‘History of Press Graphics 1819–1921’ – XL uitgave van Taschen

The golden era of the illustrated press
Discover the unique genre of illustrated newspapers and their modernist design.

• Alexander Roob
History of Press Graphics. 1819–1921
Taschen, april 2023
9783836507868, hardcover, XL 24.6 x 37.2 cm, 4.89 kg,
604 pagina’s, € 60,00

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This rich collection explores 100 years of graphic news items and their trailblazing influence on the emerging avant-garde art movements. Featured artists include Jean Cocteau and Juan Gris, together with masters of graphic work Thomas Nast and Gustave Doré.

In today’s world of instant snapshots, 24-hour news, and round-the-clock connectivity, an illustrated press where the images are as important as the text has become an increasingly rare art form. This far-reaching compendium celebrates the golden age of graphic journalism as a distinct and unique genre and a laboratory for developing avant-garde aesthetics.

Spanning from 1819 to 1921, the collection covers a broad range of news graphics and political and satirical cartoons. Alongside the works of renowned artists such as Jean Cocteau, Juan Gris, and Käthe Kollwitz, the most famous illustrators of the time are also well represented. Thomas Nast, Honoré Daumier, Gustave Doré, and the numerous relatively unknown press graphic artists, the so-called “special artists,” whose work is rediscovered here.

Their rich and varied press work is considered not only in connection to the genre and the historical painting of the 19th century but also in its capacity as a pioneering influence on modern art. With striking examples of proto-cinematic narrative thinking, disruptions of the single image space, and daring forays into abstraction, this material is shown to have laid the groundwork for much of the avant-garde artistic expression that followed.

Alexander Roob – founded in 2004 the Melton Prior Institute for Reportage Drawing and Printing Culture together with the art historian and curator Clemens Krümmel. The images in this book are largely taken from the collection of the Melton Prior Institute.