New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-02-18
MEZZOTINT ENGRAVING&.
~ ursrnp1c1. EAlIIRITIoN OF PRINTS.


100 nrnts illustrating the history Of the ART OF meho
tint engraving from the tire oil us ihVen'"" " ,'''
time of It's decay, ought 10 do iOr IN "I,' '
exhibition at the Burlington Fine N's 'i'o ''' i''
tho publlc uf London in 1851, stm"i"' "'''''' III
an original and rcpr lductvc art tha IT, III It's way
~. ,rfo-io, to etching and bring order out OF tho
Confusion of ideas relating II, origin. de'eI lpmtht
ard nature which Is found 10 exist ou'siuc VI ''
circle OF collectors and students Inc pr" -
hibiti & /, weakened by the fact tna' u IVA" ~
becn arranged with nhcNible regard or '''""os''
and that the catalogue follows the aiphaoeu''' o'"o'
-, ., tho order ~ date, but the latter drawback
T., IN bc partially repaired by revised ana properly
consecutive list cf names aud In the "e'"'
ncary all the important engrdvcrs ar, rep''S'".' ~
their dates are given IN the catalogue ne VINO "' V
enthusiasm and the patience can easily "o'" o' ~.
.oouence necessary TO give clear NOTION vi .,'
os, y, the art it was invented In the m'ud'e
:, tho .eventcenth century by Ludwig Won s'se"'
n,,.bmap who was born I'm 1909. lite was pp"t"O
nm A. a soldier and In 1889 we find MN noi"i"e VIZ
onIce Of " Kammerjunker' 10 the LhhdeIaNo " 49,
c,ssel In the leisure moments lcIt III" ~
,.horco ~ nj, duties he an industrious amateur
~, I'll, ,nd An 1912 he engraved poiuh'
ht, n.tron,s mother Amelia Elizabeth Do"asc'
,a,,vine OF IIesse which he sent WIZ"
y letter to the Landgrave In ms ie''er, VIM,
With the portrait. Is the auhenuca'ch e''
h,s rcht 10 the honor Of having added new "o"i
49, ,to CONTINENT Of the artist, he says: nave o''-
grt6 "A
oo," -, How thi, work has been
done no COPPER plate engravcr or artist can cAp''"
mr. irnagdne for a your Grace Is a"are o"' -,
methods of engraving on copper nave "'n', ..,,.
.oen. l. Engraving cutting III hhe' - , ,.
or touching with the point D. hc'"' .s an
very uncommon, called punctnring' also e"oo na
,,rev with points. but In dihereh' n o,.
,.t ,,, Iobor and therefore unusual. lhe p'e''"'
,hod t. however, none Of these atious" "''o
r.o are merely little points ana not s'',n IT,.
stroke. though in some places IL aPp'''
vet n Is all merely do'S' ,,u r,o,,o,rt
rhore :. a reproduction OF Won sieeen's m'."'
+, ,ho wupderllch exhibition. In drawing II - no'
!" '"' -. o. be comparod with the scholarly pro-
, -, much later men. who were "'"'" v,
otossion II is a typical example Vi '"o ~ 49,.
arauohtmanship which was preVaIeh' "'"oo 49,. ~.
,h masters Of the SEVENTEEN century 49,"
,soipaI Of this plate was pure men, 49,. an
,l7 u'od, IN respect 10 technique OF all 'i'"1 '
engraving Of that kind should Dr..
uaden describes the method as Ionp"'' ,,
-, r,otc Of bright copper or steel Is roche'
. ,na forward and in all directions By boi nam,
a .harp serrated edge till It's whole s"r'" ,,ra "a
and up. y sort ol VIII , ma mot Of velvet
thu, produced Apon it, while PIE nae .''' 81. uhoIs
Is thrown up and evenly ~ ,,, ,nl would
surface This pile If charged with p''n'' ',A I'D ,ho
,, t,oc,,. tho nile removed by 'scraper anu VI"
ro and wool pattern Itself removed "hl'e-
tho nlan surface Of the plate would aea'" We -. 80.
n however instead Of removing "e -, Iii
nile only half Of 1t be removed A nh' = u''', ~ 49,
wav between black and gray-a n'N~'"" ~
,hrorore Of the mczzount engnver cohNis's u" ~
49,, ,,,,. tho metallic pile and I'm removing :" "'
- b, v,,rpoud wool pattern beneath II as he MY "
necessary 10 obtain the exact tiniS OF zones u" -.
orir.s and hl, skill lies In the precise Na'"r
10 l. able 10 give to each Of th"s" tones III" "".
Thi, explains Won siegen'a careful 'epar'''O" -.
- ,,r, tho art Of etching "Or touchlhG WIN wv
rr ,ybo * one OF the Acknowledged masters VI
Tho nroce,. used the needle as well ms inc s''"P'
p,uI,tte and burni,her the orthodox toois VI ,o 49,,
,o,int cnrravcr-but II l. obvious rom tue '''
~ ;be art and from the great mass " WIN
ron, ain. - II, uolest monument. that the pireS' me-
,,,,i,, +. u.uay the bo,t. NeAzoilnt even WI" " -
,o,pod ont with the needle. can never elnai '"'"'s
T., ovorol very important respects. 1t can never w
,r,cfr ed with the rapdity, II consequently 49,
always be distinguished from etchlngN ~ 'ui""'"''
art Is distinguished from one that j. spun"
rborc 4, naturally also an impossible barrier ne'"e"
/, and the crisp forclble definition. the shaiPN "
cented play Of light and shade ard the eAq".,l'e
e,cmants OF suggestion which are the prerogau'es
my linear art. But lacking these quanl'S i"'A .,
engraving has Others which place II on 'N''' '"
nj another point. with etching. IL has preA"'" a,'
,onautv color such ~ cannot be surpassed Nv "'o
,e, nolut work In etching. FOR transparency anu
ouality ard Hight and shade when may ho' n"'e
the vivacity and sparkle possible III el''"I' w" 49,
Iu.,vs boye mellownc,s and purity. Won 'ioSeh' hNe
uuuy other pioneers. did not produce WORN u. INV"
To-. hearty IN his first effort and since the ""''e"
exhibition doe, not comprehend the few plates ne Gu
- ,c,i mr. the Two which date from his visit Ia Br'S-
oil. q, 1654 m. visitor cannot judge whether Ms
manual ability wa ever pat NJ 10" service o' ''e'''
artist purpose or not But thor" l. Il me l"P' V
- the noted plat. by Rupert. Prince fa.alne VI "e
Rhine-who met Won >egon In l'oi or 1000 III" ~
ceived from him ~ from friend III arms ANA III,
,,. l,th
OF the newly discovered proc'>'-"hich i me'""','
Of the Princes attendance upon the 'oron"uon VI "'
Emperor Leopold AT Frankfort In lG1o, ana th'S PI",
No 81 Head OF an ENecutioncr.' small picture VI
the head and shoulders OF a man IN turpa'' "'"thS
= standard which not only tc,thes TO the power WIN
,hicb in, .craper was handled In the seventeenth
connry but doe, not yield to any standard that WIS
set mp in thc eighteenth or that has been ere''eu -
men like Mr. laden, Mr.. short and Mr. Knight III Tue
nineteenth. ,..
Rupert j., the connecting link between the outlf
place Of nczzoInt engraving AMI England, Its me-
i,p, homo and the scene OF it, most celebrated
victories, lie communicated Won slcsens discovery
to Wnlorant valiant u6231611). WHO Is oeileNeu l"
have accompanied him TO England upon tn HNtora'loh
# Charles H. IN 1860 and tlere are thire plates Ny
thi, man at WuuGcrlci>. one of them NO - Il loNc-
IL uorlrai; of Prince Rupert himself There are plates
hern also bv other early Dutchmcn bi Martin nichtl
uG.3 Id-O1 hv H. VersChurun- (lbout 1851. bN1aco0
colo nGCOI737). ana by Cornelius Du-art lio"o-
l7Cp some of whom. by the way, may very easily
hayr worked part OF the time In England Tor an!
number Of foreign artists came to London In the acr
mart Of IN, seventeenth century, and the names OF
cncver-, like Blooteling. Nack Van somer and VAN
dcrvnnrt are frequent in the printseiing an
nal, OF that era. But after the Won sieGcn'
tbn Prince Rupert and the single Valiant we
have mentioned may pause simply for
tribute to the velvety tones Of DnSar's largest
plnte no Is "A Peasant Offering another snuff
., aside Of English
works which form the backbone Of the exhibition
Nine years after EupcrtS arrival in England he