Expo reveals more about 'Art de Paris'
Expo reveals more about 'Art de Paris'
By Izabel Deuff
JAKARTA (JP): A few commonly known facts about 19th century
French art include sculpture by Rodin and painters, be they
realistic (Ingres), impressionist (Manet, Degas, Courbet) or
Postimpressionist (Gauguin, Cezanne).
Yet only a few people know that those painters and others of
the period were also involved in the French printmaking which
dominated Europe.
To acquaint people with this Art de Paris (Art from Paris),
Dharma Mulia Antiques is organizing an exhibition of etchings,
engravings and lithographs by French artists dating from the 18th
century to the 20th century.
"We would like to avoid the usual oil canvas exhibition and
stress the originality of those works that are still close to
French spirit," said Frdric Mauri, the consultant to the firm.
The exhibition in the Shang Palace foyer of the Shangri-La
Jakarta displays about 100 masterpieces. It will close on Oct.
29.
"In the 18th and 19th centuries, the engraving profession
boomed because people didn't know any other way to reproduce the
painters' creations in books," Mauri said.
The works were made through the intaglio engraving process,
mostly preferred in the 18th and 19th centuries over relief
printing.
The former method can produce various effects depending on the
techniques used. In line engraving, the copperplate is incised by
a burin. Then the blur is cleaned so the print is more precise.
But, as the engraver has to push his tool, the designs are often
formed of straight lines.
The drypoint technique, an alternative to intaglio, covers up
this weakness. The engraver uses a sharp steel needle which is
more easily handled and scratches the metal in unsmooth lines.
The resulting design is a velvety one less precise than the line
engraving.
Engraving themes are as varied as their creators. They include
French landscapes, noble people meeting in a garden -- such as
Conversation in a Park by Debois -- portraits of bewigged court
noblemen and artists, genre scenes and animals. The latter
subject was embodied by six works by Auguste-Andr Lanon, a
famous 19th century engraver.
Most works are fashion plates representing women's clothing
from the 19th century; flashy colored patterns of dresses,
petticoats, corsets, skirts, crinolines and headdresses after the
Parisian style.
Seven engravings are part of a series reproducing well-known
paintings about Napoleon's deeds. Among them are The Emperor's
Coronation. The 2nd of December 1804 painted by Jacques-Louis
David and engraved by Johan Trangott Beyer, and Bonaparte
Jaffa. The 11th of March 1799 painted by Antoine-Jean Gros and
engraved by Jean-Jacques Frilley.
More than just presenting French 18th and 19th century
society, the exhibition is also a starting point to learn more
about the art of engraving.
The etching process is the easiest and the most all-around
intaglio technique because the engraver can do whatever he wants.
The copperplate is covered with an acid-resistant wax so, when
dipped into acid, it only bites the parts that have been
scratched. The used metal, the acid biting time and the width of
the lines partake of the creation.
Engraving was so prevalent in the 19th century and the
execution so alike that not one practitioner emerged as
preeminent. Most of the engravers' names have slipped into
obscurity.
Nevertheless, Emile Boilvin was extremely famous at the end of
the 19th century for his etchings. He made several original ones
but the one exhibited, Gathering in a Park (1896), is from a
painting by Louis-Joseph Watteau.
Other etchings include The Emmas Pilgrims, made by Pieter de
Frey in 1802 from Rembrandt's painting, and The Carpenter's
Family, another painting by the Dutch artist that was engraved by
Veyrassat in 1856.
"Before Rembrandt, engravers used a traditional way, but he
stirred up everything in mixing line engraving, drypoint
technique and etching which was largely developed after," said
Mauri.
A few works (most of them of poor quality) are made from
aquatint which creates an effect like a watercolor. In Scene
During the "Directoire" (1924), Sauvage pictures a couple of
Incroyables (Incredible) in a forest. Pastel blue and yellow of
the clothes match with the green of the background. This work
seems a little anachronistic since the recent works are usually
lithographs.
Lithography is a printing process created in 1796 by Aloys
Senefelder. The image is drawn with a greasy pencil on a smooth
stone so that the surface of the design is ink-receptive when wet
with water. No lines and relief can be seen or felt as the work
looks like a drawing.
There are only six lithographs in this exhibition, three of
which are colored.
"Engravings were colored in the mid-19th century. First, they
were hand-painted. Then, the lithography, enabling to print
color, increased the number of colorful masterpieces," Mauri said
in front of Le pied de boeuf (The Cow's Foot) and La main chaude
(The Hot Hand), two colorful original lithographs by Louis-
Lopold Boilly.
A painter and engraver, Boilly was one of the best witnesses
of French daily life during the period. Unknown when alive, he
has been posthumously recognized for his skilled hand and the
brightness of his colors.
Finally, heliography is represented by Bonaparte. First Consul
(Visiting the Manufacture of Mister Sevenes at Rouen). "The
gravure printing is almost photography and a process in which
humans don't utilize anymore. But I would like to expose it to
show the evolution of the techniques," Mauri said.