s3e12 politics and prints in the Dutch Republic with curator Maureen Warren

Platemark: prints and the printmaking ecosystem

In s3e12, Platemark host Ann Shafer speaks with Maureen Warren, curator of European and (North) American art at the Krannert Art Museum at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. For ten years Maureen has been studying, researching, and writing about prints in the Dutch Republic, which was the basis of her dissertation at Northwestern University. At long last, all that hard work has come to fruition in an exhibition and scholarly catalogue. Fake News & Lying Pictures: Political Prints in the Dutch Republic examines the visual strategies of Dutch printmakers and the ways they used images to promote political interests. The exhibition runs from August 25–December 17, 2022. The exhibition travels to other venues: University Galleries, University of San Diego, February 10–May 12, 2023; and Smith College Museum of Art, September 15, 2023–January 7, 2024.

The project got major support from the Getty Foundation Paper project, formally known as The Paper Project: Prints and Drawings Curatorship in the 21st Century. The funds are meant to help an early-career curator see a major projects to completion. There are, of course, other supporters to the project. A full list is over on the Krannert’s website: https://kam.illinois.edu/exhibition/fake-news-lying-pictures-political-prints-dutch-republic.

Maureen’s beautiful book is available for purchase here: https://kam.illinois.edu/publication/paper-knives-paper-crowns-political-prints-dutch-republic.

Episode photo credit: L. Brian Stauffer

Hendrick Goltzius (Dutch, 1558–1617). Funeral Procession for William I of Orange, 1584. Etching and engraving. Hearn Family Trust.

Willem Jacobsz. Delft (Dutch, 1580–1638), after Michiel Jansz. Van Mierevelt (Dutch, 1566–1641). Portrait of Johan van Oldenbarnevelt (1547–1619), 1617. Engraving. Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Hendrick Hondius (publisher, Dutch, 1573–1649 or after), Pieter van der Heyden (Netherlandish, c. 1525–after 1572), after Pieter Bruegel the Elder (Netherlandish, c. 1525/1530–1569). Big Fish East Little Fish, c. 1557–1650. Engraving. Sheet (trimmed to platemark: 209 x 291 mm. Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam.

Hendrick Hondius (publisher, Dutch, 1573–1649 or after), Pieter van der Heyden (Netherlandish, c. 1525–after 1572), after Pieter Bruegel the Elder (Netherlandish, c. 1525/1530–1569). Barneveltsche Monster (Big Fish Eat Little Fish), c. 1557-1650. Engraving. Sheet (trimmed to platemark: 209 x 291 mm. Atlas Van Stolk, Rotterdam.

Unknown artist. The Terrible Death of Johan and Cornelis de Witt, c. 1672. Etching, engraving, and letterpress. Sheet: 15 3/8 x 11 in. (39 x 28 cm.). Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Unknown artist. Mirror of the Street, Citizen’s Justice, 1672. Etching and letterpress. Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Willem van Swanenburg (Netherlandish, 1580–1612), after Jacques de Gheyn (Netherlandish, 1565–1629). Sailing Cars, 1603. Engraving with hand coloring. Atlas Van Stolk, Rotterdam.

Claes Jansz Visscher (Netherlandish, 1587–1652). View of Amsterdam, 1611. Etching, engraving, and letterpress. Overall: 62.8 x 171.7 cm. Atlas Van Stolk, Rotterdam.

[DETAIL] Claes Jansz Visscher (Netherlandish, 1587–1652). View of Amsterdam, 1611. Etching, engraving, and letterpress. Overall: 62.8 x 171.7 cm. Atlas Van Stolk, Rotterdam.

[DETAIL] Claes Jansz Visscher (Netherlandish, 1587–1652). View of Amsterdam, 1611. Etching, engraving, and letterpress. Overall: 62.8 x 171.7 cm. Atlas Van Stolk, Rotterdam.

[DETAIL] Claes Jansz Visscher (Netherlandish, 1587–1652). View of Amsterdam, 1611. Etching, engraving, and letterpress. Overall: 62.8 x 171.7 cm. Atlas Van Stolk, Rotterdam.

[DETAIL] Claes Jansz Visscher (Netherlandish, 1587–1652). View of Amsterdam, 1611. Etching, engraving, and letterpress. Overall: 62.8 x 171.7 cm. Atlas Van Stolk, Rotterdam.

Romeyn de Hooghe (Dutch, 1645–1708). Marriage of William and Mary, 1677. Etching. Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Romeyn de Hooghe (Dutch, 1645–1708). La belle Constance dragonée par Arlequin deodat, c. 1689. Engraving and letterpress. Sheet: 15 3/16 x 14 15/16 in. (38.5 x 38 cm.). Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Jacques Bellange (French, 1575–1616). Pietà, 1612–16. Etching with stippling and engraving. Sheet (trimmed to platemark): 12 13/16 x 7 13/16 inches (31 x 19.8 cm.). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Claes Jansz Visscher (Dutch, 1587–1652). The Far-famed House of Nassau or Orange, c. 1628–29. Engraving. Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.