Frontispiece for the Society of Etchers

Jules-Ferdinand Jacquemart

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The founding of the Société des Aquafortistes (Society of Etchers) in 1862 was instrumental in advancing artistic, critical, and public interest in etching during the second half of the nineteenth century. Art-dealer-turned-publisher, Alfred Cadart distributed members’ work through a monthly subscription of five etchings titled "Eaux-fortes modernes" (Modern Etchings). Jacquemart’s inaugural frontispiece for the publication features the tools for etching at the base of a column upon which stands a Gallic rooster, declaring the leading role of the French in reviving the technique.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.

Metropolitan Museum of Art