Masterpieces of 18th-Century Printmaking

Eighteenth century printmaking is one of the important, and attractive, areas of growth in the Gallery's permanent collection. In recent years, several hundred works of the period have been acquired, representing the complete range as well as the individual development of subjects, techniques, and modalities. These works include many celebrated images, often in impressions of exceptional quality. Organized to coincide with the annual congress of the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, this small exhibition presents some of these acquisitions. The French works feature an etched proof or "preparation" by Lempereur (after a painting in Dallas) in its only known impression, Saint-Non's incunable of aquatint in one of two known impressions, a singularly warm and balanced impression of Fragonard's greatest original print, and an early state of the most famous reproductive engravings after one of his paintings. The British works count early states of mezzotints by three of the technique's masters and the remarkable woodcut interpretation of a Hogarth composition that marks a failed attempt to reach a wider and more humble audience. The Italian works emphasize the character and special interest of etchings in Venice, and culminate in first-rate examples of major plates by Piranesi. These prints, however, represent a small fraction of the Gallery's holdings of 18th-century prints, by now among the strongest on an American campus.