The predilection for story-telling and moralizing which was the dominating feature of much Victorian painting forged the link between the hitherto exclusive world of art and the general public. It was on this factor that the print industry flourished, and the link was effected through the production and distribution of reproductive engravings. For the first time art (in this sense) became available to every class of society, and as much a feature of home life as television is today.
Prints were cheap and large, they could be hung in heavy gilded frames to decorate a wall at a fraction of the price of a painting. There they mirrored all the familiar images of Victorian life and gave shape to the proper sentiments of Victorian domestic ideology. They inspired patriotism by depicting national heroes in their moments of glory, and frequent reassuring portraits of the Queen and her family. Prints also fulfilled one of the roles now assumed by the film, of illustrating novels which, whether by Goldsmith or Dickens, were becoming increasingly popular and more widely read. Prints were an invaluable aid to the evangelical movements. They were also a means of bringing history alive, and of enabling the public to become familiar with the likenesses of famous contemporary figures like Wellington, Peel, Palmerston, Disraeli and the dignitaries of the Church. — Hilary Beck, Victorian Engraving
The Etcher, an etching by William Strang R.A. (1859-1921)
Explanations of Engraving, Etching, Mezzotint, and Lithography
- The Technologies of nineteenth-century printmaking
- Copper and Steel Engraving
- Etching
- Drypoint
- Woodblock Illustrative Engraving
- Lithography
- Graphics in color
- Metals used for engraving, etching, and drypoint plates
- Tools employed in engraving, etching, and drypoint
- Inking and printing
- Mixed Mezzotint Surpasses Line-Engraving and Changes Subject Matter
- Electrotyping
- Artists’ proofs, proofs before letters, India paper proofs, and early copies
The Historical and Economic Contexts of the Graphic Arts
- The history of Copper and Steel Engraving
- Economic Factors in Engraving, Wood Engraving, Etching, Lithography, and other forms of Printmaking
- The Revival of the Artist-Etcher in the Victorian Era
- Nineteenth-Century Paintings Reproduced by Engraving and other forms of Printmaking
- The Etching Club
- French Founder-Members of the R.E. (Royal Society of Painter-Etchers & Engravers)
Artists
- (Cecilia) Lucy Brightwell
- Edward Calvert
- (Edward Henry) Gordon Craig.
- W.G.Fearnside
- William and Edward Francis Finden
- Sir Francis Seymour Haden
- J. Hassell
- William Harcourt Hooper
- John Callcott Horsley
- Donald Shaw Maclaughlan
- James McBey
- William Monk
- William Nicholson
- George Bernard O'Neill
- Malcolm Osborne
- Samuel Palmer
- W. J. Palmer
- Joseph Pennell
- Lucien Pissarro
- Percy Robertson
- M.C. Robinson
- Nathaniel Sparks
- Joseph Swain
- William Strang
- G. Ayton Symington
- William Walker
- T. R. Way
Bibliography
Beck, Hilary. Victorian Engravings. London: Victoria & Albert Museum, 1973.
Getscher, Robert H. The Stamp of Whistler. Exhibition catalogue. Oberlin, Ohio: Allen Memorial Art Museum, 1977.
Last modified 2 January 2021