The Business of Prints
This show focused
on the business and production side of print making not just the artistry of
them. Prints were first made in Europe in about 1400 and used methods which
changed very little until the advent of photography made them obsolete except
as an art object.
The show looked
at different production methods and also looked at different crafts involved in
their production for example there was a section on people who specialised in
adding words to plates which had to be written backwards. It then looked at
people involved in different aspects of their sale; often a publisher was
different to a print maker who might be different again to the seller.
I loved a section
on practical uses of prints, often ephemera which were mainly thrown away as
soon as they were read or used. Examples included a poster to advertise a
subscription to a book on Westminster Abbey, designs for a sundial designed to
be stuck onto wood blocks, a skull and cross bones designed to be stuck on a
plague victims door and my favourite piece in the show, a beautiful life like rabbit
designed for target practice.
Highlights of the
show included a Durer print of the Martyrdom of the 10,000 shown with its
original woodblock, a Lucas van Leyden print of which there are only 11
impressions and a Veronica, portrait of Christ, by Claude Mellan drawn in one
continuous line in a spiral starting from the tip of Christ’s nose.
Closed on 28
January 2018
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