BUT IS IT ART? ILLUSIONS: THE ART OF MAGIC AT THE AGO

Exhibition Reviews | Mary Wallace

---

Detail of Strobridge Lithographing Co.'s Kellar - Levitation, 1900. (Photograph courtesy of Mary Wallace.) 

A good magician has be adept at so many elements of performance while simultaneously appearing as though they are not performing any of them. They must be able to win the trust of the crowd despite explicitly being there to fool them; they must be able to handle their props gracefully and naturally, pretending that a hollow prop is solid or pretending that an envelope laden with secret pockets is perfectly ordinary. Most of what makes good sleight of hand, like good design, must be completely invisible.

In the AGO’s Illusions: The Art of Magic the curator’s hand is often more heavy than sleight but I don’t think that is necessarily a bad thing.


The Art of Magic is dramatic from the get-go; one enters through a velvet curtained hallway where turn of the century vaudeville tunes play softly. Inside the walls are painted a dark, velvety green, reminiscent of a pool table. The style of the exhibition space is appropriately theatrical; pieces are lit by spotlights in the dark exhibition space. Section labels are equipped with lenticular prints so thematically appropriate images “appear” as you walk past, however, the effect is somewhat hindered by the low lighting.

There are also several interactive elements in the show. Visitors may look through small peep holes in the walls to view tricks being performed or archival footage from the turn of the century. At about the halfway point of the show there is a station to “design your own magic poster” using various elements from the posters featured in the show.

Take a Peek! Featuring a video demonstrating some sleight of hand. (Photograph courtesy of Mary Wallace.)

The kitschy aesthetic brought back memories of flipping through Ripley’s Believe it or Not books in the school library, which is not a memory I ever thought I’d associate with the AGO. I had fun at The Art of Magic and I’d recommend it to others but I at several points I found myself thinking “I can’t believe I’m in an art gallery right now”. For all the times I’ve written essays railing against The White Cube and reviews complaining about galleries taking themselves too seriously, I was confronted with the fact that maybe I like white cubes more than I’d like to admit and that there was a small part of me that thought this show was too fun.

A lovely assistant hovers above the exhibition. (Photograph courtesy of Mary Wallace.)  

It’s not like the exhibition is unintelligent or shallow. With every successive room I thought to myself “I hope they have more information on this” and lo and behold there it would be. For instance, I was really taken with the incredible skill with which the posters were designed and printed. Most of the posters of this time were made with a process called “chromolithograph”, a precursor to modern CKMY printing, in which posters are successively printed with primary colours which layer to create depth. When you consider the technology of the time, the quality of images achieved is absolutely amazing, I was particularly struck but the sensitivity with which this portrait of Harry Kellar was rendered, rivalling that of any oil painting. Of course, very few of the artists behind these works are named but at least two text panels are devoted to explaining the printing process and acknowledging that the collaborative nature of producing these works would make naming an individual artist almost impossible.

Detail of Strobridge Lithograohing Co's Kellar, The Great Magician, 1894. (Photograph courtesy of Mary Wallace.)

Another aspect of this art form that I had hoped would get some attention in this show was the orientalism that pervaded early magic acts. In the very first room, a poster from around 1915 advertises Chung Ling Soo and his Ten Assistants, in which a man in a Chinese inspired costume holds up ten fingers. Later in the exhibition there is an entire selection devoted to Chung Ling Soo and other similar characters played by white men that were meant to capitalize on the fascination with Asian art and aesthetics. This section is accompanied by a short interview with Julie Eng, executive director of Magicana and a magician herself, as she discusses her experiences confronting these stereotypes in her own career.

James Upton Ltd.'s Chung Ling Soo and his Ten Assistants, around 1915. (Photograph courtesy of Mary Wallace.) 

Ultimately, I thought the objects on display were both interesting and aesthetically pleasing but more than that the exhibition pulled back the curtain just enough to add depth to the spectacle and make it more than just an amusing trick.

Detail of Strobridge Lithograohing Co's Kellar, 1899. (Photograph courtesy of Mary Wallace.) 

The AGO is unfortunately closed until April 5 but once it reopens, Illusions: The Art of Magic will be on until May 18, 2020.

JUST IN TIME FOR #PRIDETO, A 3RD GENDER AT THE ROM

WEEKEND EDITION

BY: NATANIA SHERMAN

Vinyl text at the entrance to A 3rd Gender (Photo: Natania Sherman)

Last week I had the privilege to attend the curator's remarks and a lecture at the ROM’s beautifully designed 3rd Gender exhibition. While I had initially thought I would write a straightforward review, the events of the past week and the fact that it is Pride Month, made me consider what kind of role museums have to play when it comes to representations of people who are often marginalized by mainstream institutions. I know that I'm not the only one having these thoughts, because Incluseum just published a post highlighting ways that museums can be more welcoming to people in the LGBT community through their reputations as safe spaces for learning. The 3rd Gender is an interesting exhibition to look at in this light because it tackles issues of culture, gender, fetishization and sexuality but does so without resorting to a one dimensional narrative.

The 3rd Gender focuses on gender ambiguity in Edo period Japan, when the country was still closed off from the western world. The exhibition discusses gender around the subject of wakashu, meaning youths, young men who had not yet reached adulthood who adopted feminine accoutrements and mannerisms to gain favour from the older merchants or samurai who were their patrons. The wakashu were considered to be great beauties and many of them were desired by both men and women, as evidenced by the many depictions of wakashu with both men, women and sometimes other wakashu in surviving ukiyo-e woodblock prints.

A painted screen in the exhibition (Photo: Natania Sherman)

In some ways, the 3rd Gender exhibition is a uniquely Torontonian exhibit in the way that it creates dialogue around both Japanese culture and the LGBT communities, reflecting the diversity of intersecting cultures in this city and the willingness of museums and their publics to be open to creating dialogue about culture, art and representation. I was pleased to learn from the curator’s remarks that the exhibition was developed with consultation from Sexual Diversity Studies here at the University of Toronto as well as LGBT2AQQ groups and the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre.

Without context it is often difficult to "read" the gender in the images on display. (Photo: Natania Sherman)

In minimalist muted grey with pops of bright orange vinyl text, 3rd Gender is a multimedia exhibition containing a mix of artworks, books, textiles, clothing, objects and film. That being said, I truly think it is the ukiyo-e woodblock prints that steal the show, but that may be my own background as a former printmaking major showing. I was thrilled that the exhibition included not only the prints themselves but the wooden matrices which had to be carved and then inked in order to produce the prints.

I was so excited to see the wooden blocks used to produce the prints (Photo: Natania Sherman)

The other objects that were placed in the exhibition, such as the samurai armour and hair combs, did not on their own serve to enhance the theme of gender ambiguity but, in the context of the exhibition, served to highlight and explicate some of objects depicted in the prints and their gendered qualities. It was also positive to note that the curator chose to discuss sexuality as both part of culture and culturally defined instead of playing up the more sensationalist aspects of the images on display, many of which explicitly depicted sex acts. I was surprised to learn how important elements of culture, like food and fashion, are to understanding the context of the images. For example, when looking at prints from the kabuki era, in which cross dressing was common for men and women, without the subtle cues revealed by hairstyles and accessories, it would be almost impossible to “read” the gender of the individuals depicted. Similarly images of food can reveal the setting of an image because certain foods were only served in brothels, revealing the subjects of the print to be engaged in prostitution. A quite fun element of the exhibition was the subtle humour evidenced in many of the prints and their accompanying texts. The ambiguity of gender allowed for the audience (presumably an adult male contemporary of the printmaker) to feel surprised as they read the painting from right to left and discover that the young woman is in a fact a wakashu cross-dressing for the kabuki theatre or that the characters’ surreptitious activities may have ulterior motives such as a desire for wealth or power.

Some of the objects in the ROM's 3rd Gender Exhibition (Photo: Natania Sherman)

I think if the exhibition reveals anything it is that gender and sexuality and the ways that they are expressed can be culturally formed and that although the controlled and often conservative space of the museum can sometimes sanitize the more sexual elements of historical images, it also forces the visitor to confront their own cultural bias in understanding historical depictions of same sex couples. In fact sex and gender are important ways to understand cultural hierarchies and practices, and when discussed sensitively and without sensationalism can make not only an appropriate museum topic but one that is timely and all too relevant to contemporary events.

MUSEOLOGY AND CULTURAL THEORY: THE SOCIAL PRODUCTION OF PRINTS

THESIS COLUMN: SPECIAL ISSUE

BY: KATIE METHOT

When I first started studying art history I began to use printed images as cultural sources for understanding other forms of art. What was often considered too insignificant for painting and sculpture were subjects covered by artists working in print. From the mundane to the lewd - prints have it all! The period I am focusing on is the early modern era, roughly between 1500 and 1750. The development of print technologies allowed artists working in this medium to create more impressions from their wooden blocks or metal plates. Consequently, more images were created and consumed by the public. In the introductory chapters of my thesis I have looked at how the cultural production of prints and public consumption of art plays a significant part in how it is perceived and valued.

Sebald Beham, Large Church Festival. Woodcut, 1535
Printmakers would often create images of cultural festivals and religious holidays that were not focused on by painters. Festivals like these were eventually banned because of ‘lewd’ behaviour that went on (Source: British Museum)

The printmaking profession was developed from the goldsmith trade. Artists like Albrecht Dürer came from families of goldsmiths and applied their training to printmaking. The link between tradeswork and printmaking shaped perceptions of the profession as a mechanical process, rather than a practice which required creativity and special skill. Consequently, many printmakers were not considered artists, but considered craftsman and more like a carpenter than a painter.

Lucas van Leyden, The Dentist. Intaglio, 1523 (Source: British Museum)

The factors involved in cultural production are important for understanding why art was created, who it was created for, and how it came to be valued and collected in museums. My presentation will look at how printed images can be used as documentary relics of culture to construct an idea of the ‘structure of feeling’ that defined a particular period. Raymond Williams defines the ‘structure of feeling’ as “the culture of a period: it is the particular living result of all the elements in the general organization. And it is in this respect that the arts of a period [...] for here it is often expressed” (Williams 1961, 64-65). The structure of feeling dies with the participants of a society, but it can live on through recorded communication. In this case, I have looked at printed images as a form of recorded communication to help capture the structure of feeling through cultural production. Developing an idea of the structure of feeling can be used to help us understand what pictures and period-specific iconography mean and how they were interpreted by their original audiences.

An example of a 'monstrous deformity' from Munster's Cosmographia, c. 1550  (Source: Twitter)

And now, a few questions from Robin and Nicole:

Robin: As horrible as it sounds, I get distracted by pretty pictures when reading academic literature with images and often spend more time looking at the work than reading the article. As such, the images you have provided grabbed my attention. Considering you have likely compiled a lot of images during your research, why have you chosen second and third images for this post? How do they relate to what you are discussing?

Katie: Yes, I also get distracted by interesting images when reading academic articles. However, in this case the images (and what they represent) is the foundation for my topic. The multitude of subjects covered by artists working in print provide an interesting source for researching cultural history beyond what can be found in 'higher' arts like painting. This is how my interest in print as a form of communication and a way of accessing a 'structure of feeling' developed. In addition to their academic value, I believe these collections provide a similarly useful purpose in museums.

Nicole: I am curious about what the ‘structure of feeling’ for this period (1500-1750) was, and what affective characteristics can be carried forth in the contemporary museum?

Katie: The structure of feeling during this period is varied and would be specific to the time and place where art is produced. For example, one of the periods I am most interested in is art created during the Reformation (c. 1517 - 1530s). While the paintings from this period would not necessarily recognize the political and religious sentiments of the Reformation movement, the printed images reveal controversial propaganda that was used to draw favour for the Reformation cause. The multiplicity of printed images in subject and number make them useful for visually contextualizing issues that would have not been important enough for paintings. Although this point is certainly debatable, I believe this makes them very useful for constructing an idea of a structure of feeling. In terms of affective characteristics, I believe that printed images can 'humanize' histories through offering a wider visual interpretation of life and culture. Their subjects often reflect the activities of a society that would not have been involved in the production and the consumption of the 'higher arts' which are more often idealized in museums.

Check back on January 2nd to read a synopsis of Nicole's presentation!

If you are interested in the topic that I am covering in my thesis and would like to explore some images in the weird and wonderful world of print, please visit our colloquium on Wednesday, January 7th (room location is still TBA - but look out for updates, there will be pizza)

"KILLING OUR BABIES": A WISE ADVISOR'S ADVICE

RESEARCH COLUMN

BY: ROBIN NELSON, KATIE METHOT, NICOLE RITCHIE

In order to feature a greater variety of student research, we are changing the content of the Thesis Column to a Research Column that will highlight a different student’s research every second Thursday. For the first post, the three thesis writers, Katie, Nicole, and Robin (me!), collaborated to write on a concept that we have all been thinking about: killing our babies.

We get very attached to our ideas

Killing our babies is something that our advisor, Alan Stanbridge, recommended. He meant we cannot research everything we have found interesting and we need to learn how to put aside something we have written or engaged with. This has proved difficult but necessary in order to focus our research as we move forward.

Nicole's babies....she prefers kittens to tiny humans

NICOLE RITCHIE

Well, I have spent the last year developing my thesis. This cycle included drafting my initial thesis concept, focusing and researching it, formatting it into a SSHRC proposal and an official thesis proposal, and then reading throughout the summer. Now, it is September and I am faced by a committee that wants a (fluid) structure drafted as well as a tentative first draft deadline and proposed defense date. While part of me wants to panic, Alan’s advice to kill my babies (or maybe shelve them for later?) is undeniably useful. Sitting down to craft this framework for my ~100 page project, I start to notice where I can plug my summer reading in, where my reading needs to focus, and, most importantly, what really isn’t necessary. Luckily, in my opinion, I am currently applying to doctoral programs, so I can shelve my babies for future research, reading lists, and exploration. Thus, for my thesis, I need to direct myself towards only what matters, using my time and energy effectively in order to get the project done within its parameters, not beyond. The most difficult part to accept is that I can’t read everything relevant or potentially relevant for my thesis. Sometimes that maternal instinct is hard to kick, who knew? Anyone else suffer from this parental affliction?

Knowing it is time to let something go doesn't make it easy

 ROBIN NELSON

At the moment, I am transcribing my interviews (it takes forever) and, at first, I thought I had to transcribe everything because anything could be useful at some point (right?). My babies are massive sections of individual interviews and in one case an entire interview that, while interesting, are not relevant to the themes I plan on discussing. As I talk about my research, I have realized that I will write about the relationship between community museums and the Heritage Branch, the Exhibit Renewal Program, and (possibly) the SEED program (student summer employment). I do not have the time to discuss everything the government does that influences museum public programming in only a hundred pages. As such, sections dealing with the Collection Inventory Program and other financial programs are no longer being transcribed. While an argument could be made (and is by some of my participants) that funding to collections increases knowledge of the collections leading to better programming, sacrifices have to be made! This has sped up the transcription process, my hands hurt less, and I am left with shorter documents to analyse with a better focus. Does anyone have transcription horror stories they would like to share?

Some concepts are more gleefully disposed of than others

KATIE METHOT

Meeting with Alan, chatting about my summer research, and introducing the concept of 'killing our babies' couldn't have come at a more opportune time. Over the last week I've been interested in German broadsheet prints from the sixteenth century. Is it necessary for my thesis? No. Do I think they're super interesting? Yes. Despite how much I have enjoyed researching broadsheet prints, this topic is for another time or perhaps for my PhD (hopefully sometime in the not-so-distant future). Consequently, I've chopped it from my research and set it aside for later. Instead, I am refocusing to continue my interviews and to begin categorizing my existing research into chapters. Over the next few months, I will be structuring my arguments, and adding to holes in my research, not looking at German broadsheet prints (regardless of how clearly interesting they are). Now I am looking realistically at what I want to get accomplished with this project, while also seeing how it can grow in the future. For now, I'll be leaving my babies alone for another time. Can anyone else offer advice (or sympathy) for staying focused on a research topic?

THESIS REFLECTION: MAKING THE COURSES WORK FOR YOU

BY: KATIE METHOT

If I am always consistent with one thing, it is definitely procrastinating on important things that I need to finish. During my undergraduate degree I would sometimes have a ‘eureka’ moment and easily power through papers that were due the next morning. Years later, this no longer works for me since I find it impossible to stay up all-night (I have discovered the wonders of going to sleep at 10:00pm), let alone develop coherent and intelligent work at 4:00am. However, I started the MMSt program with the outlook that I would use my coursework and readings to help craft my thesis topic and proposal. This way, I would consistently be doing work that related to my intended topic and I could begin thinking critically about the subject. This was beneficial as the topic I had in mind when I began the MMSt program changed and evolved significantly by the time my proposal was finished. I found that through considering my topic and analyzing it in relation to museology and art theory in my courses, I was confident that this was the subject I wanted to spend the next year researching and writing about.

Use what you discuss and read in your courses to develop and refine your thesis topic

However, one thing I should have looked into before enrolling in courses is how they would benefit me as an aspiring thesis student. In order to write a thesis, students must complete INF1240 Research Methods in preparation for crafting a proposal and establishing research plan. While I learned a lot from the course, my assignments were different from the other sections that were offered. Other sections had assignments which were geared towards preparing the students to write proposals, while my assignments focused on analyzing practical research methods (which would benefit me once I had begun my research). In preparation for writing a research proposal (which I had never done before), I would have appreciated having a preliminary proposal that had been reviewed and given me a foundation to work from when developing my final proposal. Instead, I was stuck hounding my thesis supervisor and googling examples of other proposals to make sure that mine offered enough of a research plan and thorough explanation about my topic. Fortunately, my other thesis colleagues were much better prepared and offered me helpful examples and information! In addition, when I was running out of time to finish my proposal, I had months of relevant notes that I had taken in other courses.

Eventually, I got down to business and finished my proposal

If I were to offer advice to students considering a thesis, I would recommend using your courses to think critically about your intended topic. Museology is not a narrow subject and its multifaceted nature relates to a wide range of concepts that may help you to develop your thesis topic or decide whether a thesis topic is suitable for you. Although I continue to fight the urge to procrastinate, I am pleased to have picked a topic that I am genuinely enjoying researching and look forward to writing about.

THESIS REFLECTION: MY TRIP TO THE MET'S PRINT AND DRAWING DEPARTMENT

BY: KATIE METHOT

A few weeks ago had the pleasure of travelling to New York City and meeting with two fantastic curators of prints and drawings. Their refreshing outlook on curating paper collections has given me a new perspective for the future and purpose of prints in museums. Up until now, I have looked at print and drawing study rooms as a negative space, where most works on paper are secluded from the rest of the museum. However, after my conversation with the curators at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met), my outlook has changed. Assistant curator, Freyda Spira and the Print and Drawing department at the Met are doing wonderful work with their collection. Ms. Spira has fantastic insight on the history of the Met’s collection and its future initiatives. The department believes that print and drawing study rooms provide visitors with an opportunity to have an intimate experience with a work of art. As Ms. Spira pointed out, in no other department could you request to see a piece from the collection that is in storage. The study rooms allow individuals to examine works that may not be on display for many years.

The Met’s Print and Drawing Study Room

As I have mentioned in my previous posts, the sensitivity of works on paper prevents them from frequently being on display. However, the Met presents a constant flow of three-month exhibitions in the print and drawing gallery. The limited amount of time that paper works can be on display for was not portrayed as a negative restriction, but as an opportunity to explore many themes within the museum's collection of 1.2 million works. I thoroughly enjoyed the display of prints and drawings, which managed to examine highlights from four-hundred and fifty years of Western art history.

A display comparing Lucas Cranach’s Venus and Cupid with Picasso’s modern interpretation

Another point that Ms. Spira brought up is that collections of other media are often incomplete. In many art museums, representing a complete history of style, culture, and artistic movements can almost be impossible. However, with over a million works, the Met's collection has built a well-rounded history of art through works on paper, without the gaps that are found in the collections of other departments (such as painting or sculpture). With the comprehensive nature of the Met's collection, the early print curators wanted to install a series of 'print invasions' in most of the Met galleries. In light of my interest in using prints to contextualize art and history, I found this concept fascinating. However, the natural light which is present in many of the Met galleries prevented this concept from being implemented, out of the fear that the works on paper would deteriorate. The enthusiasm of the department made me feel that the concept of a ‘print invasion’ was not out of the question if the conservation issues could somehow be combated. While I have enjoyed interviewing many museum professionals this summer, there have been a lot of negative perspectives presented on current issues affecting paper collections. As I finish my summer research, I appreciated being uplifted by the perspectives of the Met curators who are working with one of the largest paper collections in North America and are making the most of it.

ADDRESSING ISSUES OF PUBLIC ACCESS: SHARING PRINT COLLECTIONS USING SOCIAL MEDIA

THESIS REFLECTION BY: KATHRYN METHOT

Social media has allowed museum professionals to establish and participate in a community of shared knowledge. As most of my research has been theory-based, I have been looking for individuals whose museum work relates to my thesis topic. Through Twitter, I have been able to seek out and connect with several individuals working with print collections. I have hoped to understand the practical implications for dealing with paper collections through conducting interviews with these professionals. I have focused on several institutions with large print collections, with either active or inactive departments. One of my most important questions is what they feel the purpose of their department is in the museum and what their present and future objectives are. Finding out about the practical initiatives of print departments has helped to widen my perspective for my thesis and to think about the future of objects in museums and access to the public. Fortunately, I have received very positive responses from individuals I have recently contacted for interviews.

The Met’s Print and Drawing Gallery: Due to issues of preservation, most works are only on display for three months (source: http://www.metmuseum.org/about-the-museum/museum-departments/curatorial-departments/drawings-and-prints)

This week I will be travelling to New York and meeting with curators from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Pierpont Morgan Library and Museum. Later this summer I am hoping to interview Benjamin Levy, the curatorial assistant in the Department of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs (PDP) at the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA). I connected with Benjamin on Twitter after I read an article about the PDP’s Tumblr account (link: http://blog.artbma.org/2014/07/posts-for-print-lovers) which presents images of prints in the museum’s collection. Each image is paired with an interesting caption about the work. The Tumblr page has helped to combat the issue of public access to printed images. Due to light-sensitivity, paper collections can only be on display for a limited period of time. Social media initiatives such as the PDP’s Tumblr account opens up a wider collection of works to the public and looks to ignite an interest in prints (it even includes a fantastic ‘ask me about art’ section). As digitally curated exhibitions become more popular, I was intrigued by what this could bring for the future of paper collections. Although the public would not be viewing the prints in their physical form, presenting the works online allows museums to display more of their collection and to reach a wider audience. This has given me a lot to think about regarding the future of print collections and how inaccessibility can be combated, while addressing an issue of preservation and digitizing fragile works of art. I look forward to speaking with Benjamin later this summer and will bring up this issue in my interviews in New York.

Any feedback or thoughts about this topic would be greatly appreciated!

THESIS REFLECTION: LOOKING BACK - CURATORS OF EARLY PRINT COLLECTIONS

BY: KATIE METHOT

Over the last few weeks I have begun to look at how early print collections were valued and used. Several curators of founding museum collections wrote prolifically about their vision and the purpose of their collection for the public they served. In the next month, I am planning on looking at the history of print and drawing collections at several large institutions, including: the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET), The Art Institute of Chicago, and the National Gallery in Washington. So far, my research has focused on the MET and the first curator of the print department, William Ivins Jr. Ivins was the curator from 1916 to 1946 and wrote extensively about the history, purpose, and significance of print. I have found that publications by early curators are especially important for understanding a museum's collection. Ivins in particular was a driving force for expanding the MET's print collection in order to pursue his curatorial vision. 

Prints and Visual Communication (1953)

One of Ivins’s first contributions to the Met's Art Bulletin in February 1917 is intriguing as he explains what he believes is his department's purpose and significance. Ivins recognized that "the print is the only form of original pictorial art with which the greater public ever comes into intimate contact. Paintings, drawings, tapestries, and enamels are not for the poor, and neither is any of them available for more than one man's house at a time, but the print can be struck off ad nauseam". Ivins's appreciation for the multiplicity and 'unoriginality' of print (particularly in relation to a culture that belonged to the larger population who consumed these images) is reflected in the activity of his department and the exhibitions he produced. He was intrigued by printed images as a vehicle for visual communication and believed this could be used as a way to connect with museum audiences. In Prints and Visual Communication (1953), Ivins states that his experience has led him to “the belief that the principal function of the printed picture in western Europe and America has been obscured by the persistent habit of regarding prints as of interest and value only in so far as they can be regarded as works of art" (Ivins 1953, 33). In much of his work he acknowledges this issue and the subjectivity of taste that is involved in valuing one print as a work of art, while disregarding another. I believe this issue persists in the print collections of contemporary museums. My next task is to contrast the perspectives of founding curators with those of contemporary print curators to see how the vision and purpose of their departments has changed. 

THESIS REFLECTION: ABRAHAM BOSSE AND THE VALUE OF PRINTED IMAGES

BY: KATIE METHOT

Over the last month, much of my research has focused on the history of printed images as collectible items and early perceptions of print as an art form. One of the challenges I have had is the lack of literature which specifically focuses on themes that are relevant to my thesis. However, a few weeks ago I stumbled across an article I had saved during my undergrad. The article was written by Carl Goldstein, a professor of art history at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. Goldstein's article, Printmaking and Theory (2008), presents his research on Abraham Bosse, a French printmaker during the seventeenth century. Bosse championed the art of printmaking in his own etchings and through an influential treatise he wrote in 1645.

Abraham Bosse, Intaglio Printing. c. 1642. British Museum. 

http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_image.aspx?image=ps345081.jpg&retpage=21345

Goldstein has since developed his research into a book, Print Culture in Early Modern France: Abraham Bosse and the Purposes of Print (2012). Bosse defended printmaking as a form of artwork worthy of analysis, discussion, and appreciation. His writings were contrary to the dominant perception that printmaking was only a means for mechanical reproduction and not a platform for the development of original design. Bosse's work represents an early example of what I believe continues to be a relevant issue in contemporary art museums: the lack of appreciation of print as a form of art which can be valued alongside painting and sculpture. One of the most significant aspects of Bosse's argument is that production of printmaking was not thought of as romantically as painting because it was perceived as a physically demanding, dirty, and exhausting process. Bosse's etchings of printing shops acknowledge the physically demanding process, but also the close ties to painting through elements of drawing and design that were involved in developing printed images. However, what printmakers were creating and who they were creating for also makes printmaking an interesting medium, worthy of collection and display in museums.

Abraham Bosse, Intaglio Engravers, c. 1643. National Library of France http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/actualites/celebrations2004/img/76.jpg

The subjects that were proliferated in printed images display the development of popular themes in artwork that could be accessible to middle and lower class individuals. In his discussion of printed religious images, Goldstein writes that while many of these prints were created by unknown artists, “what mattered was that they were within the price range of people who until then had been denied the solace of religious images. Here was a new form of picture-making, directed at a new public: not high-priced altarpieces commissioned by the upper classes, but icons that almost anyone could afford” (Goldstein 2012, 13). A subject I would like to continue to read about is the development of early print collections in museums. Goldstein acknowledges that many prints were purchased by individuals who could not afford original paintings. I believe that the association with lower and middle class individuals disenfranchised some prints from being valued and collected amongst painting and sculpture (often owned by wealthier members of society).

In July will be able to report on my visit to New York City and my meeting at the Print and Drawing Department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This will be the first of my interviews to discover how print collections are perceived and used in contemporary art museums.