Documents: Declaration of Milan on original engraving - 1994
After a reserach on the Internet, I didn't find anywhere the text of the Declaration of Milan, signed by more than three-hundred artists and experts in the field.
Since sometimes someone reinvents the wheel (this is a quotation,
not a polemic!), I thought it would be useful to put it here archived,
handy - or mousy, if you wish - just in case. (G.N.)
Foreword
This Declaration was drawn up in consideration of the positions adopted by the Comité National de la Gravure in Paris in 1937, by the III International Congress of Plastic Arts held in Vienna in 1960, the Print Council of America in New York in 1961 and by the Comité National de la Gravure in Paris in 1964.
In each European language, the term "original" has come to have a dual meaning: a) it is a synonym of "belonging to the origins" (Zingarelli Dictionary of the Italian Language), of "dating back to the origins" (Devoto-Oli Dictionary) and of "existent from the first" (Oxford English Dictionary); 6) it is a synonym of "non reproduction", in accordance with a meaning that has also taken hold in the tradition of twentieth century graphics.
In the belief that each artist is free to use any technique to execute his work, this Declaration does not intend to condemn any technical procedure, nor express value judgements about them. The acknowledgement of the qualification of "original" to certain prints rather than to others does not imply any evaluation of an ethical nature, but is intended to constitute solely a definition for the purposes of art history.
With the use made of the attribution of "original" with
the meanings specified above, the aim of this Declaration is to
draw a distinction between engravings that are executed in accordance
with the criteria that have been used since the origins of each
technique and those that - without detriment to their status as
art prints – are executed using other techniques.
The concept of originality
An engraving is considered to be an "original" when it complies with the following two characteristics:
a) the printing phase gives rise to an image that derives from a matrix that was engraved by hand (including cases when the artist made use of a base obtained by other means), or prepared, again by band, by the same artist, to the exclusion of all photomechanical means, for the purpose of being printed with aesthetic intent;
b) the image engraved on the matrix must comply with the linguistic syntax of engraving, in other words it must make an appropriate and intentional use of specific techniques.
By analogy, a lithograph is considered to be an "original print" if its image was printed by a matrix that was drawn or painted by hand, for the purpose of being printed with aesthetic intent.
Any print that reproduces a model obtained using photomechanical
means or other non-manual means cannot be considered to he an "original"
(nor "originating nor an "authentic lithograph").
