News & Events

Princes and Paupers: The Art of Jacques Callot

January 31–May 5, 2013 

In the Spring the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston will present an exhibition of the etchings of Callot, one of the most accomplished printmakers of the seventeenth century.  An extraordinarily productive artist, Callot revolutionized the technique of etching by developing a new type of needle and perfecting the use of a hard ground and multiple acid bitings.  Moreover, he deeply influenced not only artists of the past, such as Rembrandt and Goya, but also today’s printmakers.  Callot was also an international artist, who lived and worked in both Florence and Lorraine.  Fascinated by both the grotesque and the elegant, he was also drawn to naturalism and careful observation.  His prints can be monumental, such as the Siege of Breda, but as a rule invite close viewing with a magnifying glass in order to fully appreciate their minuscule details.  Callot’s etchings are imaginative, inventive, and witty, and he was intrigued by a broad range of themes, from theatrical performances and military sieges to Gypsies and beggars.  Curated by Diane Wolfthal, David and Caroline Minter Chair in the Humanities at Rice University, and Dena Woodall, curator of Prints and Drawings at the MFAH, Princes and Paupers: The Art of Jacques Callot will focus on class issues within the work of Callot.  This show will be the first major exhibition of this artist’s work to be accompanied by an English-language catalogue since the 1970s.

In conjunction with the exhibition, on Saturday March 16, 2013 the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and Rice University will hold a symposium called The Art of Jacques Callot.  This is open to the public and will include a series of cooperative ventures between Rice University and MFAH.

 

http://news.rice.edu/2013/01/28/the-art-of-jacques-callot-in-focus-for-rice-professor-and-students/

Siege of La Rochelle - Jacques Callot (Musee d'Orbigny-Bernon)