A linocut is a relief print made from a sheet of linoleum. Like a woodcut, the artist carves away the areas that should stay blank, leaving the image raised to be inked and printed. Because linoleum is softer and grain-free, it allows for smoother surfaces and finer detail than wood, making it one of the most popular relief techniques among contemporary printmakers.
Though linoleum was originally a humble flooring material, artists from Picasso onwards have transformed it into a serious medium for original printmaking.
The artist draws a design onto a sheet of linoleum, then uses gouges to carve away everything that should not print. The raised image is rolled with ink, paper is laid over it, and pressure is applied, by hand or with a press, to lift the print.
Colour linocuts can be made either by carving a separate block for each colour, or by the reduction method, where a single block is progressively cut away between colours. In reduction printing, once the block is fully carved no further prints can ever be made, permanently fixing the size of the edition.
Linoleum’s smooth, even surface allows for crisp lines, clean curves and confident areas of flat colour. It carves more easily than wood, giving artists greater freedom and control, and it suits both bold graphic imagery and surprisingly delicate work.
Pablo Picasso famously embraced the reduction linocut in the 1950s and 60s, producing vibrant multi-colour prints from single blocks and elevating the technique’s artistic standing in the process.
Original linocuts are produced in signed, numbered editions. Reduction linocuts in particular are always strictly limited, since the block is destroyed in the making. Look for the clean, characterful line and the rich, hand-printed colour that mark an original.
At Byard Art, our print collection includes original linocuts from contemporary artists, each signed and numbered.
