VIIFRANCE

Havingconsidered the fate of the graphic arts in Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands, our attention must dwell for a while on developments of the printed picture in France. In each of the countries above mentioned, we have witnessed a definite era of excellence in the sphere of prints; in Germany and in Italy, this zenith was reached in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. In the Netherlands, as we have just seen, the great awakening took place fully a century later. In this same seventeenth century, toward its close, as art declines in the Low Countries, French engraving rises to its highest perfection.

We needs must deal briefly with early French productions in relief and intaglio processes. Woodcut first: some few examples of early playing-cards which havesurvived destruction to these days, prove the trade of the card-printer to have flourished in France as well as in Germany. Book-printing speedily grew to important proportions; great printing firms were founded in Lyons and elsewhere, and carried on an extensive trade. Men of artistic originality, like Geoffroy Tory, knew how to infuse a distinctive character into type and illustration of their books; but apart from a few choice spirits, artistic France is not conspicuous in these early productions. Not only is printing largely carried on by printers from Germany and Switzerland, but these countries likewise furnish a large share of the relief-blocks needed for illustration. The Holbein “Dance of Death” is a notable instance of this practice. That series of wood-blocks had passed to Lyons, and there one edition after another was printed from the blocks, until they were quite worn out. Woodcut never was, in France, the important means of artistic expression whichwe have found it to have been in Germany. Its days sped by unheeded. The chief field of usefulness of the woodcut, the decoration and illustration of books and the sphere of the devotional print, were invaded by the intaglio processes. The woodcut lost ground everywhere in the seventeenth century; it had practically no share in solving the problems set to the graphic arts by the rising schools of Dutch, Flemish, and French painters. It sank to mere imitation of the fashionable book-decorations done in etching or engraving. The true, bold language of woodcut, spoken during the sixteenth century, finds no counterpart in the seventeenth; we must, therefore, turn to engraving, to vindicate France as a great center of development in the graphic arts.

TOUR DE NESLEJacques Callot

TOUR DE NESLE

Jacques Callot

In the early sixteenth century we meet in Jean Duvet an engraver of original merit. He adopts in his work the style of certain early Italian engravers. In his compositions he harks back to Dürer’s imaginativegenius. A little later Etienne Delaune appears, affecting the elongated figures of contemporary Italians, while in his graver-work one discerns a resemblance with the manner of the German “little masters.” In etching a vital impulse is given to French work about the middle of the sixteenth century. At that time Francis I called Italian artists to France for the decoration of his castle of Fontainebleau. Many of these Italian artists—Primaticcio, Fantuzzi, and others—made use of etching occasionally in a hasty, sketchy style. The sensuous charm of their lithe, long figures appealed to French taste, and elicited a response in the plates etched by Jean Cousin, for instance. In all this early production we feel the dominating influence of Italian art, with an occasional echo of German thought or German technique. France seeks her own language in the graphic arts, and timidly ventures forth in an original manner of expression. This diffidence is of brief duration, however, and by the end of the seventeenth century we find her a leader in engraving, and by no means in engraving only. As we enter upon this broad development, we must cast a glance on two personalities of distinct originality, namely, Jacques Callot and Claude Lorrain. Both are natives of Lorraine, both are schooled in the art centers of Italy. Callot, endowed with an impulsive, expressive style, full of personal qualities, vividly describes in his plates the habits, customs, pleasures, the life, in short, of France and Italy at his time. He peoples his plates with multitudes of minute figures, with well-accented gestures. These little figures are written down, as it were, with consummate skill; they are expressive in their concerted action; in their grouping, these peasants, soldiers, beggars, cripples, actors, courtiers, as they troop across the scene, unfold a bird’s-eye view of the world in the midst of which the artist lived. From the vast number of his prints, let us select for illustrationone of his views of old Paris, with the Tour de Nesle prominent in the foreground. In his hundreds of plates we see the miseries of warfare described as well as the gayety of public festivities and the pomp of ceremonies of state which he witnessed in Florence. Claude Lorrain, an originator and gifted exponent of landscape, has occasionally taken up the etching-needle, largely in an experimental spirit, modifying his technique at different times, and showing himself, like other noted painters and occasional etchers, infinitely more clever in the design than in the actual etching. The plate chosen for illustration, called “Le Bouvier,” is the most famous of his prints; in it we perceive (provided we see a fine early impression) the rich tonal effect, the sense of airiness, of space, the delightful composition, the knowledge of nature’s forms and of atmospheric aspects, which appear far more markedly still in the paintings of this master.

LE BOUVIERClaude Lorrain

LE BOUVIER

Claude Lorrain

The new awakening in French engravingin the seventeenth century is especially notable in portrait engraving. Germany has lost its leadership in the graphic arts; the great days of Italian engraving are likewise over, though Italy continues a source of inspiration to painters of all nations, she can add no vital, helpful impulse to engraving. Such life-giving influences could only come from the Netherlands, where the great tide of art is now at its height, where paintingandthe graphic arts have unfolded all their glory. Here the etcher’s and the engraver’s technique, very highly developed, is growing yet in perfection. What could be more natural than the powerful stimulus exerted by such excellence on French engraving? Its greatest triumphs coincide, in point of time, with the period of political supremacy of France during the reign of Louis XIV. The “Grand Monarque” infused grandeur into all the arts. The stately graver is the medium aptly chosen for numerous portraits of the “roi soleil” himself. In this period ofteeming fertility in portraiture, we find an abundance of likenesses of statesmen, generals, princes, nobles, of leaders in art, science, literature, and of distinguished churchmen. One cannot look through these prints without being struck by the prevalence, among them, of an element of stately aloofness which removes these men and women from the everyday sphere of life. They lack some of the freedom, some of the lifelike appearance, which characterize the achievements of the Netherlanders.

DUC DE GUISEClaude Mellan

DUC DE GUISE

Claude Mellan

In glancing through the ranks of the French engravers, we come upon Claude Mellan, an artist-engraver of striking originality. He departs from the beaten track of cross-hatching, and develops a manner of shading which relies—for the rendering of shadows—solely on the swelling line peculiar to graver-work. His technique is seen in the portrait of the young Duc de Guise here reproduced. Lines very lightly traced in the lighted portions, grow in strength and swell proportionately to the depth of shadow to be expressed. The direction of the line and its degree of heaviness are the means of expression used by Mellan. The difficulties inherent in such a technique are evident, and it is equally evident that the elimination of cross-hatching is a heavy handicap to an engraver. Naturally enough, Claude Mellan did not have any following to speak of among engravers.

ANTOINE VITRÉJean Morin

ANTOINE VITRÉ

Jean Morin

From this peculiar but fascinating artist, we pass on to another engraver of marked individuality, Jean Morin, an excellent technician who studied with profit the works of his Dutch and Flemish predecessors. He combines etching and graver-work in his plates, modeling the flesh exquisitely by means of minute stipple-like touches. Among his best productions the portrait of Antoine Vitré stands forth as a plate of great effectiveness and power, with rich, dark tones of shadow and brilliant lights.

The school of Philippe de Champaigne,which disciplined the powers of Morin, set upon his way the greatest of French portrait engravers, Robert Nanteuil. A finished draughtsman, known by his pastel portraits, and an engraver who carried the technique of the graver to perfection; he knows how to blend delicacy and strength in plates like this portrait of Pompone de Bellièvre. The longer one studies such a print, the more one realizes the unerring faculty of this master in the selection of line; each stroke fits the substance which it is meant to express. The eloquence of the graver is a matter too subtle for language, and far transcends the possibilities of reproduction, however skillful; a half-hour spent with some good, early impressions of Nanteuil prints will prove the truth of this assertion. Everything is expressed there, and wondrously well expressed, yet one is quite unconscious of any display of virtuosity. Nanteuil was too great an artist not to subordinate the beauty of line, themarvelous finish of elaborate detail, to the main consideration, namely, the beauty of a well-balanced, well-harmonizedensemble. He was an artist-engraver in the true sense of the word, since many of his finest plates have been drawn from life, as well as engraved by him.

POMPONE DE BELLIÈVRERobert Nanteuil

POMPONE DE BELLIÈVRE

Robert Nanteuil

PHILIPPE DE CHAMPAIGNEGérard Edelinck

PHILIPPE DE CHAMPAIGNE

Gérard Edelinck

It is usual, in reviews of this period of art, to find the name of the noted Fleming, Gérard Edelinck, mentioned side by side with Nanteuil. With a technique akin to that of the Rubens school, in long, easy strokes, he models his figures and his draperies, and while he lacks the creative originality of Nanteuil, working always after the designs of other artists, his range of subjects is far more extended. In the striking likeness of the painter Philippe de Champaigne, he has left us a splendid example of his powers. His plate after the “Madonna of Francis I,” by Raphael, is a model of interpretative engraving, and when he undertakes to reproduce the canvases of Lebrun, he producesprints admittedly more attractive and brilliant than the originals.

Another man whom we cannot afford to omit from even this hasty enumeration is Antoine Masson, were it only for that superb “gray-haired man,” the portrait of Guillaume de Brisacier, brilliant, powerful, revealing an absolute mastery of the graver. The fact is, that we are drifting now toward an ever-growing worship of technique, at the expense of higher issues, artistically. Many names claim our notice, as we continue our survey, and a few will not be denied,—Gérard Audran, with his great series of the “Triumphs of Alexander,” a series, which, for breadth and beauty of treatment, assures him a place among the leaders, near Edelinck.

BOSSUETPierre Imbert Drevet

BOSSUET

Pierre Imbert Drevet

As we glance at portrait engraving farther afield, there is at least one name, among the notables of the eighteenth century, which demands recognition here: Pierre Imbert Drevet, a member of that well-known family of engravers. Perhaps his greatest title to fame is the portrait—here shown—of Jacques Bénigne Bossuet, the prelate, writer, and orator. Many regard this plate as the greatest engraving of the century. In a manner typical of those pomp-loving times, the eminent churchman is represented amidst columns and sweeping draperies. Here, indeed, we have the last word of technical resourcefulness in expanses of gorgeous silks and delicate laces, and many other textures and substances. If one should feel that all this elaboration of the setting distracts the attention from the portrait itself, he must blame the epoch and the painter whose design the engraver needs must follow.

Now the reign of Louis XIV is over, and we come to the Regency, and to Louis XV. Sensitive art, always the expression of the prevailing attitude of mind, shifts to that well-known sphere of light-hearted, trifling, idyllic,galantsubjects, a sphere which wenaturally connect with Watteau and Lancret, with Boucher and Greuze: subjects of which the illustration “Champs Élysées,” after Watteau, by Tardieu, is a fairly typical example. Playful shepherd scenes abound, dainty figures masquerading as housekeepers, school-teachers, laundresses; or else we have glimpses of the intimacy of the boudoir and chamber with sensuous allusions more or less veiled. It is clear that such scenes required a medium other than the serious, dignified form of engraving, which we have seen heretofore. Such light, gay, piquant scenes demanded a freer medium of expression; also they required the merry touch of light, joyous coloring.

CHAMPS ÉLYSÉESNicolas Henri Tardieu

CHAMPS ÉLYSÉES

Nicolas Henri Tardieu

In response to these demands, Gilles Demarteau perfected a process admirably suited to rendering the effect of sketchy crayon drawing. Leprince devised the process known as “aquatint,” by means of which the washes of water-color or sepia might be closely imitated upon the copper.Both these media came into frequent use, and often a brown ink was used in the printing, being deemed more appropriate to the subjects than the usual black, or the copper plate was painted with colors for each impression, a lengthy and delicate operation, and these color-prints—not to be confounded with prints colored by hand—are prized by many amateurs. A word here on these color-prints: LeBlon evolved a cumbersome method of three-color printing, engraving one plate for each color; often a fourth plate was added, as a foundation for the other three. The other method, mentioned above, was generally adopted, quite a number of engravers devoting themselves to this color-work.

Now again temptation spreads out a world of enticing themes for discussion, which we must pass by: ornaments, elaborate decorations of theses, emblems, armorial designs, calendars. Even the teeming field of book decoration must not keep us long,entrancing though it be as a field for specializing study. It has already been remarked that in this field, formerly held by woodcut, the intaglio processes had assumed a monopoly. Artists of great repute were called upon for designs to ornament the elegant volumes offered to literary amateurs. The character of the illustration and ornamentation was dictated, not so much by the contents of the books as by the predilections of the buying public. A very high degree of technical efficiency prevailed among the engravers who busied themselves with illustrations for literary productions; they entered so thoroughly into the spirit of the designs that their own individual characteristics are hard to discern in the mass of light, dainty embellishments of the printed page. The fine harmony which blends together type and ornamentation in the books of that period, would be well worth imitation in our own advanced days. The subjects are amorous for the most part, as well befits a time when Venus ruledin French society. If you glance through the illustrated editions of the “Fables,” or the “Baisers” of Dorat, the “Temple de Gnide” of Montesquieu, the “Henriade” of Voltaire, the “Contes nouveaux” of Marmontel, or the “Chansons” of Delaborde, you will find there the best efforts of such masters of illustration as Eisen, Choffard, Gravelot, Moreau, and others, who struck the note demanded by the socialéliteof their day. They idealize a hollow, shamming society, which they carry into fairyland by an art true in its rendering of a play-acting world. The dimpled, rosy Venus, the shepherdess of well-rounded, shapely figure,—these ideals of beauty are not Greek, nor of the great Renaissance period. Such divinities are found in Versailles gardens; their prototypes are Jeanne Dubarry and her like, the ladies of the court, the beauties of the stage; and for this reason French art of the eighteenth century is genuine and true, because it does not seek its ideals in thedim past, but chooses them in contemporary life.

As we follow engraving, it declines from a spontaneous exercise of the thinking, artistic mind into drudgery of systematized routine. Engraving becomes petrified into a thing of tradition, with elaborate systems of lines and dots, to be dutifully acquired during long years of apprenticeship. Originality is frowned down by rigid precept, selection is made subservient to accepted prescription. In this so-called “classical” style of engraving, Georg Wille moves at ease, among the most perplexing technical intricacies. A virtuoso, and a purist, Wille deems the burin the one and only admissible tool of an engraver. The careful detail, the minutely finished paintings of Gérard Dou, Mieris, or Netscher give play to his powers. The plate reproduced here is the famous “Satin Gown” after Terborch, so called because of the wonderful rendering of the girl’s dress, with its silvery sheen and glossy shadows. Thelighting of the scene, the modeling of forms, the translation of color-values into terms of black and white, have all received careful consideration, nor do we feel in the work of this leader the cold metallic hardness and monotony which often wearies in the immense output of the classical engravers. The names of Bervic, excellent but slow and excessively systematic, Boucher Desnoyers, the brilliant technician, come to mind among Frenchmen. Italy, however, became the real home of classical engraving, and names such as Longhi, Raphael Morghen, Toschi, with their large plates, chiefly dealing with religious subjects, must be familiar to any amateur of prints. Their fame, the great favor which they enjoyed with the art-loving public for a while, brought pupils from all parts of Europe to these Italian leaders.

INSTRUCTION PATERNELLE (The “Satin Gown”)Georg Wille

INSTRUCTION PATERNELLE (The “Satin Gown”)

Georg Wille

In France the triumphs which painter-etching achieved in the Netherlands had but a faint echo: Callot and Claude Lorrainhave already been mentioned. Painters like Lebrun or Largillière left the graphic arts to the engravers; they viewed their skillful translations of painting into black and white as the work of colleagues, not craftsmen. We have noted the influence of Watteau on the “etcher-engravers”; he himself handled the etching-point at times, in a few sketchy plates; Boucher, Fragonard, and others dabbled in etching a little, nothing more. Jean Jacques de Boissieu and Jean Pierre Norblin, the latter an enthusiastic student of Rembrandt’s perplexing technique, should be mentioned as leading exponents of etching before the great nineteenth-century revival to which we shall presently turn. Now we must leave France, with the classical engravers at the helm, their formula spreading far and wide and with the vignettists busy on their portrayal of French society at the end of theancien régime. As Watteau had shown us the customs of the grandfathers, at the beginning of the century, soSaint-Aubin, Eisen, Moreau, and other clever artists show us the life of the grandchildren: a society bound up in the pursuit of pleasure, blindly rushing on toward exile or the guillotine of the French Revolution.

PLATE FROM THE CAPRICHOSFrancisco Goya

PLATE FROM THE CAPRICHOS

Francisco Goya

Before proceeding to English prints, let us glance at the one prominent figure in Spanish etching: Francisco Goya. A painter-etcher of intense feeling, fiery, impulsive, he feels acutely the evils under which his country is groaning. In an art largely allusive and bitterly satirical, he conjures before us an abyss of human wretchedness, greed, and misrule in those strange “Caprichos” from which an illustration has been selected. In other series he shows with the same graphic power the hazards of the bull-fight, and again the fearful consequences of warfare. Filled with his thought, he compels the copper to express the intensity of his conception. His medium is whatever will convey the message, usually an etched outline, modeled into with aquatint in a boldsketchy manner. His few, rare lithographs have the same powerful characteristics, and it is this energy of expression which makes his prints distinctive and desirable.

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