Printmaking is a diverse world offering a myriad of techniques, each one producing distinctive visual effects — from the rich, velvety lines of drypoint to the bold, flat coloring of screen printing.

What is a Print? illustrates a wide range of these techniques, featuring short overviews as well as lush illustrations of more than 130 works from The Museum of Modern Art's unrivaled print collection.

This volume does not offer the how-to's of printmaking. Instead, it aims to provide a starting point for understanding the nature of a print and the distinctive visual vocabulary of each process. It also illustrates the ways in which artists have utilized the special opportunities afforded by printmaking — in terms of distribution, reproduction, and collaboration — from the beginning of the modern period to the present day.

Modern masters — such as Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso, and Andy Warhol — are joined by a roster of accomplished international contemporary artists who continue to explore and expand the medium today. Four specially commissioned projects by Christiane Baumgartner, Julian Opie, José Antonio Suárez Londoño, and Terry Winters further demonstrate the singular qualities of this ancient practice that progresses with unrelenting force into the digital age.

Author — Sarah Suzuki.

Hardcover. 168 pages. 9½" × 10¾" (24 cm × 27 cm).