An old master print with color is almost invariably regarded as
a suspect object because the color is presumed to be a cosmetic
addition made to compensate for deficiencies of design or condition.
Painted Prints challenges this deeply entrenched assumption
about the material and aesthetic structure of old master prints
by showing that in many cases hand coloring is not a dubious supplement
to a print but is instead an integral element augmenting its expressive
power, beauty, and meaning.
Published in conjunction with an exhibition at The Baltimore Museum
of Art and St. Louis Art Museum, Painted Prints reproduces
and discusses a rich variety of hand-colored prints from Northern
Europe of the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Anonymous woodcuts
are juxtaposed with masterworks by such famed artists as Dürer,
Holbein, and Goltzius. These prints, secular as well as religious,
muted as well as vibrant in tonality, make it clear that hand coloring
was a widespread, enduring practice, developed to satisfy the demands
of both elite and popular audiences.
Painted Prints presents new research into the men and women
who specialized in hand coloring and offers numerous insights into
the social and economic organization of Renaissance and Baroque
printmaking. It also draws on scientific analyses of the materials
and techniques of hand coloring to address important questions of
authenticity, chronology, and condition. With a catalogue and color
illustrations of all the hand-colored prints in the exhibition,
this book makes a groundbreaking contribution to the study of old
master prints and their pivotal place in the visual culture of early
modern Europe.
The exhibition, "Painted Prints: The Revelation of Color in Northern
Renaissance and Baroque Engravings, Etchings, and Woodcuts," will
be at The Baltimore Museum of Art from October 6, 2002, to January
5, 2003 and St. Louis Art Museum from February 14 to May 18, 2003.
Visit http://www.artbma.org
to learn more about the exhibition.
