Printing and printmaking originated in China after paper was invented there in the first century A.D. Although it is thought that the Chinese developed a primitive form of print from rubbings in the 2nd century A.D., it was really the Japanese who produced the first authenticated prints towards the end of the 8th century, using wood-block rubbings of Buddhist charms. Early European printmaking began with textile printing in the sixth century. The first woodcuts, a set of playing cards printed on paper, were made in the Western world in the 15th century. Printmaking became more widespread across Europe during this century with the development of intaglio, the process by which ink is pulled out of grooves made in a plate. The earliest dated printed engraving, 1446, is a German print entitled “The Flagellation”. While Dürer, in the 15th century, mastered printmaking, it wasn’t until the well after the 17th century that printmaking became popular when it was used by such masters as Rembrandt and Goya.Fine Art Printmaking in Ireland has a much shorter history with only very few artists working in the medium of print up to the 1960s. Among the Irish artists who exhibited fine art prints during this time were Harry Kernoff, Estella Solomons and Elizabeth Rivers. The latter was one of the founder members of the Graphic Studio in Dublin.