This exhibition draws on the rich holdings of late nineteenth-century prints from the British Museum’s collection. From the 1860s etchings and lithographs were eagerly collected in France by a burgeoning middle-class. Artists such as Manet, Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec experimented with printmaking producing some of the most striking images of modern city life. As Japan opened up to the west, Japanese prints began to appear in France at the end of the 1850s. ‘Japonisme’, the craze for all things Japanese swept through France and many artists, such as Mary Cassatt and Henri Rivière were influenced by the economy of line, unusual viewpoint and flattening of forms that were characteristic of Japanese prints. The exhibition will also chart how artists used the print to disseminate their work to a wider public through the increasing proliferation of illustrated journals and specialist magazines. It will also examine the often forgotten role of the print publisher, such as Ambroise Vollard, who was responsible for commissioning many artists of this period to contribute to his lavish print portfolios. Vollard was responsible for commissioning Cézanne, who showed no interest in making prints, to produce the lithograph, Les Baigneurs, c.1898 for a prospective portfolio.
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