Chalcographic Society of Dessau

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The Chalkographische Gesellschaft zu Dessau (1795–1806), also called Chalcographische Gesellschaft , was a German art publisher that wanted to make art accessible to a broader public around 1800 through the graphic reproduction of important works of art. In addition, the company trained young engravers like an art academy .

history

Friedrich Justin Bertuch
(painting by JFA Tischbein , 1796)

The art collector Friedrich Moritz Freiherr von Brabeck (1742–1814), former canon in Hildesheim and Paderborn , founded a copper engraving company in Dessau in 1795 to reproduce and publish the masterpieces of his own picture gallery, but also of other works of art . The idea was to use this first company of its kind to bring art and works of art closer to a broader public in the German-speaking area, thereby giving art its due status, which was previously not possible in Germany, which was split up into small principalities. At the same time it should become a center of German art. This company was bought up in the following year on the recommendation of the architect Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Erdmannsdorff (1736-1800) by Prince Franz von Anhalt-Dessau (1740-1817) and on October 1, 1796 it was converted into the "Chalkographische Gesellschaft".

This new company was now under princely administration and was led by Franz Graf von Waldersee and the Freiherr von Erdmannsdorf. Friedrich Justin Bertuch (1747–1822) was the commercial director . The aim was to take away the monopoly in copper engraving from the English. The company set up warehouses in all major cities in Germany and abroad in which it offered its graphics for sale. The company also sold standard brass-studded frames for the prints it bought for its customers.

However, the company had to file for bankruptcy as early as 1806. Too low sales prices and too high fees for draftsmen and engravers had led to economic unprofitability. In ten years of its existence, the society published 163 copperplate engravings and mezzotints in aquatint technique.

Artist (selection)

Well-known artists worked for the “Chalkographic Society” such as

Exhibitions

  • 1986, June 28th - August 30th, Coburg: The Chalcographic Society Dessau. An 18th century graphics publisher . Art collections of the Veste Coburg.
  • 1990, November 25 to January 6, 1991, Düsseldorf: The Chalcographical Society of Dessau. Profile of an art publisher around 1800 , Goethe Museum Düsseldorf: The beginnings of the development of modern reproduction techniques and the influences emanating from them that contributed to the formation of art associations in the middle-class 19th century .

Individual evidence

  1. Chalcography (Greek: Chalcos = copper) is an outdated term for the art of copperplate engraving or its result, copperplate engraving .
  2. New Library of Fine Sciences and Freyen Künste , page 363, Dyck'sche Buchhandlung, Leipzig 1797 ( digitized version )
  3. see also: Brabeck
  4. Robert Nauman (Ed.): Archives for the drawing arts with special reference to the art of engraving and woodcutting and their history, page 76, Verlag Rudolph Weigel, 1864 ( digitized version )
  5. ^ Johann Dominik Fiorillo : History of the drawing arts in Germany and the United Netherlands , page 208, Verlag Brüder Hahn, 1820 ( digitized version )

literature

  • Friedrich Moritz von Brabeck : Vues sur l'état des arts en Allemagne et sur l'institut de gravure établi à Dessau, 1796
  • Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Johann Heinrich Meyer : Chalkographische Gesellschaft zu Dessau , in: Propylaen Volume II / 1, 1799
  • AH Valentini (pseudonym for Adolf von Heydeck , 1787–1856): The Chalkographische Gesellschaft zu Dessau under the government of Duke Leopold Friedrich Franz. Attempt to make a contribution to Nagler's… Artists' Lexicon . With the company's complete directory of publishers, Dessau 1847
  • Georg Böttger: The Chalkographische Gesellschaft zu Dessau. A memorial to the 100-year foundation on October 1, 1796 , Baumann Verlag, Dessau 1896
  • Albrecht-Friedrich Heine: The Chalkographische Gesellschaft in Dessau 1795-1803 , Ludwig Grote (Hrsg.), Verlag W. Schwalbe, Dessau 1930
  • Julie Harksen (Ed.): The Chalcographic Society in Dessau , State Gallery Dessau, Georgium Palace, Dessau 1973
  • Susanne Netzer: The Chalcographic Society in Dessau. Profile of an art publisher around 1800 , art collections of the Veste Coburg, Coburg State Foundation. Coburg 1987
  • Joachim Kruse: The chalcographic society in Dessau. Profile of an art publisher around 1800 ; Exhibition November 25, 1990 - January 6, 1991, Goethe Museum, Düsseldorf 1990
  • Uwe Quilitzsch (Red.): Chalkographische Gesellschaft zu Dessau. Views of Dessau, Wörlitz and the surrounding area , ed .: State castles and gardens Wörlitz, Oranienbaum, Luisium. Woerlitz 1991
  • Erhard Hirsch: The Chalkographische Gesellschaft zu Dessau , in: Bibliography on the history of Anhalt , Verlag Böhlau, Dessau 1991
  • Norbert Michels (Ed.): "... were not of first need, but of taste and luxury". On the 200th anniversary of the Chalcographic Society Dessau . Publishing house Böhlau, Weimar 1996
  • Jürgen Laubner: The Chalcographic Society. Claim u. Reality of a stock corporation in Dessau around 1800 , Halle an der Saale 1997

Web links