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The Early modern painter-etcher

2007; Association of College and Research Libraries; Volume: 44; Issue: 07 Linguagem: Inglês

10.5860/choice.44-3687

1943-5975

Michael W. Cole, Arthur Ross Gallery, John ,

Architecture and Art History Studies

Art Museum, focuses on the intricacies of printmaking and its transition from a medium for specially trained professionals to a medium for painters and draftsmen.The roughly seventy artists included in the exhibition worked between 1500-1800; they were primarily engaged in painting, but were also creating etchings.Master printmakers such as Giovanni Battista Piranesi and Jacques Callot are excluded because this exhibit is devoted to experimentation by the non-specialist.The catalog includes essays by the exhibition's curators and by art historians Larry Silver, Susan Dackerman, and Graham Larkin.For the most part, the contributors examine and assess the ways in which an artist's typical painting or drawing style is changed by the act of printmaking.Although some discuss the technical aspects of creating a print, the authors have taken take pains to define and explain terms for general readers and to include helpful illustrations that complement their descriptions.The notion of experimentation and play is expressed throughout.In "Etching and Drawing in Early Modern Europe," Viljoen cites differences between artists who draw on the plate and those who create prints based on sketches, or previous works.Some contributors note that etching tended to frustrate and excite artists in equal turns, because although it may have been easy for an artist to get the image on the plate, the acid could and would do unexpected things that rendered their work and planning useless.For example, Susan Dackerman discusses Albrecht Dürer, who worked as a printmaker his whole life, yet found etching frustrating and only produced six etchings in his lifetime.