Creativity and Reproduction: Nineteenth Century Engraving and the Academy
Author: Susanne Anderson-Riedel
Date Of Publication: May 2010
Isbn13: 978-1-4438-1961-9
Isbn: 1-4438-1961-1
The study investigates the engravers’ rise within the French academic system and demonstrates their success in transforming a reproductive medium into a creative and original art genre. In the nineteenth century, graphic artists developed an artistic language that was independent and on par with the original model that they reproduced.

The Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture welcomed graphic artists into its ranks in 1655. As talented reproductive artists were able to disseminate works of art produced at the Academy, engravers rose to occupy administrative positions at the compagnie in the eighteenth century. Their success notwithstanding, graphic artists remained unable to overcome the perception of being reproductive artisans rather than creative and original fine artists. The proof of their predicament was the continuous refusal of advanced artistic training for graphic artists within the French academic system.

The Section de Gravure at the Institut de France, established in 1803, was the first academic institution that distinguished between imitative and creative artistic execution in the reproductive graphic arts. Through patronage, the supervision of competitions, and the administration of the Prix de Rome program for graphic artists, the Engraving Department established specific guidelines for artistic reproduction and encouraged the formulation of an independent, artistic language in the reproductive arts. Finally, it defined the characteristics of fine engraving as a creative art medium.

The Prix de Rome for engraving was crucial in consolidating the new understanding of engraving as an original art form. The engravers’ participation in the Grand Prix competition transformed their artisanal training practice in the master’s workshop into an artistic and academic education of graphic artists in the engraving ateliers. Furthermore, their sojourn at the French Academy in Rome encouraged the collegial collaboration between painters, sculptors, and engravers, leading engravers to develop a free and graphic interpretation of their model. The reproductive engraver was now able to rival painters and sculptors and, consequently, he emerged as a creative and original artist.

Susanne Anderson-Riedel is Assistant Professor of the History of Art at the University of New Mexico. She specializes in the history of prints and French art of the 18th and 19th century.

“Susanne Anderson-Riedel’s book, based on meticulous scholarship and incisive historical interpretation, is a major contribution to the field of art history ... Informed by a critical awareness of contemporary debates and art-historical approaches, the book moves from the particular—the tracing of familial lineages, identification of work, and distribution of engravings—to the general—the debates over the status of engraving, the often complex relations between engravers (and engraving) and painters and sculptors. Dr. Anderson-Riedel’s understanding of these relations, in the context of the wider discussion of the ‘copy’ and the ‘reproduction,’ makes this work an invaluable addition to our understanding of the general status of representation in the modern period.”

—Anthony Vidler, Dipl. Arch, PhD, Dean and Professor

“Dr. Anderson-Riedel demonstrates convincingly that the debates traced in this study are crucial for the development of art. By challenging the notions of copy and originality, she lays the foundation for the artistic movements of Romanticism and of modern art in general, notably the print as an original work of art.”

—Michel Melot, ancien directeur du Département des estampes et de la photographie à la Bibliothèque nationale de France

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