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One of a Kind


Woman with Red Hair A monotype is a print that is transferred only one time, making each unique.

A monotype is made by drawing with printer's ink or oil paint on a smooth surface such as glass or a metal plate. The image is then transferred to paper before it dries, using a printing press or other means of pressure. Because most of the image is transferred in the printing process, only one strong impression can be taken, hence the term monotype (one print).

Ross Moffet's Woman with Red Hair conveys a sense of emotional energy reminiscent of the art of Edvard Munch, which Moffett had seen as a student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Learn more about Moffett and see how monotypes are made in our online exhibition Singular Impressions: The Monotype in America.

Source: Joann Moser. Singular Impressions: The Monotype in America (Washington, D.C.: National Museum of American Art, 1997) at http://americanart.si.edu/collections/exhibits/monotypes/index.html.

Pictured: Ross Moffett, 1888–1971, Woman with Red Hair, about 1922–1925, monotype on paper, 14 1/2 x 11 7/8 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Josephine and Salvatore Del Deo.