Exhibition archive - European Works on Paper - Norton Museum of Art

Two New Exhibitions Feature European Works on Paper from The Permanent Collection
9/20/2003 - 11/30/2003

Two new exhibitions of works on paper are now on view at the Norton Museum of Art, continuing the Museum's practice of showcasing work from its permanent collection. The Permanent Collection: European Works on Paper - selected by curatorial assistant Lisa Heard - features 15 fascinating small-scale works by Chagall, Leger, Manet, Picasso and others. Jacques Callot: Selected Prints from the Permanent Collection - selected by Jerry Dobrick, Associate Curator of Education - is a larger installation of 32 works by this little-known yet highly innovative seventeenth-century printmaker. Both exhibitions will be on view through November 30.

The majority of Jacques Callot prints on view were selected from the outstanding collection of more than two hundred prints donated by David J. Patten to the Norton Museum of Art in 1999. During a lifetime of collecting and scholarship, Mr. Patten - a resident of St. Petersburg, Florida - acquired large holdings of prints by Jacques Callot and his contemporaries. Mr. Patten continues to donate works by Jacques Callot to the Norton Museum, some of which are included in the current exhibition.

Jacques Callot (1592-1635): This selection of prints explores the technically innovative etchings of the seventeenth-century printmaker Jacques Callot, born in the Lorraine region of France in 1592. Jacques Callot's career as a printmaker is divided into an Italian Period (lasting more than a decade between 1609 and 1621) and a French Period (extending almost 15 years from 1621 until his death in 1635).

Trained in Italy, Callot revolutionized printmaking techniques with his advancement of hard-ground etching techniques. In this process, a varnish is spread over the surface of a copper plate. When dry, the printmaker can scratch delicate lines and fine details into this hardened varnish that are then etched into the copper plate by immersing it in an acid bath. This etching process allowed Callot to produce small-scale prints of extraordinary finish - many of the works in the exhibition measure no more than two or three inches across.

Despite their diminutive size, Callot compositions often include architectural elements and natural settings that are more commonly associated with pictorial designs of much grander dimensions.

Jacques Callot used his newly discovered hard-ground etching process to produce a vast array of imagery. He also frequently produced his works in a series, executing folios of multiple prints similar in style and format, to develop extended narratives or to illustrate related themes. The selection of prints in this gallery surveys both secular and religious themes, both sacred and profane imagery being common to Callot's work. Callot's subjects encompass not only lighthearted theatrical figures, but also horrific depictions of battle and turmoil. Further engravings and etchings in the installation illustrate New Testament scenes, individual saints and rare night scenes. Jacques Callot's imagery reveals both the violent and playful, and the tragic and humorous elements of European culture in the early 1600s.

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