|
Art
History 835 |
|
Graphic art, by its nature, is "popular"; because it is relatively inexpensive, and available to a much wider public than paintings or pieces of sculpture. Woodcuts began to be made in Europe almost immediately after the construction of the first paper mills (France, ca.1348; Germany 1390.) Invented too late to be regulated by the guild system, and sold at fairs without the need to be commissioned by a patron, the graphic arts offered the artist great freedom to experiment with new and/or controversial subject matter. While churches and monasteries did commission prayer sheets, pilgrim souvenirs and indulgenced images, it was not long before unscrupulous artists and salesmen began to create totally fictitious “indulgences” promising fantastic and unauthorized benefits to the buyer– setting off Martin Luther’s ire in his 1520 address to the German nobility, and helping to shape the Reformation. Saints with supposedly miraculous powers but dubious credentials began to be depicted (think St. Onuphrius the Wild Man, and St. Expeditus, who may or may not have originated as a mailing label.) The authorized but popular cult of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, each specializing in protection against a different ailment or dilemma, from insanity to dog bites, shared the market with viciously antisemitic images of the “Jewish sow” and the supposed ritual murder of young Simon of Trent by a group of Jews. Playing cards, greeting cards, anti-feminist propaganda, the Antichrist, the "world upside down", freaks of nature, political cartoons, pornography, mercenary soldiers and the prostitutes who trolled for them, all were material for the printmaker, along with serious educational works depicting biblical scenes, newly-discovered Africans and native Americans, ideals of the Modern Devotion, Reformation and Counter Reformation. The 18th century brought satirical prints directed against the French Revolution, the corruption of the young, the follies of fashion, the newfangled vaccination against smallpox, the sex life of the Prince of Wales, Goya’s Capriccios and much else. The invention of lithography, so easily adaptable to newspaper and magazine illustration brought the sports prints of Gericault, the political caricatures of Daumier, the posters of Toulouse Lautrec and Jules Cheret, while such major “fine” artists as Courbet and Van Gogh were influenced by the imagery of popular prints and cheap reproductions. The German Expressionist group Die Brücke actually advertised themselves as a popular movement aimed at German youth, and in opposition to the overstuffed historicism of their elders, and selling memberships to their movement , with original prints by the artists , for the modest sum of 6 Reichsmarks annually. P: Instructor consent only. Priority given to Art History grads. |