Treasures in Black & White

Credit is due to Eugène Dutuit (1807-1886), the elder brother, for having put together such a collection of prints – a field to which he was drawn through personal interest and a solid classical culture. From his first purchase in 1829 to his death, he managed to collect over 12,000 original prints by the greatest painter-engravers of their time: the Northern schools, with almost all of the engraved works of Lucas van Leyden, Martin Schongauer, Albrecht Dürer and Rembrandt, as well as an exceptional set of works by Goltzius and Antoon Van Dyck; Italy, with a collection of works by Raphael’s interpreter Marcantonio Raimondi; for the French school, the name of Jacques Callot stands out. And last but not least, Goya, the great master of the aquatint.

Thanks to the Dutuit brothers, the status of printed works within the collections of the new museum was assured. However there was still room for contemporary works. In many respects, the book Le Palais des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris (Petit Palais), written by the Petit Palais’ curator Henry Lapauze in 1910, acts as its manifesto. It describes the creation of the musée de l’Estampe moderne (Museum of Modern Prints), which opened in 1908 on the Petit Palais premises. The names of the donors and artists listed give a clear sense of the collection’s success: Buhot, Bracquemond, Chéret, Steinlen, Toulouse-Lautrec… Lapauze also highlighted the efforts made to specifically showcase colour prints, as shown from the beginning with a beautiful set acquired with the support of art dealer and publisher Georges Petit.

Following the history of the collection’s evolution, the exhibition provides a technical, iconographic and stylistic overview of printmaking from the 15^th to the 20^th century, exemplified by its most illustrious representatives.