are similar and may change, the same energy and passion is behind each piece of art.
Here are some of the most important moments in paper art history:
In 1891, Wassily Kandinsky creates his first abstract painting. The abstract is now becoming mainstream as people start to understand what exactly it is he is trying to accomplish with this new form of art.
We now fast forward to the 1960s where we find Anselm Kiefer making his very first pieces out of found newspapers. He was able to use this material because it was cheap and easy for him to obtain all the papers he needed by just walking around, collecting anything that was printed on paper.
But let’s jump ahead a little bit more! In 1995, Yoko Ono discovers colored pencils! She creates her first work of art with these materials while she was also in an artist residency program in New York City.
It’s no surprise that the world of paper is a very colorful and enchanting one; but did you know that the history of paper art is over 100 years long?
Paper art and its history are as diverse as they are beautiful. The Paper Museum in Sweden has over 13000 pieces on display which showcase how versatile and magical paper truly is.
There are three main categories of paper art; these include printmaking, bookbinding, and scrap-booking. Each category is subdivided into a variety of other types of paper art, making for a very rich and diverse world.
Printmaking involves printing patterns or images onto sheets of white paper. This can be done through the use of hand-carved wooden blocks, lithography (stone or metal plates), stencils, or even more modern methods such as inkjet printers.
Papier-mâché is a fantastic art created by layering wet pieces of handmade paper together to form a sculpture. This can be done using all kinds of materials such as straw, newspaper, magazines, and many more. Because nothing is permanent with this medium (unless it’s displayed outside), papier-mâché has been used to create some really fun things including masks,
Paper is such a fantastic material. It is the most versatile material we have today in terms of art and design. There are so many ways to use it, from origami to digital or even just making a paper airplane. This article will talk about paper art, showcasing some of the most amazing paper creations in the world today.
A brief history of paper: The use of paper traces back as far as Ancient China as early as 2000 BC. The Chinese used hemp and plant fibers for their paper. They then used beaten bark to create their sheets. This was done on a large scale until 105 AD when the egyptians started producing papyrus paper which was made from reeds. This continued until the 4th century when paper making was introduced to Islam and then spread throughout Europe during the Renaissance period. Paper became mass produced in England in 1694 when Henry Mill obtained a patent for his machines that could be powered by water wheels and later steam engines, thus making paper more readily available at cheaper costs to more people in society.
The history of paper art is as long as the history of paper itself. In fact, you could say that paper art is what pushed the evolution of paper forward and it is still doing so today. We have seen an explosion in the use of paper globally and this has only caused us to appreciate it even more as a versatile medium.
It’s no wonder then, that people around the world have become more creative with it and have started to use it to create amazing works of art. We are going to look back at some of these amazing creations over the last 100 years and get a little glimpse into what we can expect to see in the future!
100 Years ago…
Paper is such a magical material, with so many different uses. If we trace its history, it’s amazing to see how many things we use today have been around since ancient times. But the most interesting thing about paper is that it’s a living material that has evolved with us.
In the past century, it’s been transformed from a material used only by professionals into something that everyone can enjoy and use in their daily life!
Paper is one of the most ancient art materials. People have used it for writing and drawing since the 2nd century A.D. In its long history, paper has been made of various fibers, such as hemp, bamboo, rice, mulberry and even fishnet! And long before printing was invented, people began to decorate it with paints.
The oldest known painting on paper is a mural from Egypt (5th century A.D.) depicting a group of dancers or acrobats in front of an arena. But Chinese artists were probably the first to paint on paper.
In Europe papermaking was brought from China during the Middle Ages (500-1500). By the 12th century there were about 10 paper mills in Italy and Germany that produced fine handmade papers for books and religious works. In France, a major center for paper production was established in 1491 by Louis XI at Vincennes and Sainte-Genevieve.
While the oldest recorded paper making dates back to around 105 AD, it wasn’t until the 15th and 16th centuries that paper production increased significantly.
The first mechanical papermaking machine was invented in 1801 by German printer Friedrich Voelter and his assistant Peter Behrens. The first use of paper machines occurred in 1807 when a mill was set up in Sweden.
Mechanical paper-making machines were refined during the 1830s. Since then, there has been an ongoing increase in the speed of this process for making sheets of paper.
The largest mechanical pulp mill is the Hammer Felles kraftverk paper mill at Røros, Norway. It produces 430,000 tonnes per year.
