The largest of the French presses has a bed size of 31″ x 47″ (grand aiguille), weighs 11 tons and dates back to the 1860’s. But, their value goes far beyond novelty or nostalgia: Like the unequalled sound of a centuries-old Stradivarius violin, the breath-taking quality produced by these historic presses is unmatched by any of today’s reproduction technology. (We are continually trying to purchase the remaining two.) Originally powered by steam and later converted to electricity, these gorgeous flatbed presses are the same machines used in the legendary 19th and early 20th Century ateliers of Paris to produce original works of lithographic multiple fine art by great masters such as Alphonse Mucha, Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Joan Miro, Henri Mattisse, Alexander Calder, and many more. As far as we can determine, there are only seven of these magnificent machines left in the world, and we are the proud owner of five of them. There they discover an atmosphere of creativity and dedication to art, and they experience the rewards of our “low-tech” approach: magnificent artworks of pure, vibrant color rich texture subtle nuances superb aesthetic merit.Īt the heart of Rue Royale are five extremely rare, made-in-Paris Marinoni Voirin editioning presses. Our 13,000-square-foot atelier in Las Vegas, Nevada, is one of only a handful of true lithography ateliers left in the world, a place where there remains specialized historic equipment and a highly experienced staff of printer/artisans capable of performing these time-honored, fine art printing methods.Īrtists and publishers from all over the world, who seek the finest quality there is, come to work at Rue Royale Fine Art. At Rue Royale our direct lithographs are works of hands-on craftsmanship. Our mission is to produce extraordinary editions of original fine art lithographs, using traditional, historic techniques honored by the greatest master artists of the 19th and 20th Century. Rue Royale Fine Art is changing all that.

Regrettably, most of today’s artists and art publishers resort to these processes because they are cheap, quick, easy to manufacture and because they believe that un-compromised aesthetics in multiple fine art are a thing of the past. (Compare this process to a man kissing a pretty woman through a veil). Mechanistic and bland, they scarcely convey the beauty, depth, and subtle inner feelings of the artist’s original vision. These pictures take the finest works, the most inspired of images, and reduce them to either dots or to slick, lifeless digitized images. Today’s high-speed photographic printing processes, and today’s high-tech computer print outs reproducing paintings (called “giclees”), are “pictures”. But, in the realm of multiple fine art production, something has been sacrificed along the way: Quality of art. The advances of modern technology have improved nearly everyone’s quality of life.

Fine art lithographs