11 October 2013

Historical prints demonstrate artistry of printmaking

A rare print of Michelangelo’s Last Judgement fresco from the Sistine Chapel features in a new exhibition at Victoria University’s Adam Art Gallery.

Curated by David Maskill—a senior lecturer in Art History at Victoria—with his Honours students, the upcoming Adam Art Gallery exhibition ‘State of the art: reproductive prints from the Renaissance to now’ explores a history of reproductive prints.

“Our exhibition addresses how and why original works of art have been copied and asks audiences to reconsider the nature and value of such reproductions. For instance, you could argue that the Michelangelo print is more original than the fresco because it shows nude figures, and reveals what the painting looked like before the Pope ordered the addition of clothing,” says Mr Maskill.

In the pre-digital age, engravers copied artworks by working from detailed drawings via a reflection in a mirror. Lines were chiselled onto a copper plate, and then paper was placed on the inked plate and put through a press.
“The engravers were artists and the whole notion we have today of original and copy didn’t exist back then,” says Mr Maskill.

John Webber (1751–1793)
View in Queen Charlotte’s Sound, New Zealand ca. 1820
From Views in the South Seas from drawings by James Webber, London: Boydell, 1808 [ca. 1820]
Hand-coloured etching and aquatint
292 x 414mm
Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington Library

Another piece in the exhibition by John Webber, an artist on Captain Cook’s third voyage, depicts a Māori settlement in Queen Charlotte Sound in 1777. A hand-coloured aquatint print of the work, in a deluxe illustrated book, will be exhibited alongside the original oil painting.

Mr Maskill says the print was produced about 10 years after the painting—most likely from drawings made before the painting was completed. While the general composition is the same, the print includes details not seen in the painting, such as the moko on the Māori warriors in the foreground.

“This is a fascinating example of what happens when you translate art from one medium to another—you can be more detailed in a print than you can in an oil painting.
“It’s not a copy in that sense—it’s an interpretive work. You’ll be able to see that clearly in the exhibition.”

To put together the exhibition, a wide range of prints have been borrowed from Te Papa, the National Library, Auckland Art Gallery and private collectors, with each student assigned a group of prints to research.

The students have spent many hours researching their prints and writing essays about them for the exhibition’s catalogue.

“The students learn a great deal about how much work goes into preparing an exhibition over the course, however, they also come to appreciate how hard it is to make an exhibition appear seamless,” says Mr Maskill.

A number of Mr Maskill’s Honours graduates have gone on to find employment in museums and art galleries. 

What: State of the art: reproductive prints from the Renaissance to now
When: 12 October–20 December 2013
Where: Adam Art Gallery, Victoria University of Wellington, Gate 3, Kelburn Parade
Tuesday–Sunday, 11am–5pm (closed on Monday)
Free entry

ENDS

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