How do you reproduce photographs? Artists and scientists faced this challenge beginning in the first half of the 19th century. The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D. C., introduces the first 100 years of photogravure with Etched by Light: Photogravures from the Collection, 1840-1940. The exhibits will be on display beginning Oct. 15.
Almost simultaneously with the invention of photography came the question of how to reproduce it identically and thus make it commercially viable. Numerous artists and scientists in Europe in the early 19th century explored ways to develop so-called photogravures. The result was a further development of the aquatint process developed in the 1760s, and later photoengraving led to modern intaglio printing. Today, photogravures, which require toxic chemicals to produce, are no longer used commercially; in the 19th century, they were widely practiced. The National Gallery of Art's exhibition Etched by Light: Photogravures from the Collection, 1840-1940 now features 40 photogravures and illustrated books that introduce the beginnings and heyday of this technique. Many exhibits have never been on display before. Visitors can experience them in Washington, D. C., from Oct. 15, 2023, to Feb. 4, 2024.
Early pioneers of photogravure include William Henry Fox Talbot, Hippolyte Fizeau and Charles Nègre. Later photographers such as James Craig Annan, Peter Henry Emerson, and Alfred Stieglitz used it to push artistic boundaries. Finally, Man Ray and Laure Albin Guillot, among others, created large photogravures that became world famous and represented the culmination of this technique.
With this exhibition, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art examines how part of its collection developed: Collecting Impressionism at LACMA opens on December 21.
On the 500th anniversary of Jakob Fugger's death on December 30, the Schaezlerpalais is commemorating him as a patron of the arts: the wealthy merchant family commissioned numerous artists of their time. The exhibition Art’s Rich Heritage: Jakob Fugger and his Legacy runs until April 12, 2026, in Augsburg.
