Colorful Impressions

One of the most glorious and creative periods in the history of colour printmaking occurred in 18th-century France. Newly invented engraving and etching techniques were combined with new ways of printing a single image from multiple plates, allowing printmakers to replicate a broad palette of colours using variants of only four: blue, red, yellow and black. The resulting prints were so believable that they were often called "printed paintings" and "engraved drawings". The names of the masters who pioneered these techniques are largely only familiar to scholars and collectors, but the artists whose compositions they copied include some of the greatest talents of the period - Watteau, Boucher, Fragonard and Boilly all feature, along with many others. One of very few books available in English on the subject, this publication is a useful addition to the literature on this topic. Reproducing all the featured prints in colour, the images are supported by a range of scholarly essays.