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Carnegie Museum of Art Presents The Romantic
Print in Britain Exhibition Documents the Passions of a Tumultuous
Time
February 1, 2004
Pittsburgh, PA...Carnegie Museum of Art explores the Romantic period
with The Romantic Print in Britain, an exhibition on loan
from the Yale Center for British Art highlighting British printmaking
from 1776 through 1880. The exhibition is presented from February
14-May 30, 2004 in the Works on Paper Gallery of the recently renovated
Scaife Galleries.
During the Romantic Period, known as the "Age of Revolutions,"
the Western world witnessed a radical transformation in everything
from politics to culture. British artists found that printmaking
provided an ideal method for personal expression and for documenting
the emotional sentiment of the time. Painters worked independently
and together with engravers to create compelling and dramatic works
of art.
The Romantic Print in Britain, organized by Gillian Forrester,
Associate Curator of Prints and Drawings at the Yale Center for
British Art, is an exhibition of 75 prints that illustrate the diversity
and complexity of the British print culture. It provides an overview
of many of the key themes of the era, during which Britain experienced
territorial expansion, revolution, and a new fascination with the
natural world. All the works in the exhibition are on loan from
the Yale Center of British Art, the largest collection of British
art outside Great Britain.
The first section of the exhibition focuses on the printmaking process.
It features tools, printmaking plates, and rare progress proofs
which give insight into a few of the period's greatest artists,
J.M.W. Turner, Thomas Girtin, and John Constable. Subsequent sections
explore themes of revolution and slavery, hero worship, and nature.
The Romantic period was a time of intense self-reflection, and the
art of the era helped shape a strong national identity. Engravers
like William Woollett document the importance of contemporary and
historic events, while artists George Stubbs, Henry Fuseli, and
John Martin explored the cult of the hero and the complex depths
of the Romantic psyche.
Artists in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries were
also heavily preoccupied with landscape as they examined themes
of the natural world and a sense of place. This theme is represented
here with works by Turner and Constable, as well as John Sell Cotman
and John Crone. The exhibition concludes with landscapes by William
Blake, Edward Calvert and Samuel Palmer.
Sponsors
The Romantic Print in Britain has been organized
by the Yale Center for British Art. The exhibition's presentation
in Pittsburgh has been generously supported by the Gailliot Family
Foundation. General support for the museum's exhibition program
is provided by The Heinz Endowments and the Pennsylvania Council
on the Arts.
Photos are available on Carnegie Museum of Art's
media photo website. Contact the communication office at 412.688.8690
for the access code.
A variety of related programs including tours and
lectures are available at www.cmoa.org.
Carnegie Museum of Art
Located at 4400 Forbes Avenue in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh
and founded by industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie
in 1895, Carnegie Museum of Art is nationally and internationally
recognized for its distinguished collection of American and European
works from the sixteenth century to the present. The Heinz Architectural
Center, part of Carnegie Museum of Art, is dedicated to the collection,
study, and exhibition of architectural drawings and models. For
more information about Carnegie Museum of Art, call 412.622.3131
or visit our web site at www.cmoa.org.
Contact:
Tey Stiteler
412.688.8690
stitelert@carnegiemuseums.org
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