Distinguished Images: Prints and the Visual Economy in Nineteenth-Century France

by Stephen Bann

Overview

This multifaceted book reviews the vast range of types of printmaking that flourished in France during the 19th century. Studies of this period’s printmaking tend to be confined to histories of individual processes, such as lithography or steel engraving. This study surveys the field as a whole and discusses the relationships between the various media in the context of an overall “visual economy.”

Lithography, etching, and engraving are all examined through new research on noteworthy artists of the period, including Hyacinthe Aubry-Lecomte, Léopold Flameng, Ferdinand Gaillard, Aimé de Lemud, Nadar, and Charles Waltner. Rather than simply tracing the rise of Modernism in the 19th century, Distinguished Images reconstitutes the period’s cultural milieu through a series of case studies written with an eye to overarching forces at play. The result is the most original analysis of printmaking to appear in many years—a striking new account of a system in which printmaking, printmakers, and art critics played heretofore unrecognized or misunderstood roles.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780300177275
Publisher:	Yale University Press
Publication date:	06/11/2013
Pages:	276
Product dimensions:	10.40(w) x 7.80(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Stephen Bann is emeritus professor and senior research fellow, Bristol University, United Kingdom.

Table of Contents

Preface vii

Note to the Reader ix

Introduction: The View from 1863 1

1 Reproducing the Mono Lisa 21

2 Representing Normandy 47

3 Nadar in Retrospect 87

4 Is Lithography an Art? Aubry-Lecomte and Lemud 121

5 Exit Etching: Flameng, Waltner, Gaillard 169

Notes 218

Bibliography 243

Index 251

Editorial Reviews

In this comprehensive volume Bann (Ways AroundModernism) examines different types of printmaking common in France during the 19th century, "a golden age in the art of printmaking." He looks at lithography, etching, and engraving; considering, for instance, how Leonardo's Mona Lisa had not always been "the most famous painting in the world," but one whose celebrity grew in time through "successive print reproductions...that were published over the course of the century." Artists such as Raphael-Urbain Massard, Luigi Calamatta, and Hyacinthe Aubry-Lecomte, as well as photographer Gustave Le Gray helped to popularize the now-iconic image. Similarly, impressions of Normandy have also been influenced significantly by images presented of the region. Lithographs featuring the abbey of St. Georges de Boscherville, for example, capture a sense of place much like postcards these days do. Engravings further highlighted local church architecture, detailing exterior as well as interior features. In this way, Bann suggests, printmaking was instrumental in "awakening renewed interest in the medieval monuments of a French province." Too often, though, Bann's narrative proves overly academic, with discussions couched in jargon. It is a fine work for graduate students and art scholars well-versed in historical discourse, but the dry account will prove challenging for general art enthusiasts. (June)

Publishers Weekly

Offers an extraordinary portrait of printmaking as it evolved over the century.”—Marc Gotlieb, Print Quarterly June 2017

Print Quarterly - Marc Gotlieb

'This is. . .an invigorating book, intelligently and attractively realised by the Yale editorial team. It is in every sense a work of distinction, enabling us to see the particular strengths and challenges of printmaking more clearly, touching on everything from the minute cuts and hatchings to the widest cultural ambitions.'—Tom Stammers, Apollo

 

Apollo - Tom Stammers

‘Throughout his career, Stephen Bann has presented perhaps the greatest challenge to traditional historical interpretations of printmaking in nineteenth-century France. His thorough and innovative analysis of prints has complicated and revised the earlier assumption that the medium moved from being chiefly a means of reproduction of images which became obsolescent after the invention of photography, but finally triumphed as an original medium.’—Britany Salsbury, Burlington Magazine

Burlington Magazine - Britany Salsbury

'A truly great read for anyone interested in how popular imagery has been disseminated into the public consciousness.'—Art & Antiques

Art & Antiques