Remarque

In printmaking, most often in etchings, a sketch originally made by the artist on the margin of his plate to test his tools, often to test the degree of the mordant's biting before immersing the entire plate in the acid bath. Because such remarques were originally intended to be scraped or burnished away before the final edition of the plate is printed, a print with a remarque is often called a remarque proof. In the nineteenth century such remarques came to be so valued that they were often retained as part of the finished print. The subjects of these little drawings typically relate in some way to the larger image. The practice greatly fell out of use in the twentieth century.(pr. rə-MAHRK)Example: Theophile Alexandre Steinlen (French, ), La Gloire,1915, color lithograph on heavy rice paper, signed in pencil and numbered 96/100 by the artist, 12 x 16 inches, Annalie Gallery. Made during World War I, this print depicts four women mourning over a soldier's flag-draped coffin. The remarque in the lower right margin of La Gloire is a drawing of the head and shoulders of a soldier.Also see edge, margin, marginalia, and palimpsest.