ARTH 263 Aspects of the History of the Print: British Illustration and Graphic Arts of the 19th century
- Mondays, 12:15-14:45
- EV-1-615
- Instructor: Molly-Claire Gillett
In the long-19th century, Britain experienced rapid industrialization, changing the face of its towns and cities and causing social and political tension. Queen Victoria ascended the throne, prompting discussions surrounding the role of women in the public sphere, personal morality and family values. The British Empire expanded; Ireland joined the United Kingdom with the Act of Union in 1801, and aggressive colonial expansion in India and North America, among other regions, ensured a constant stream of raw goods, ‘exotic’ art and design, scientific discoveries – and voices of discontent and rebellion – from throughout the empire. Alongside these many changes came the increased production of illustrated newspapers and periodicals, improved affordability of illustrated books and print series, and proliferation of printed advertising.
This course will examine British illustration and graphic arts of the long-19th century, focusing on visual culture as both a product of and active participant in this tumultuous social, political, and cultural context. Britain will be the primary focus, but its imperial presence in (among other areas) Canada, India and Ireland will expand the scope of study, and prompt a sustained consideration of the role of print culture in creating, sustaining, and disrupting the empire. Progressing thematically, each class will follow the representation of a particular theme, such as labour, devotion, or childhood, through a variety of print media – from children’s books of fairy tales and hand-printed Arts and Crafts pamphlets to political cartoons, botanical guides, and map books. We will discuss the relationship between images and their surrounding texts and contexts, as well as printing techniques and the technological developments that impacted 19th-century print media’s availability and form. Each case study will also provide an opportunity to consider parallel themes and stylistic trends in the canon of 19th-century British Art; the Pre-Raphaelite painter Edward Burne-Jones, for example, illustrated the Kelmscott Press edition of Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.
The course will familiarize students with the British Empire as a historical and political context for 19th-century print culture, techniques and technologies, and encourage critical thinking about visual representation in historical print media. Because this material is relatively recent and so much of it survives, many primary sources relevant to the course are accessible in library collections throughout Montreal. As such, this course will involve a field trip to a local collection. We will also do a book design/printmaking activity in class, and students will have the opportunity to engage in research creation as part of the final assignment.