Category Archives: prints and drawings

prints and drawings

Portrait of the author, Increase Mather

Robert White (1645-1703) after Jan van der Spriet (active 1690-1700), Crescentius Matherus [Portrait of Increase Mather], 1688. Engraving. Bound in: Increase Mather (1639-1723), The Life and Death of That Reverend Man of God, Mr. Richard Mather, Teacher of the Church in Dorchester in New-England : [seven lines of quotations] (Cambridge [Mass.]: Printed by S.G. and M.J. [i.e., Samuel Green and Marmaduke Johnson], 1670. William H. Scheide Library, 101.19

 

A few months ago, a live webinar was held to investigate the woodcut portrait of Richard Mather (1596-1669) by John Foster (1648-1681), recognized as the first cut printed on a European press in Colonial  America. The print is assumed to have been created in honor of Mather’s death around 1670. While Princeton University Library holds a copy of that print, in William Scheide’s copy of The Life and Death of That Reverend Man of God, Mr. Richard Mather someone has inserted an engraved portrait of the author, Increase Mather, rather than the woodcut.

Thanks to our digital studio, we now have a complete surrogate copy of the volume along with the engraving to study at home. https://catalog.princeton.edu/catalog/4696592

 

The Scheide volume has a dedication signed: Increase Mather. Boston N.E. Septemb. 6. 1670. The pasted in engraving holds the inscription: Crescentius Matherus. Aetatis Suae 49. 1688. Vanderspirit pinxit. R. White Sculp. Londini. This tells us that it was engraved by Robert White (1645-1703) after a drawing by Jan van der Spriet (active 1690-1700),

The portrait shows Increase Mather, aged 49, with long hair, wearing skull-cap and bands. According to Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society (1894), “Mather’s portrait was painted in 1688 [see below], during his visit to England, where, as an agent of the Massachusetts Colony, he had gone in the spring of that year. The artist was John vander Spriett, a Dutch mezzotint engraver of little note, who had studied under Verkolie at Amsterdam, where he had painted a few portraits. He afterward went to London, and died there about the year 1700.”

Presumably Dr. Mather, on his return home in the spring of 1692, brought back to Boston this painting of himself. Inasmuch as his eldest child, Dr. Cotton Mather, inherited the larger part of his estate, it is very likely that the picture passed into that son’s possession, and thence into the hands of his grandson Samuel. Within a few months after Dr. Mather’s portrait was painted in London, it was engraved by Robert White, an English artist of some note (born 1645, died 1704), who had made many other likenesses of distinguished persons.

It is a small copperplate engraving, about six inches by four in size, representing the bust in an oval frame, and the whole resting on a pedestal, and bears the legend “Crescentius Matherus. AEtatis Suae 49. 1688.” In the two lower corners, below the pedestal, are the following words, in small script: “Vanderspirit pinxit. R. White Sculp. Londini.” It is of excellent workmanship, the hatching is soft and delicate, and the handling of the hair graceful. While the engraver has taken some liberties in his production and has slightly changed the pose of the figure, it is evident that he followed this identical portrait.

https://www.masshist.org/database/3281

According to White’s biography written for the British Museum, the artist was the “foremost pupil of [David Loggan, 1634–1692], and inherited his position as the leading line-engraver for the print trade. His earliest print was made in 1666, and his last in 1702. His output was huge, and has never been fully catalogued. [George Vertue, 1684-1756]‘s list, reproduced by Walpole, has several hundred plates. Vertue got some information from White’s son, George: ‘Robert White Engraver did not only learn of Mr Loggan but from his infancy had an inclination to drawing & made essays in engraving and etching before he knew Loggan. He drew many buildings for Loggan & engrav’d, besides he imploy’d much of his time in drawing from the life black led upon vellum’”.

While most of White’s portraits are found as frontispieces, “A small number he published himself at his house in Bloomsbury Market …. He is said to have charged about £4 for a small plate, but up to £30 for a large one.”

 

18th-century British vue d’optique

A view in Covent Garden showing St Paul’s Church on fire, as people watch from a roof nearby. “As it appeared on Fire, at eight O’Clock on Thursday Evening, 17th Sepr. 1795.”

John Scott (1774-1828) after a drawing by B.F. Scott, St. Paul’s Covent-Garden… 1795. Hand-colored engraving. Graphic Arts Collection GAX 2020- . Gift of Bruce Willsie ’86. Engraved text:

Was Built by that Celebrated Architect Inigo Jones, in 1640 by the direction And at the Expence of the Earl of Bedford, Ancestor of the present Duke, to whom the Land was granted by Edward VI in {1552 – This Structure was Erected} as a Chapel of Ease to St Martins in the Fields – and remarkable for its Majestic Simplicity, which never fail’d to Attract the Eye of the Curious – It was seperated from St Martins, Constituted an Independent P{arish, and confirmed in 1660 – When the Patronage was vested in the Earl of Bedford, and remained as it came from the Hands of the Original Architect – until the above Accident, which happen’d while Repairing

Thank to a generous donation by Bruce Willsie ’86, the Graphic Arts Collection has eleven new hand-colored vue d’optique, primarily from the 18th century. Here are a few scenes.

Charles Grignon, the Elder (1721-1810) after Giovanni Antonio Canal, known as Canaletto (1697-1768), A View of the Canal, Chinese Building, Rotundo, &c. in Ranelagh Gardens, with the Masquerade.Vue du Canal, du Batiment, Chinois, de la Rotunda, &c, des Jardins de Ranelagh un jour de Masquarade, 28 February 1752. Hand colored engraving. Printed for and sold by Robt Sayer at the Golden Buck opposite Fetter Lane Fleet Street. Also lettered in French: Vue du Canal, du Batiment, Chinois, de la Rotunda, &c. des Jardins de Ranelagh un jour de Masquarade. Graphic Arts Collection GAX 2020- . Gift of Bruce Willsie ’86

“Pleasure gardens were the great melting pots of 18th-century society and centres for public entertainment. First opened in 1746, Ranelagh Gardens in Chelsea boasted acres of formal gardens and tree-lined promenades. Visitors came to admire the Chinese Pavilion, watch the fountain of mirrors and attend musical concerts held in the great 200-foot-wide Rotunda. Originally designed to appeal to wealthier tastes, pleasure gardens soon became the haunt of the rich and poor alike, where both aristocrats and tradesmen enjoyed spectacles side by side.”-British Library

View of the Inside of the Courts of the Priests in Solomon’s Temple, with the manner of the Preparing & Offering the Sacrifices according to the Vision of the Prophet Ezekiel, May 12, 1794. Printed for Rob.t Sayer at the Golden Buck opposite Fetter Lane Fleet-street, London. Hand colored engraving. Graphic Arts Collection GAX 2020- . Gift of Bruce Willsie ’86.

Note the large basin on the left: Brazen Sea by Morris Jastrow, Jr., Ira Maurice Price, Marcus Jastrow, and Louis Ginzberg, “The brazen laver of the Mosaic ritual; made by Solomon out of bronze captured by David at Tibhath and Chun, cities of Hadarezer (I Chron. xviii. 8). It served the same purpose for the officiating priests of Solomon’s Temple as did the layer for those officers at the tabernacle. The dimensions of the sea (I Kings vii. 23-26) were as follows: height, 5 cubits; circumference, 30 cubits (consequently it was about 10 cubits in diameter); and a handbreadth in thickness. It was capable of holding 2,000 “baths”; on the smallest calculation, about 17,000 gallons. “Under the brim of it round about there were knops which did compass it, for ten cubits compassing the sea round about; the knops were in two rows, cast when it was cast” (ib. 24). This great brazen vessel was set on the backs of twelve brazen oxen; three of them facing each cardinal point, and all of them facing outward…”–http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/3659-brazen-sea

 

Jacques Rigaud (ca.1681-1754), A View of the Royal Palace of Hampton Court. Vüe du Palais Royal de Hampton Court, ca. 1760-1765. Hand colored engraving. Printed for & Sold by Rob.t Sayer at the Golden Buck Opposite Fetter Lane Fleet Street. Graphic Arts Collection GAX 2020- Gift of Bruce Willsie, ‘86.

“…The reliable witness George Vertue tells us that Queen Caroline’s designer Charles Bridgeman commissioned Rigaud to come to England in early 1733, to draw and engrave four views of royal domains at Greenwich, St. James’s Palace, and Hampton Court Palace (and Rigaud did publish these in Paris, 1736).” –Read more in Richard Quaintance’s “Unnamed Celebrities in Eighteenth-Century Gardens: Jacques Rigaud’s Topographical Prints” —http://revel.unice.fr/cycnos/index.html?id=1370

 

Anaïs Nin and Louise Bourgeois


(c) Museum of Modern Art. https://www.moma.org/collection/works/illustratedbooks/15383?locale=en

Angela Anaïs Juana Antolina Rosa Edelmira Nin y Culmell (1903–1977), known professionally as Anaïs Nin (pronounced Ana East Neen) and Louise Joséphine Bourgeois (1911–2010) were two of the strongest, most self-sustaining women of the 20th century. Together they produced a stunningly beautiful image/text narrative, He Disappeared Into Complete Silence, although they may never have met.


As Nin was signing a contract with Dutton Publishers in 1946 and preparing to close Gemor Press, where she and Gonzalo More had been hand-printing books since 1942, she expected to publish only one more title. A large folio edition of her House of Incest, which appeared in Paris in 1936 under the imprint Siana editions (Anais spelled backwards), was to be printed and published in a limited run of 50 copies. Then Stanley William Hayter (1901-1988), director of Atelier 17, the print workshop where Nin’s husband printed, walked in with another project.

Nin with Frances Steloff, at Gotham Book Mart

 

In the 1930s, Nin, her husband Hugh Guiler, More, Hayter, and Bourgeois were all living and working in Paris but when the city started mobilizing for war, they each made their separate ways to New York City. Just before leaving France, More worked with Hayter on Atelier 17’s limited edition Fraternity, which was completed in March of 1939.

When the Hayter’s studio reopened in New York, Guiler studied etching there and several of his wife’s hand-printed editions include her husband’s prints under the pseudonym Ian Hugo. Nin’s Diaries contain several mentions of Hayter stopping by Gemor Press on Macdougal Street or later 13th Street when they expanded their printing shop to include an etching press.

Nin credits Hayter with teaching her and More to print relief copperplate etchings and with bringing them work when they needed the money. There is never a mention of titles or publications, just the fact that he would bring work to their shop if an artist needed letterpress text with their fine art prints.

This might have been the case with Louise Bourgeois’s He Disappeared Into Complete Silent. There is no mention of Bourgeois in Nin’s Diaries, or of the project. Neither is Nin mentioned in Bourgeois sources. It is a tragedy the two never really collaborated. By this time, More had foolishly given away all the money needed to run the business and Nin had no choice but to close the door.

We would show more of the Gemor Press editions but someone has removed them from Firestone Library and the books will have to be replaced. Be careful when buying or selling these books to check for a Princeton property stamp inside.

 
In Paris
The House of Incest by Anaïs Nin. Paris: Siana éditions [1936].

The Winter of Artifice by Anaïs Nin. Paris; [printed in Belgium]: Obelisk Press, 1939.

Fraternity by Stephen Spender, translated by Louis Aragon. Paris: Stanley William Hayter, 1939). Text printed by Gonzalo More.

In New York City
Winter of Artifice by Anaïs Nin. Metal relief prints by Ian Hugo. [New York: Gemor Press], 1942. First edition 500 copies.

Four Poems by Sharon Vail. New York: Gemor Press, 1942.

Several Have Lived by Hugh Chisholm; Prints by André Masson. New York: Gemor Press, 1942.

Misfortunes of the Immortals by Max Ernst and Paul Éluard. Translated by Hugh Chisholm. New York: Black Sun Press (printed at the Gemor Press), 1943.

Alphabet du décor by Berthie Zilkha. pen drawings by Madison Wood. [New York: Gemor Press], 1944. 68 pages. Edition: 300

Ardentissima cura: a poem by Bernardo Clariana; translated by Dudley Fitts. New York: Gemor Press, 1st ed. 1944. [12] pages ; 22 cm. Edition: 400.

Ho! watchman of the night, ho! by Lee Ver Duft. New York: Gemor Press, 1944. 30 pages ; 23 cm. Edition: 300. Cover Art by Mastrofski.

Quinquivara by C. L. Baldwin; engravings by Ian Hugo. New York: Gemor Press, 1944.

Under a Glass Bell by Anaïs Nin. Line engravings on copper by Ian Hugo. [New York, Gemor Press, 1944]

This Hunger by Anaïs Nin; with five colored hand-pulled woodblocks by Ian Hugo. [New York] Gemor Press, 1945. [1]-183 [1] pages, 4 leaves woodblocks. 23.2 cm. Edition: 1000 copies and limited deluxe edition: 50 copies.

A Child Born Out of the Fog by Anaïs Nin. [New York], Gemor Press, 1946. 2 preliminary leaves, 1-6 pages, 1 leaf 20 cm.
A Child Born Out of the Fog by Anaïs Nin. [New York]: Gemor Press, 1947. 4 unnumbered pages, 6 pages, 2 unnumbered pages ; 19 cm. ?2nd edition?

Moods and Melodies by Henriette Reiss. New York: Gemor Press, 1946. 2nd ed.

Mujer, Estados Unidos de América: poema radiofónico by Tana De Gámez. New York: Gemor Press, 1946.

Nine Desperate Men by C. L. Baldwin. [New York] Gemor Press 1946.

Rendezvous with Spain: A poem by Bernardo Clariana: Translated by Dudley Fitts and illustrated by Julio de Diego. New York Gemor Press 1946. Edition: 520 copies (100 in black and white, 400 in color; 20 deluxe copies have been hand colored by the artist).

He Disappeared into Complete Silence by Louise Bourgeois. Introduction by Marius Bewley. New York: Atelier 17; Printer of text: Gemor Press, printer of images: Atelier 17, 1947.

House of Incest by Anaïs Nin. New York: Gemor Press, 1947. 43 cm. Linotype and etchings. Edition: 50.

Henry Martin 1925-2020

Henry Martin ’48, Sneaking in to say ‘thanks’…, no date. Pen and marker drawing. Henry Martin Cartoon Collection GAX2011.00353. Gift of David K. Reeves ’48.

Philadelphia Inquirer, March 4, 1979

Just 15 days shy of his 95th birthday, New Yorker cartoonist Henry Martin ’48 quietly passed away on Monday evening. An artist of gentle humor and keen insight, Martin also curated the first online exhibition for the Princeton University Library in 1996, proving a talent for many generations. https://lib-dbserver.princeton.edu/visual_materials/gallery/index.html. For that show, he wrote:

…Two of America’s most articulate humorists were E. B. White and James Thurber, who were friends and colleagues at The New Yorker magazine, where they shared an office. “Humor,” remarked Thurber, “is emotional chaos remembered in tranquility,” and E. B. White observed, “Humor can be dissected, as a frog can, but the thing died in the process and the innards are discouraging to any but the pure scientific mind.” I often think of these two when I am studying cartoons and have come to appreciate their sound advice. So, I will not perform any dissections here, but will present a sampling of comic art along with my views on its methods and its mission.

Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Martin traveled north to Princeton University where he lived in Witherspoon, Pyne, and Patton while studying art history and writing a senior thesis entitled “A Study of Humorous Art” (http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dsp01pn89d693b)

After college Martin spent two years at the American Academy of Art in Chicago. It was there he began sending “spot” drawings to The New Yorker, mailing ten a week for nine months before finally selling one. By the second year, he was supporting himself with his art.

 

 

Returning to Princeton, the small stucco house on William and Charlton Streets was a perfect fit for his drawing table and tea kettle, so that became his studio. Not content with only drawing spots, in 1961 Martin began also submitting approximately 20 cartoons each week. This had to be done in person so each Wednesday he would get on the bus at Palmer Square and ride into Manhattan, walking the few blocks to The New Yorker’s office at 25 West Forty-third Street. You could either drop them off, returning later to pick up the rejections or if you were brave, you could stay with the work while the editor considered them. Martin usually stayed.

Today there’s a “Literary Landmark” plaque in front of the building with Martin’s name alongside the other cartoonists.

“That’s Harry Phillipaton and his wild imaginings.”

Late in 1964 he sold his first cartoon and in 1965 two more. Martin became one of the regulars, producing 20 cartoons each week to which The New Yorker had first refusal. Second refusal went to the Chicago Tribune-New York Daily News syndicate, followed by Punch, Ladies Home Journal, Saturday Evening Post, and others.

Martin’s first book Good News/Bad News was published in 1977 by Charles Scribner without a meeting or a sales pitch. The artist simply left an envelope with the building’s doorman containing a book he mocked up with cartoons pasted to each page. Scribner called him personally and by the end of the call, a two book contract was assured.

The Graphic Arts Collection is proud to hold over 500 original cartoon drawings by Martin, along with 670 pen and ink drawings for the spots, a complete set of his illustrated books, scrapbooks, tear sheets, and other archives. An oral history and his senior paper can be found in Mudd Library. https://findingaids.princeton.edu/collections/AC259/c028

 

He will be missed by one and all.

Secret Journal of a Self-Observer


Johann Caspar Lavater (1741-1801), Secret Journal of a Self-Observer;or, Confessions and familiar Letters of the Rev. J. C. Lavater… Translated from the German Original, by the Rev. Peter Will, Minister of the Reformed German Chapel in the Savoy… (London: Printed for T. Cadell, Jun. andW. Davies (Successors to Mr. Cadell)… [1795]). Early ownership inscriptions, in ink and pencil, of Henrietta Siffken and with pencil notes throughout; with an original pen-and-ink drawing of Lavater bound in as a frontispiece, “given by his Son to Mrs C. Beazley.” Graphic Arts Collection GAX 2020- in process.

 

The first English translation of: Johann Caspar Lavater (1741-1801), Geheimes tagebuch von einem beobachter seiner selbst (Leipzig: Weidmanns erben und Reich, 1771-73) is notable for the pen and ink drawing on the frontispiece attributed to Johan Heinrich Lips (1758-1817) as well as for the text never meant to be widely circulated.

Preface of the translator:

“The present Translation, which originally was intended to be circulated only in manuscript, among some admirers of Mr. Lavater, would certainly never have been intruded on the Public, if the Translator were not fully persuaded, that its great utility will overbalance its many defects, and contribute to propagate piety and Religious prudence, for which purpose he recommends the perusal of it particularly to his congregation, who always have displayed the most laudable desire to improve in Christian knowledge and virtue. . .”

“…Mr. Lavater’s manner of expressing his ideas, being as extraordinary as his manner of thinking, those who are not intimately acquainted with the writings of this eccentric, but truly venerable man, will easily be induced to mistake for a foreign idiom what, in reality, is an idiom of the Author, and could not be exchanged for a genuine English one, as it is the peculiar characteristic which distinguishes his way of thinking.”

The Swiss minister Johann Caspar Lavater (1741-1801) was convinced that the science of physiognomy made it possible to know about a person’s interior self from their exterior body. This included both the physical skull itself and the visual representation of it. He published his beliefs in three major editions, Physiognomische fragmente (1775-78) RBSC Oversize 6453.568.15q, Essai sur la Physiognomonie (1781-1803), and Essays on Physiognomy (1788-99) GAX Oversize 2007-0002Q. Johan Heinrich Lips (1758-1817) was the principal engraver of the plates, working from his own drawings and after drawings by Georg Friedrich Schmoll. Lavater’s close friend Henry Fuseli (1741-1825) added a few illustrations and brought in the young William Blake (1757-1827) to complete a few additional plates.

William Blake, Johann Caspar Lavater, 1800. Engraving and etching. Graphic Arts Collection

 

Shopping at Walter Schatzki’s on 57th Street

Back in April 2020, when we were all desperately searching for online resources to finish the semester’s work, we posted the British Museum’s portrait print by Wenceslaus Hollar (1607-1677), Vera Effigies, Rich. Bernard [Richard Bernard, 1568-1641], 1641.  https://graphicarts.princeton.edu/2020/04/02/the-legall-proceeding-in-man-shire-against-sinne/

Within a day a cheerful email appeared that began,

“Yesterday’s post about Richard Bernard with his portrait by W. Hollar especially caught my eye, as we have the etching, purchased at Walter Schatzki’s on 57th St. in October 1967 when I was a graduate student. We bought several prints from Schatzki around that time. Professor Koch had recommended him and his wonderful shop as a place for undergraduates to buy inexpensive but interesting works. We paid $6.67 for the print (the sheet of paper is 20.3 cm. high by 13.8 cm. wide), on sale for 1/3 off. Beyond my liking of the print as a work of art, I suppose I have thought Bernard might have resembled New England Puritans.”

With sincere thanks to William and Sally Rhoads (and to Walter Schatzki), that $6.67 etching is now in the Graphic Arts Collection, where it will certainly be used by a new generation of students and faculty.

When Walter Schatzki’s Book and Print Shop closed in 1976, John Russell wrote a long article in the New York Times praising the dealer:

All over New York, and for that matter all over the world, there are people in ones and twos who swear by Walter Schatzki, and by the print‐cum‐bookstore he runs at 153 East 57th Street. Some of them are big‐time collectors who can write a check for 550,000 and not think twice about it. But most of them are people who go to the store because they know that even if they have only 50 cents to spend they can come away with something they like and be treated exactly as if they were Paul Mellon himself. All these enthusiasts—the experts and the beginners, the rich and the not so rich —have had bad news. On July 1 Mr. Schatzki is closing his store. “My lease is up,” he said the other day. ‘My rent would be almost tripled. I don’t feel like moving.

. . . Walter Schatzki has been crazy about books since 1910, when he hung around the bookstore in the town of Siegen, not far from Cologne, where he was born. And he has been in the business since 1919, when as a tall and very young man, already bespectacled, he went from village to isolated village in his native Germany with a violin in one hand, and a pack full of cheap good books on his back. “I went from fair to fair, and I would play my violin. People gathered round, and sometimes they sang a song or two, and then I opened my pack of books, and people would buy a book who had never seen a bookstore, let alone walked into.

 

Wenceslaus Hollar (1607-1677), Vera Effigies, Rich. Bernard [Richard Bernard, 1568-1641], 1641. Etching. Inscribed in the design, u.l., ‘Ætatis suæ 74’. Inscribed in the plate, l.l. to l.r., ‘Vera Effigies RICH. BERNARD vigilantis/ simi Pastoris de Batcombe Somrset: Ao; 1641’; l.c. to l.r., ‘W:Hollar. Bohem, ad viuum del: Londini:’ Gift of William and Sally Rhoads. Graphic Arts Collection GAX 2020- in process

Hollar’s 1641 print appears as a frontispiece in the subject’s 1644 book (and perhaps others):


Richard Bernard (1568-1641), Thesaurus Biblicus seu promptuarium sacrum, whereunto are added all the marginall readings, with the words of the text, and many words in the text expounded by the text, all alphabetically set downe throughout the Bible. In the end is annexed an abstract of the principal matters in the Holy Scripture (London: Imprinted by F. Kingston, 1644).

See:

Richard Pennington A Descriptive Catalogue of the Etched Work of Wenceslaus Hollar, 1607-1677. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1982, cat. no. 1363 only state.

Simon Turner Wenceslaus Hollar: New Hollstein German engravings, etchings and woodcuts, 1400-1700. Giulia Bartrum, vols. 1-9, 2009–2012, cat. no. 337 only state.

 

Pilori-Phrenologie = Phrenology Pillory

Guillaume-le-Boucher = Wilhelm the Butcher is a French caricature of Prussian King Wilhelm I. The verse below the image mentions the dream of a “United States of Europe” (this is a detail, the whole sheet is below).

[Above] André Belloguet (1830-1873), Pilori-Phrénologie ([Paris: variously signed Imprimerie Marchandeau and Lith. Fraillery r. Fontaines 9, Propriéte de l’Auteur]. 1870). Provenance: Collection de Louis Bretonnière. Graphic Arts Collection GAX 2020- in process

[ Left] André Belloguet (1830-1873), Pilori-Eternel (Paris, [variously signed Imp. Grognet, Lith. Fraillery et Cie Pte de l’Auteur].1871). 3 color lithographs. Provenance: Collection de Louis Bretonnière. Graphic Arts Collection GAX 2020- in process

 

Best known for his anthropomorphic maps (not owned by Princeton), André Belloguet also produced a rare series of satirical caricatures morphing various words, figures, and objects into celebrated faces, creating phrenology pillory or facial embarrassment. The Graphic Arts Collection recently acquired two volumes from the collection of Louis Bretonnière. Bound in two volumes, the first with 13 lithographs, all but one colored, and the second with 3 lithographs. Each portrait includes four lines of satirical verse written below, presumably also by Belloguet.

The first volume includes: 1. Napoléon III; 2. Pie IX; 3. Olivier Iscariote; 4. SS. Guillaume le Boucher; 5. Bismarkoff Ier; 6. Bazaine de Metz; 7. Rouher le Mignon; 8. Pierre l’Assassin; 9. Bonaparte le Corse; 10. Trochu de Paris; 11. Thiers l’Ancien; Pl. 12. Le Bœuf; 13. Favre dit le Grand Jules (the only plate uncoloured).

The next series, Pilori-Éternelis includes: 1. Qui… ???; 2. La Bouteille à l’encre; and 3. Le Prussien de l’intérieur.

European wood engraving VS Japanese woodblock printing VS multi-color woodcuts

Here are three videos that take you through several relief carving techniques, including the transfer of the design to the block, the tools used in cutting, various ways of inking, proofing, and the transfer of the image onto paper. None of the videos are new but worth a reminder they are available. See especially the third, showing the difference between printed color, painted color, and transfer color.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKmArlrjxLI&feature=youtu.be
How to make a wood engraving by Anne Desmet
Posted Oct 6, 2016 by the Royal Academy of Arts, London

“There’s something magical about the centuries-old art of wood engraving, in which an artist uses the same tools used to engrave jewellery to create extraordinarily detailed prints. Anne Desmet RA is one of only three wood engravers to be elected as Academicians in the Royal Academy’s nearly 250-year history. Here, she takes us through each step in creating a wood engraving, from tracing the original drawing through to printing a first proof.”

 

 


https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/article/making-a-japanese-woodblock-print
Making a Japanese woodblock print by Amy Macpherson
Posted July 19, 2016 by the Royal Academy of Arts, London

“In this video, Rebecca Salter RA explains the traditional tools and techniques used by the Sato Woodblock Workshop in Kyoto when creating her print for the Summer Exhibition 2016. Salter RA studied Japanese woodblock printmaking during the six years she spent living in Japan. A passionate advocate of this traditional craft, she commissioned the Sato Woodblock Workshop in Kyoto to produce her limited-edition print Tessella 1 and 2 for the Summer Exhibition 2016. In the video below, she gives a step-by-step introduction to the art of Japanese woodblock printing.”

 

 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WSJTC3EXdM
Gauguin’s Process: Making Wood-Block Prints
Posted Jul 5, 2017 by the Art Institute of Chicago

“This video from the exhibition “Gauguin: Artist as Alchemist” breaks down Gauguin’s process for making wood-block prints step by step. Follow along to discover how the artist carved and printed blocks to make works like those in the Noa Noa Suite. To delve deeper into Gauguin’s processes, visit the online publication Gauguin: Paintings, Sculpture, and Graphic Works at the Art Institute of Chicago, available at www.artic.edu/digitalgauguin.”

The Analyst Besh[itte]n, in His Own Taste

Paul Sandby (1731-1809), The Analyst Besh[itte]n, in His Own Taste, ca. 1753. Etching. Graphic Arts Collection GAX 2020- in process

The Analysis of Beauty, first published by William Hogarth (1697-1764) in 1753, was an attempt to describe the artist’s theories of visual beauty in a manner accessible to the common man. Not everyone was persuaded of the book’s success, especially Hogarth’s younger rival Paul Sandby (1731-1809), who lost no time in making fun of the old master.

In truth, they disagreed about many things, including The St Martin’s Lane Academy, a drawing club Hogarth organized in 1735. The Academy prized new ideas over traditional styles and operated under a democratic rule that allowed everyone to have an equal vote, down to the poses their model would take. But in 1853, the Academy began to change under various leaders, moving and eventually closing 1871 to form the Royal Academy of the Arts, which Sandby joined. Hogarth did not.

Sandby lampooned Hogarth and his artistic theories in a series of satirical etchings dubbed “The Analysis of Deformity.” Writing for the New York Times, Souren Melikian noted that “Humor does not age well. Seen with a modern eye, Sandby’s satirical etchings are unamusing and the texts intended to be witty seem immature in their crudeness. But the art historical interest of the prints is unquestionable. They confirm Sandby’s astonishing ability to practice with great ease genres at opposite ends of the aesthetic spectrum.”

Depending on how you interpret them, Sandby may have published as many as eleven prints against Hogarth (although some can be interpreted as jokes on other artists) including Hogarth Vindioated; Burlesque sur le Burlesque; A New Duneiad; Puggs Graces; The Analyst, &c.; The Author run Mad; A Satire, &c.; The Magic Lantern; The Painters March; Mountebank Painter; and A Stir in the City, &c.

The Graphic Arts Collection recently acquired one  of these prints caricaturing The Analysis of Beauty, titled The Analyst Besh[itte]n, in His Own Taste, ca. 1753. Although the condition of this sheet is not perfect, the contents are highly desirable and outshines the surface imperfections. There are two editions of this print. The reference table etched at the foot of the first is :— “A. Dianas Crescent B. a Multiplying Glass. 0. a Modern Cherubim 76 a Gammon of Bacon 14 Rays of Light 4 Beauty stays 68 jack boot”. On the second the following is added :——“ n. a Disciple unable to find out the Meaning of y’ Book 1!: the Daubers Face shewn (by a Satyr) in proper Colours 1. his hour is out 2, a Bust of Raphael Destroyd for pugs Wig block “.

Notice the numbers on the figures, beginning with Hogarth, who sits with a copy of Analysis of Beauty on his lap. The references beneath the design are as follows :  1. an Author Sinking under the weight of his Saturnine Analysis ; 2. a Strong support bent in the Line of Beauty by the Mighty Load upon it ; 3. Lomazzos Ghost detecting the Fraud, bearing the Line of Beauty in one Hand. in the other Hand, his Treatise on Painting. ; 4. Deformity Weeping at the Condition of her Darling Son. ; 5. a Friend of the Author endeavouring to prevent his sinking to his Natural Lowness. ; 6. his Faithful Pugg, finding his Master by the Scent. ; 7. a Greyhound bemoaning his Friends Condition. ; 8. The Authors Friend and Corrector Astonishd at the sight of the Ghost and smell of the Author. 9. a Disciple droping the Palate and Brushes thro’ Concern for his Masters forlorn state. ; 10. Volum’s of his Analysis Thrown into the Caves of Dulness and Oblivion. ; 11. a Public Academy Erecting in spight of his endeavours to prevent it. Lomazzo’s speach, ‘Thou Ignorant Contemptable wretch how hast Thou mangled Q‘ perverted the Sense of my Book, in thy Nonsensical Analysis.

Thanks to the British Museum, some of the other Sandby satires of Hogarth include:

 

 

The New Gypsy Fan

The New Gypsy Fan ([London, ca. 1795]). Approximately 26.7 x 46 cm open. Graphic Arts Collection GA2020. in process.

 

The Graphic Arts Collection recently added a late-18th-century fortune telling fan to the growing collection of printed fans in our library. Along the top border are twelve sections marked with the month and sign of the zodiac. Each section is further divided into “Earthy,” Fiery,” “Airy,” and “Watry,” listing the characteristics of those born under these signs.

At the center is a large oval providing “The Explanation” for using the fan to tell fortunes. The user is told to shuffle a pack of cards and lay out an odd number face up, which are read according to the fan’s descriptions.  To the left are the thirteen fortunes for each of hearts and diamonds, and on the right a similar arrangement for spades and clubs. The suit and number of the card are located and nine fortunes are read out to the player. The final instruction is to “draw your general conclusions.”

George Woolliscroft Rhead, writing in his History of the Fan (2014) notes:

“Gypsy, fortune-telling and necromantic [black magic] fans form a large class, and were common during the latter part of the eighteenth century. As early, however, as Aug. 3, 1734, a necromantic fan was advertised in the Craftsman as follows:—
‘By Eo, Meo, & Areo.
On Monday last was published
The Necromantick Fan; or, Magick Glass.
Being a new-invented Machine Fan, that by a
slight Touch unseen a Lady in the Fan changes her
Dressing-Glass according to the following Invitations:
If any one himself would see,
Pray send the Gentleman to me:
For in my Magick Glass I show
The Pedant, Poet, Cit, or Beau;
Likewise a Statesman wisely dull,
Whose plodding Head’s with Treaties full.”

This fan shuold not to be confused with The New Woburn or Bedford Gipsy Fan at the British Museum; or The New Gypsy Fan at the Fitzwilliam Museum and Huntington Library; or several other titles for the fan inscribed “The Art of Fortune Telling by Cards.” Each of these has “an oval vignette of a gypsy woman reading the palm of a young girl, watched by a boy, with an egg timer and cards on the table beside her. Text lists the months with the characteristics of their star signs, and fortune-telling readings from playing cards, such as: “Promises a Country Partner with a good future”; “Is the worst Card in the Pack sign of poverty”; “Three times well married”; and “A Coffin”. On the verso of the fan, directions for fortune telling with cards.”—Huntington Library