Design History Timeline

EARLY EUROPEAN WOODBLOCK

Jan 1, 1300

Early European block printing The origins of woodblock printing in Europe are shrouded in mystery. After the Crusades opened Europe to Eastern influence, relief printing arrived on the heels of paper. Playing cards and religious-image prints were early manifestations. Circumstantial evidence implies that, like paper, relief printing from woodblocks also spread westward from China. By the early 1300s pictorial designs were being printed on textiles in Europe. Card playing was popular, and in spi

Block print of the Annunciation

Jun 13, 1400

5–4. Block print of the Annunciation, undated. The black area is an effective focal point unifying the two figures. The scroll, with a Latin inscription, serves the same communicative function as a “talk balloon.” (The upper left corner of this print is missing.)

Block-book page from The Story of the Blessed Virgin,

Jun 19, 1400

Block-book page from The Story of the Blessed Virgin, 1400s. This page attempts to justify the Immaculate Conception by a series of “logical” parallels: If the light of Venus's temple cannot be extinguished, if the moon is reflected in water, if a person can be changed into stone, and if man can be painted on stone, why should not the Blessed Virgin be able to generate?

Woodblock Print of Saint Christopher

Jun 13, 1423

5–3. Woodblock print of Saint Christopher, 1423. The unknown illustrator depicted the legendary saint, a giant who carried travelers safely across a river, bearing the infant Christ. The inscription below reads: “In whatsoever day thou seest the likeness of St. Christopher/in that same day thou wilt at least from death no evil blow incur/1423.” One of the earliest dated European block prints, this image effectively uses changing contour-line width to show form.Woodblock print of Saint Christophe

MOVEABLE TYPOGRAPHY IN EUROPE

Jun 19, 1444

With the availability of paper, relief printing from woodblocks, and growing demand for books, the mechanization of book production by such means as movable type was sought by printers in Germany, the Netherlands, France, and Italy. In Avignon, France, goldsmith Procopius Waldfoghel was involved in the production of “alphabets of steel” around 1444, but with no known results. The Dutchman Laurens Janszoon Coster (c. 1370–c. 1440) of Haarlem explored the concept of movable type by cutting out let

5–13. Handwritten letter of indulgence,

Jun 19, 1444

5–13. Handwritten letter of indulgence, 1444. Gottfried, Bishop of Würzburg, grants an indulgence for donations to the monastery of Amorbach.

5–15. Johann Gutenberg, page 266 from the Gutenberg Bible,

Jun 19, 1450

5–15. Johann Gutenberg, page 266 from the Gutenberg Bible, 1450–55.,

Copperplate Engraving/ 5–19. The Master of the Playing Cards, The Three of Birds,

Jun 19, 1450

5–19. The Master of the Playing Cards, The Three of Birds, c. 1450. Masterly design and placement of the images in the space enhanced the sureness of the drawing and use of line for tonal effects. Copperplate Engraving

COPPERPLATE ENGRAVING

Jun 19, 1450

During the same time and in the same section of Europe that Johann Gutenberg invented movable type, an unidentified artist called the Master of the Playing Cards created the earliest known copperplate engravings (Fig. 5–19). Engraving is printing from an image that is incised or cut down into the printing surface. To produce a copperplate engraving, a drawing is scratched into a smooth metal plate. Ink is applied into the depressions, the flat surface is wiped clean, and paper is pressed against

6–1. Ex libris design for Johannes Knabensberg,

Jun 19, 1450

6–1. Ex libris design for Johannes Knabensberg, c. 1450s. One of the earliest extant bookplates, it bears an inscription, “Hans Igler that the hedgehog may kiss you.” Igler, Knabensberg's nickname, is similar to the German word for hedgehog, making this an early graphic pun.

German Illistrated Book

Jun 19, 1450

The Latin word incunabula means “cradle” or “baby linen.” Its connotations of birth and beginnings led seventeenth-century writers to adopt it as a name for books printed between Gutenberg's invention of typography in the 1450s and the end of the fifteenth century. (The traditional end-date is completely arbitrary; this chapter traces the logical continuation of trends in design and typography into the early 1500s.) Printing spread rapidly. By 1480 twenty-three northern European towns, thirty-on

5–12. Johann Gutenberg, thirty-one-line letters of indulgence,

Jun 19, 1454

5–12. Johann Gutenberg, thirty-one-line letters of indulgence, c. 1454. The written additions in this copy indicate that on the last day of December 1454, one Judocus Ott von Apspach was pardoned of his sins.

Bible,

Jun 19, 1455

5–14. Johann Gutenberg, pages 146 and 147 from the Gutenberg Bible, 1450–55. The superb typographic legibility and texture, generous margins, and excellent presswork make this first printed book a canon of quality that has seldom been surpassed. An illuminator added the red headers and text, initials, and floral marginal decoration by hand.

5–18. Jan Fust and Peter Schoeffer, page from Rationale Divinorum Officiorum,

Jun 19, 1459

5–18. Jan Fust and Peter Schoeffer, page from Rationale Divinorum Officiorum, 1459. The innovative small type is combined with wonderfully intricate printed red and blue initials that evidence the early printer's efforts to mimic the design of the manuscript book.

5–6. Letter K from a grotesque alphabet, c.

Jun 19, 1464

5–6. Letter K from a grotesque alphabet, c. 1464. This page is from a twenty-four-page abecedarian block-book that presented each letter of the alphabet by composing figures in its shape.

–1. Johannes da Spira, typography from Augustine of Hippo's De civitate Dei,

Jun 19, 1469

7–1. Johannes da Spira, typography from Augustine of Hippo's De civitate Dei, 1469. The vertical stress and sharp angles of textura evident in Sweynheym and Pannartz's fonts yielded to an organic unity of horizontal, vertical, diagonal, and circular forms.

7–3 and 7–4. Nicolas Jenson, pages from Incipit officium beate Marie virginus secundum consuetudinem romane curie (Little Office of the Virgin Mary), 1475.

Jun 19, 1475

7–3 and 7–4. Nicolas Jenson, pages from Incipit officium beate Marie virginus secundum consuetudinem romane curie (Little Office of the Virgin Mary), 1475.

7–5. Printer's trademark, 1481. Attributed to Andreas Torresanus

Jun 19, 1481

7–5. Printer's trademark, 1481. Attributed to Andreas Torresanus (1451–1529). One of the oldest symbolic themes, the orb and cross is found in a chamber of Cheops's pyramid at Giza, where it was hewn into stone as a quarry mark. A fairly common design device at this time, it symbolized that “God shall reign over earth.”

7–5. Printer's trademark, 1481. Attributed to Andreas Torresanus

Jun 19, 1481

7–5. Printer's trademark, 1481. Attributed to Andreas Torresanus (1451–1529). One of the oldest symbolic themes, the orb and cross is found in a chamber of Cheops's pyramid at Giza, where it was hewn into stone as a quarry mark. A fairly common design device at this time, it symbolized that “God shall reign over earth.”

6–9. Anton Koberger, Bible in German, 1483.

Jun 19, 1483

6–9. Anton Koberger, Bible in German, 1483.

6–7. Erhard Reuwich (illustrator), illustration from Peregrinationes in Montem Syon (Travels in Mount Zion),

Jun 19, 1486

6–7. Erhard Reuwich (illustrator), illustration from Peregrinationes in Montem Syon (Travels in Mount Zion), 1486. Panoramic vistas present accurate depictions of the cities visited on a journey from Germany to Jerusalem. This four-page spread depicts the city of Methoni in Greece.

6–8. Erhard Reuwich (illustrator), illustration from Peregrinationes in Montem Syon,

Jun 19, 1486

6–8. Erhard Reuwich (illustrator), illustration from Peregrinationes in Montem Syon, 1486. This four-page spread depicts the Greek island of Rhodes.

6–10. Anton Koberger, Repertorium Morale, 1489.

Jun 19, 1489

6–10. Anton Koberger, Repertorium Morale, 1489.

Nuremberg becomes a printing center

Jun 19, 1490

Because printing required a huge capital investment and a large trained labor force, it is not surprising that by the end of the 1400s Nuremberg, which had become central Europe's most prosperous center of commerce and distribution, housed Germany's most esteemed printer, Anton Koberger (c. 1440–1513). His firm was staffed by a hundred craftsmen operating twenty-four presses; it printed over two hundred editions, including fifteen Bibles (Fig. 6–9). Koberger was 8384also a bookseller, with sixte

6–11. Anton Koberger, pages from the Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493.

Jun 19, 1493

6–11. Anton Koberger, pages from the Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493. The raised hand of God in the initial illustration is repeated over several pages retelling the biblical story of creation.

7–7. Pere Miguel, printer's mark,

Jun 19, 1494

7–7. Pere Miguel, printer's mark, 1494. Dozens of incunabula printers adopted an orb-and-cross mark. Miguel worked in Barcelona, Spain.

Renaissance Graphic Design

Jun 19, 1500

The word renaissance means “revival” or “rebirth.” Originally this term was used to denote the period that began in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries in Italy, when the classical literature of ancient Greece and Rome was revived and read anew. However, the word is now generally used to encompass the period marking the transition from the medieval to the modern world. In the history of graphic design, the renaissance of classical literature and the work of the Italian humanists are closely b

7–48. Christophe Plantin, title page from Les singularitez de la France Antartique, autrement nommée Amerique, & de plusieurs terres & isles decouvertes de nostre temps, by André Thevet,

Jun 19, 1558

7–48. Christophe Plantin, title page from Les singularitez de la France Antartique, autrement nommée Amerique, & de plusieurs terres & isles decouvertes de nostre temps, by André Thevet, 1558, 1569–72. A book describing travel to America.

7–46. Jean de Tournes (printer) and Bernard Salomon (illustrator), title page from Ovid's La vita et metamorfoseo (Metamorphoses),

Jun 19, 1559

7–46. Jean de Tournes (printer) and Bernard Salomon (illustrator), title page from Ovid's La vita et metamorfoseo (Metamorphoses), 1559. Three tonal qualities—Salomon's border designs, his denser illustrations, and Granjon's italics echoing the borders' flowing curves—are used by de Tournes with just the right amount of white space.

7–47. Jean de Tournes (printer) and Bernard Salomon (illustrator), pages from Ovid's La vita et metamorfoseo (Metamorphoses), 1559.

Jun 19, 1559

7–47. Jean de Tournes (printer) and Bernard Salomon (illustrator), pages from Ovid's La vita et metamorfoseo (Metamorphoses), 1559.

17th Century

Jun 19, 1560

The seventeenth century was a relatively quiet time for graphic design innovation. An abundant stock of ornaments, punches, matrixes, and woodblocks from the 1500s was widely available, so there was little incentive for printers to commission new graphic materials. An awakening of literary genius occurred during the seventeenth century, however. Immortal works by authors such as the British playwright and poet William Shakespeare (1564–1616) and the Spanish novelist, playwright, and poet Miguel

5–11. Jost Amman, woodcut illustrations for Ständebuch (Book of Trades),

Jun 19, 1568

5–11. Jost Amman, woodcut illustrations for Ständebuch (Book of Trades), 1568. This little book presented over a hundred occupations, from the Pope to the scissors sharpener. Amman's crisp illustrations were accompanied by the prolific poet Hans Sachs's descriptive rhymes. The occupations of the graphic arts are shown here.

7–49. Christophe Plantin, page from Humanae Salutis Monumenta, by Arius Montanus,

Jun 19, 1569

7–49. Christophe Plantin, page from Humanae Salutis Monumenta, by Arius Montanus, 1569–72. This religious emblem book features hand-colored copperplate engravings.

7–50. Christophe Plantin, pages from the Polyglot Bible,

Jun 19, 1571

7–50. Christophe Plantin, pages from the Polyglot Bible, 1571. A double-page format, with two vertical columns over a wide horizontal column, contained Hebrew, Latin, Aramaic, Greek, and Syriac translations of the Bible.

8–2. Louis Simonneau, construction of the letters G and H for the Romain du Roi, c. 1700.

Jun 19, 1700

8–2. Louis Simonneau, construction of the letters G and H for the Romain du Roi, c. 1700.

11–3. Kitagawa Utamaro, portrait of a courtesan, late 1700s.

Jun 20, 1700

11–3. Kitagawa Utamaro, portrait of a courtesan, late 1700s. Restrained color palette and exquisitely simple composition characterized Utamaro's prints of tall, graceful women.

8–3. Philippe Grandjean, specimen of Romain du Roi,

Jun 19, 1702

8–3. Philippe Grandjean, specimen of Romain du Roi, 1702. Compared to earlier roman fonts, the crisp geometric quality and increased contrast of this first transitional typeface are clearly evident. The small spur on the center of the left side of the lowercase l is a device used to identify types of the Imprimerie Royale.

GRAPHIC DESIGN IN ROCOCCO ERA

Jun 19, 1720

The fanciful French art and architecture that flourished from about 1720 until around 1770 is called rococo. Florid and intricate, rococo ornament is composed of S- and C-curves 122123with scrollwork, tracery, and plant forms derived from nature, classical and oriental art, and medieval sources. Light pastel colors were often used with ivory white and gold in asymmetrically balanced designs. This lavish expression of the era of King Louis XV (1710–74) found its strongest graphic design impetus i

8–4. Pierre Simon Fournier le Jeune. Title page for his first specimen book, Modèles des caractères de l'imprimerie (Models of Printing Characters), 1742.

Jun 19, 1742

8–4. Pierre Simon Fournier le Jeune. Title page for his first specimen book, Modèles des caractères de l'imprimerie (Models of Printing Characters), 1742.

–5. Pierre Simon Fournier le Jeune, title page for Ariette, mise en musique (Short Aria, Set to Music),

Jun 19, 1756

8–5. Pierre Simon Fournier le Jeune, title page for Ariette, mise en musique (Short Aria, Set to Music), 1756. Vast numbers of floral, curvilinear, and geometric ornaments were needed to construct designs like this, which set the standard of excellence of the rococo period.

8–6. Pierre Philippe Choffard, pages from Contes et nouvelles en vers (Tales and Novellas in Verse), by Jean de La Fontaine, 1762

Jun 19, 1762

8–6. Pierre Philippe Choffard, pages from Contes et nouvelles en vers (Tales and Novellas in Verse), by Jean de La Fontaine, 1762. To adorn a poem about a painter's romantic interlude with his subject, Barbou used Eisen's etching of the event, a topical tailpiece by Choffard, and Fournier le Jeune's ornamented type.

8–21. Louis René Luce (designer) and Jean Joseph Barbou (printer), ornaments page from Essai d'une nouvelle typographie,

Jun 19, 1771

8–21. Louis René Luce (designer) and Jean Joseph Barbou (printer), ornaments page from Essai d'une nouvelle typographie, 1771. These meticulously constructed cornices and borders express the authority and absolutism of the French monarchy.

8–22. The 1771 type specimen title page from Fregi e Majuscole The tremendous influence of Fournier le Jeune upon Bodoni's earlier work is evident in this page design.

Jun 19, 1771

8–22. The 1771 type specimen title page from Fregi e Majuscole The tremendous influence of Fournier le Jeune upon Bodoni's earlier work is evident in this page design.

LITHOGRAPHY

Jun 20, 1796

Lithography was invented by Bavarian author Aloys Senefelder (1771–1834) between 1796 and 1798. Senefelder was seeking a cheap way to print his own dramatic works by experimenting with etched stones and metal reliefs. He eventually arrived at the idea that a stone could be etched away around grease-pencil writing and made into a relief printing plate.

9–4. Vincent Figgins, two lines pica, Antique, c. 1815

Jun 20, 1815

9 Graphic Design and the Industrial Revolution
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9–4. Vincent Figgins, two lines pica, Antique, c. 1815. The inspiration for this highly original design, first shown by Figgins, is not known. Whether Figgins, Thorne, or an anonymous sign painter first invented this style is one of the mysteries surrounding the sudden appearance of slab-serif letterforms.

GRAPHIC DESIGN AND THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

Jun 20, 1815

Larger scale, greater visual impact, and new tactile and expressive characters were demanded, and the book typography that had slowly evolved from handwriting did not fulfill these needs.

8–23. Giambattista Bodoni, title page from Manuale tipografico,

Jun 19, 1818

8–23. Giambattista Bodoni, title page from Manuale tipografico, 1818. The crisp clarity of Bodoni's letterforms are echoed by the scotch rules. Composed of double and triple thick-and-thin elements, these rules and borders echo the weight contrasts of Bodoni's modern types.

8–24. Giambattista Bodoni, page from Manuale tipografico, 1818.

Jun 19, 1818

8–24. Giambattista Bodoni, page from Manuale tipografico, 1818.

9–50. Aloys Senefelder, pages from A Complete Course of Lithography, 1819.

Jun 20, 1819

9–50. Aloys Senefelder, pages from A Complete Course of Lithography, 1819. This is an English translation of Vollständiges Lehrbuch der Steindruckerey (Complete Textbook of Lithography) published in 1818.

9–6. Robert Thorne, Egyptian type designs, 1821

Jun 20, 1821

9–6. Robert Thorne, Egyptian type designs, 1821. Comparison with Figgins's design reveals subtle differences. Thorne based this lower-case on the structure of modern-style letters, but he radically modified the weight and serifs.

9–3. Robert Thorne, fat-face types, 1821. ates these designs to William Thorowgood's 1821 publication of New Specimen of Printing Types, Late R. Thorne's, it is generally thought that Thorne designed the first fat faces in 1803.

Jun 20, 1821

9–3. Robert Thorne, fat-face types, 1821. Although the record dates these designs to William Thorowgood's 1821 publication of New Specimen of Printing Types, Late R. Thorne's, it is generally thought that Thorne designed the first fat faces in 1803.

8–19. William Playfair, Chart no. 1 from A Letter on Our Agricultural Distresses,

Jun 19, 1822

8–19. William Playfair, Chart no. 1 from A Letter on Our Agricultural Distresses, 1822. This hand-colored engraving uses a fever and bar chart to depict “in one view the price of the quarter of wheat.”

THE MODERN STYLE

Jun 19, 1822

The initial impetus was the thin, straight serifs of Grandjean's Romain du Roi, followed by engraved pages by artists. Next came the letterforms and page layouts of Baskerville, particularly his practice of making the light strokes of his characters thinner to increase the contrast between thicks and thins. Baskerville's rejection of ornament and his generous use of space were also factors. the design of narrower, more condensed letterforms, gave type a taller and more geometric look.

8–20. William Playfair, Chart no. 3 from A Letter on Our Agricultural Distresses,

Jun 19, 1822

8–20. William Playfair, Chart no. 3 from A Letter on Our Agricultural Distresses, 1822. This hand-colored engraving also uses a bar chart to depict the cost of wheat.

9–9. Stephenson Blake foundry, Clarendon specimen, 1835

Jun 20, 1835

9–9. Stephenson Blake foundry, Clarendon specimen, 1835. The Stephenson Blake foundry produced a larger and more condensed version of Clarendon.

GRAPHICS OF VICTORIAN ERA

Jun 20, 1837

Pugin defined design as a moral act that achieved the status of art through the designer's ideals and attitudes; he believed the integrity and character of a civilization were linked to its design. Although Pugin said he looked to earlier periods—particularly the Gothic—not for style but for a principle, the net result of his influence was a wide mimicking of Gothic architecture, ornament, and letterforms.

9–5. Vincent Figgins, sixteen-line pica, Antique, 1840.

Jun 20, 1840

9–5. Vincent Figgins, sixteen-line pica, Antique, 1840. This represents a much larger and more refined version of the two lines pica, Antique, c. 1815.

9–48. Sir Charles Barry with A. W. N. Pugin, the House of Lords in the British Houses of Parliament, constructed 1840–67.

Jun 20, 1840

9–48. Sir Charles Barry with A. W. N. Pugin, the House of Lords in the British Houses of Parliament, constructed 1840–67. The Gothic Revival evolved from ornamental details inspired by Gothic architecture.

THE BOSTON SCHOOL OF CHROMOLITHOGRAPHY

Jun 20, 1846

the original master tonal drawing was precisely duplicated on a lithographic stone. Then, separate stones were prepared to print the flesh tones, red, yellow, blue, and the slate-gray background. Browns, grays, and oranges were created when these five stones were overprinted in perfect registration. The color range of the original was separated in component parts and then reassembled in printing. The near-photographic lithographic crayon drawing glowed with the bright underprinted COLORS.

10–3. William Pickering, title page from The Elements of Euclid, 1847.

Jun 20, 1847

10–3. William Pickering, title page from The Elements of Euclid, 1847. A system of color coding brought clarity to the teaching of geometry.

THE ARTS ANDCRAFTS MOVEMENT

Jun 20, 1847

Diagrams and symbols are printed in brilliant primary colors with woodblocks; color replaced traditional alphabet labeling to identify the lines, shapes, and forms in the geometry lessons. The book's author claimed that with his approach, geometry could be learned in one-third the time needed with traditional textbooks, and that the learning was more permanent. The dynamic color and crisp structures anticipate geometric abstract art of the twentieth century.

10–2. William Pickering, pages from The Elements of Euclid, 1847

Jun 20, 1847

10–2. William Pickering, pages from The Elements of Euclid, 1847. Although the ornate initial letters connected this book to the past, its revolutionary layout was far ahead of its time.

Victorian Era/ 9–49. Owen Jones, color plate from The Grammar of Ornament, 1856.

Jun 20, 1856

9–49. Owen Jones, color plate from The Grammar of Ornament, 1856. This plate shows patterns found in the arts and crafts of India.

9–63. Joseph Morse, multicolored woodcut poster,

Jun 20, 1856

9–63. Joseph Morse, multicolored woodcut poster, 1856. The heroic scale—262 by 344 centimeters (8.5 by 11 feet)—permitted life-sized figures to tower before the headline “Five Celebrated Clowns Attached to Sands, Nathan Co.'s Circus.”

9–41. F. T. Nadar, “Sarah Bernhardt,” 1859.

Jun 20, 1859

9–41. F. T. Nadar, “Sarah Bernhardt,” 1859. The famous actress took Paris by storm and became a major subject for the emerging French poster.

10–4. Cabinet design for Morris and Company, 1

Jun 20, 1861

10–4. Cabinet design for Morris and Company, 1861. Paintings by Ford Madox Brown, Edward Burne-Jones, and D. G. Rossetti, which illustrate the honeymoon of the fifteenth-century Italian king René of Anjou, grace this cabinet. The structure and ornamental carving allude to design from the medieval era.

9–43. Mathew Brady, “Dunker Church and the Dead,” 1862

Jun 20, 1862

9–43. Mathew Brady, “Dunker Church and the Dead,” 1862. Made in the aftermath of the Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest battle of the Civil War, this photograph shows how visual documentation took on a new level of supposed authenticity with photography. Due to technical limitations of the medium, photographers such as Brady could only photograph the results of battles, not the actual fighting. This has led to speculation by scholars that scenes captured by photographs were “staged” .

FIRST PHOTOGRAPHY

Jun 20, 1866

During the same decades, when inventors were expanding photography's technical boundaries, artists and adventurers were exploring its image-making potential. Photography accurately reflects the external world, yielding a precise and repeatable image. However, merely isolating a single moment in time was not enough for some nineteenth-century 158159photographers; they defined and extended the aesthetic and communicative frontiers of the new medium.

9–40. Julia Margaret Cameron, “Alfred Lord Tennyson,”

Jun 20, 1866

9–40. Julia Margaret Cameron, “Alfred Lord Tennyson,” 1866. Moving beyond descriptive imagery, Cameron's compelling psychological portraits revealed her subjects' inner being.er subjects' inner being.

9–52. John H. Bufford's Sons, “Swedish Song Quartett” poster, 1867.

Jun 20, 1867

9–52. John H. Bufford's Sons, “Swedish Song Quartett” poster, 1867. Arched words move gracefully above seven carefully composed musicians. Large capital letters point to the three soloists, establishing a visual relationship between word and image.

UKIYO-E PRINTS

Jun 20, 1867

Ukiyo-e blended the realistic narratives of emaki (traditional picture scrolls) with influences from decorative arts. The earliest ukiyo-e works were screen paintings depicting the entertainment districts—called “the floating world”—of Edo (modern Tokyo) and other cities. Scenes and actors from Kabuki theatrical plays, renowned courtesans and prostitutes, and erotica were early subjects.

11–1. Hishikawa Moronobu, Young Man with Two Courtesans,

Jun 20, 1867

11–1. Hishikawa Moronobu, Young Man with Two Courtesans, 1682. The earliest ukiyo-e prints presented scenes from daily life in a simple narrative manner.

JAPANESE WOOD BLOCK PRINTS

Jun 20, 1868

The artist supplied a separate drawing for each color. These were pasted onto woodblocks, and the negative or white areas were cut away, destroying the original drawing in the process. After all the blocks for a print were cut, printing began. Water-based inks and subtle blends were used, requiring great skill and speed by the printers. Only after all colors were printed could the artist see the whole design.

11–2. Artist unknown, woodblock print from a book about roses, after

Jun 20, 1868

11–2. Artist unknown, woodblock print from a book about roses, after 1868. Pattern and naturalistic depiction coexist in a print illustrating a mountain rose that blooms in May, attracting a species of water bird.

LITHOGRAPHIC POSTERS

Jun 20, 1871

the letterpress poster and broadsheet had been challenged by a more visual and pictorial poster. Lithography allowed a more illustrative approach to public communication. The letterpress printers responded to competition from the fluid and colorful lithographs with heroic and ingenious efforts to extend their medium

VICTORIAN TYPOGRAPHY

Jun 20, 1872

As the Victorian era progressed, the taste for ornate elaboration became a major influence on typeface and lettering design. Early nineteenth-century elaborated types were based on letterforms with traditional structure. Shadows, outlines, and embellishments were applied while retaining the classical letter structure.

9–46. Eadweard Muybridge, plate published in The Horse in Motion,

Jun 20, 1883

9–46. Eadweard Muybridge, plate published in The Horse in Motion, 1883. Sequence photography proved the ability of graphic images to record time-and-space relationships. Moving images became a possibility.

10–5. William Morris, Rose fabric design, 1883.

Jun 20, 1883

10–5. William Morris, Rose fabric design, 1883.

9–54. Louis Prang, Valentine card, 1883

Jun 20, 1883

9–54. Louis Prang, Valentine card, 1883. Chromolithography. This sentimental card is a good example of the range of tone and color that could be achieved with chromolithography.

10–6. Arthur H. Mackmurdo, title page for Wren's City Churches, 1883.

Jun 20, 1883

10–6. Arthur H. Mackmurdo, title page for Wren's City Churches, 1883. Mackmurdo's plant forms are stylized into flamelike, undulating rhythms that compress the negative space between them. This establishes a positive and negative interplay between black ink and white paper.

9–53. S. S. Frizzall (artist) and J. H. Bufford's Sons (printers), poster for the Cleveland and Hendricks presidential campaign, 1884.

Jun 20, 1884

9–53. S. S. Frizzall (artist) and J. H. Bufford's Sons (printers), poster for the Cleveland and Hendricks presidential campaign, 1884. The loose style of the flags and other symbolic imagery framing the candidates emphasizes the extreme realism of the portraits.

9–60. W. J. Morgan and Co., Cleveland, lithographic theater poster,

Jun 20, 1884

9–60. W. J. Morgan and Co., Cleveland, lithographic theater poster, 1884. Montage illustrations become overlapping planes with varied scale and spatial depth.

9–42. Paul Nadar, “Nadar Interviewing Chevreul,” 1886

Jun 20, 1886

9–42. Paul Nadar, “Nadar Interviewing Chevreul,” 1886. The words spoken by the one-hundred-year-old chemist were recorded below each photograph to produce a visual-verbal record of the interview.

11–20. William Morris, page from The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye,

Jun 20, 1892

11–20. William Morris, page from The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye, 1892. Comparison of page designs by Morris and Beardsley reveals that their differences reflect a dichotomy of philosophy, lifestyle, and social values.

11–15. Aubrey Beardsley, first cover for The Studio, 1893.

Jun 20, 1893

11–15. Aubrey Beardsley, first cover for The Studio, 1893. Beardsley's career was launched when editor C. Lewis Hine featured his work on this cover and reproduced eleven of his illustrations in the inaugural issue.

ART NOUVEAU AUBREY BEARDSLEY

Jun 20, 1893

Aubrey Beardsley was the enfant terrible of art nouveau, with his striking pen line, vibrant black-and-white work, and shockingly exotic imagery.

11–17. Aubrey Beardsley, illustrations on double-page spread for Morte d'Arthur

Jun 20, 1893

11–17. Aubrey Beardsley, illustrations on double-page spread for Morte d'Arthur, 1893. These images show Beardsley's emerging ability to compose contour line, textured areas, and black-and-white shapes into powerful compositions. The contrast between geometric and organic shapes reflects the influence of the Japanese print.

ENGLISH ART NOUVEAU

Jun 20, 1893

In England the art nouveau movement was primarily concerned with graphic design and illustration rather than architectural and product design. Its sources, in addition to those listed earlier, included Gothic art and Victorian painting. A strong momentum toward an international style was created by the April 1893.

9–51. This paper model of the Hoe “quadruple web-perfecting press,”

Jun 20, 1896

9–51. This paper model of the Hoe “quadruple web-perfecting press,” printed using chromolithography, was published on 13 September 1896 in a supplement to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.

9–62. Currier Lithograph Co., lithographic poster,

Jun 20, 1899

9–62. Currier Lithograph Co., lithographic poster, 1899. This promotion of Buffalo Bill's traveling Wild West show, a popular spectacle featuring horseback-riding cowboys and Indians, helped strengthen the myth of the American West at the same time that the nation was becoming increasingly urban. A portrait of Buffalo Bill on horseback appears at the right.