‘Colorful Impressions’ To Be

At Yale University Art Gallery

COLORFUL IMPRESSIONS AT YALE

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NEW HAVEN, CONN. — The Yale University Art Gallery will present “Colorful Impressions: The Printmaking Revolution in Eighteenth Century France,” January 29–May 4.

Celebrating one of the most innovative periods in the history of color printmaking, this exhibition includes 95 images, many of which are presented in multiple impressions or alongside related drawings. During the second half of the Eighteenth Century in France, newly invented engraving and etching techniques were combined with new ways of printing a single image from multiple plates. For the first time, full-color prints could be created from the four basic colors: red, yellow, blue and black.

Within just a few decades, thousands of images were produced, including some of the most complex and beautiful color prints ever made. Most of the works in “Colorful Impressions” reflect the carefree spirit of the ancient regime, an era of royal indulgence before the French Revolution in 1789. Artists include François Boucher, Hubert Robert Jean-Honoré Fragonard, Jean-Baptiste Le Prince and Jean-Antoine Watteau.

The exhibition is organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. The presentation is organized by Suzanne Boorsch, the Robert L. Solley curator of prints, drawings and photographs.

The gallery is at 1111 Chapel Street (at York), fourth floor. For information, www.artgallery.yale.edu or 203-432-0600.