This exhibition of more than eighty works, selected from the Museum’s rich collection of popular prints, invites the public to enter a forgotten world of imagery created in the major centers of popular print production in continental Europe during the 1800s. Published in a variety of languages, these prints were sold on street corners and in shops all across Europe, and could be found in every household, city tavern, and village schoolroom. Although originally distributed by the thousand, surprisingly few fine examples survive today. Their production ran the full gamut of printmaking techniques, from crudely cut woodblock prints to refined chromolithography; they vary dramatically between austere black-and-white specimens and swank, candy-colored delights.

The selection of prints ranges from images of jumping jacks and patron saints to illustrated song sheets and alphabet manuals. Star-crossed lovers appear side-by side with a magical machine that transforms imperfect husbands and wives into ideal couples. While a depiction of the latest natural catastrophe competes for attention with miraculous visions, a madman commits unspeakable acts in riveting prints based on sensational news reports. Several categories on display bear witness to the veritable explosion that the nineteenth century witnessed in point of numbers of works available on the market for children. Such examples include toy theaters and parlor games that were especially designed to captivate the minds and imaginations of Europe’s youngest populations.

Many of the popular printed materials presented in this exhibition, however, were destined for the consumption of all ages, and stand out as the forerunners of the comic strips, boardgames, souvenir posters, and other ephemeral pinups of today.

Sponsor

Exhibitions in the Berman and Stieglitz Galleries in 2008, including Curious and Commonplace: European Popular Prints of the 1800s, are made possible by RBC Wealth Management.

Curators

Kevin Kriebel • the Dorothy J. del Bueno Curatorial Fellow in the Department of Prints, Drawings and Photographs
John Ittmann • Curator of Prints

Location

The Berman and Stieglitz Galleries, ground floor