The Blanton Museum of Art opened a new exhibit Jan. 25 showcasing the work of printmaking families in Europe from 1500 to 1700. The exhibit explores how the skills of printmaking were passed down between generations, and will be on display until June 15.
Cocurator Holly Borham said the collection, titled “A Family Affair: Artistic Dynasties in Europe (Part I, 1500–1700),” explores the intersection of art and commerce.
“We’re looking at artists who were trained within a family household, and the skills, talents and resources that are passed down from one generation to the other,” said Borham, associate curator of prints, drawings and European art at the Blanton. “We might think of artists these days as independent geniuses, but historically, artists have been trained as crafts people learning a particular skill.”
The work of 16 different printmaking families is on display in the museum’s paper vault. Family trees line the walls of the exhibit showing how artists in each family are related.
Some family works were “artistically tight-knit,” while in other cases younger generations “(ventured) far across Europe to seek new patrons and (update) their style to suit changing tastes,” according to the exhibition’s description.
Borham said not only are the skills being passed down from generation to generation, but workshop assets, such as copper plates used to make prints, are also being passed down — extending the artist’s legacy.
While there may not be many female artists’ work on display, Borham said they made an effort to find the names of the artists’ mothers.
“There are very important female contributions to creating these artworks, because these artists (wouldn’t have) existed without their mothers,” Borham said. “We are working hard to include the roles of women in art production in this period, which are voices that (have) often been lost or disregarded.”
Part II of the exhibition, featuring artists from 1700 to 1900, will open June 28.
“Once we started going through our collection and looking for artists’ families, we realized we had so many examples,” Borham said. “This really is a pervasive structure. Many, many, many artists were trained within the family system.”
