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Cut / Bite / Stamp: the Power of Print in Eighteenth-Century Britain - HOA00054I

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  • Department: History of Art
  • Module co-ordinator: Dr. Richard Johns
  • Credit value: 20 credits
  • Credit level: I
  • Academic year of delivery: 2023-24
    • See module specification for other years: 2022-23

Module summary

This module explores the rapid growth and diversification of the printed image in Britain during the long eighteenth century.

Module will run

Occurrence Teaching period
A Semester 1 2023-24

Module aims

Some of the eighteenth century’s most enduring and influential works of art were prints: multiple images that were made and circulated in innovative ways, collected, copied and often seen by thousands. Alongside the rise of graphic satire – a term that encompasses some of the most highly charged images in British art – this module examines the growing demand for ambitious prints after the work of living painters and canonical ‘old masters’ – specialists in portraiture, history painting and landscape, whose work found new meanings and reached a wider, international audience in printed form. Our view also extends to encompass the making and marketing of maps (of cities, countries and continents), as well as new kinds of print that brought the world into view in different ways, both microscopic and telescopic.

We explore the dynamic interplay between different forms of visual representation, examining the fluid nature of seemingly stable artistic categories. The module will consider how artists variously exploited the formal characteristics, immediacy and associations of different printmaking techniques (including etching, engraving, mezzotint, aquatint, and the application of colour), to produce a visual culture that continues to challenge conventional distinctions between ‘polite’ and ‘impolite’, ‘high’ and ‘low’ art.

The title of this module refers both to the highly skilled and collaborative process of making prints in the period, and to the latent violence of so many of the images that resulted. A recurring theme of the module will explore the complex relationship between these two fields of inquiry.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should have acquired:

  • a good knowledge of some of the most prominent printmakers in Britain during the long eighteenth century, their techniques and channels of distribution

  • the ability to articulate and respond critically and creatively to different art-historical approaches to the subject

  • an awareness of the methodological challenges and opportunities associated with the historical study of reproducible graphic art, especially in relation to the recent historiography of visual culture in Britain

  • an understanding of key cultural concepts associated with graphic art during the long eighteenth century, including politeness, satire, caricature, connoisseurship and taste

  • a critical awareness of how the art of the past continues to inspire political and cultural debate

Assessment

Task Length % of module mark
Essay/coursework
Essay: Intermediate Assignment		 N/A 100

Special assessment rules

None

Reassessment

None

Module feedback

You will receive feedback on assessed work within the timeframes set out by the University - please check the Guide to Assessment, Standards, Marking and Feedback for more information.

The purpose of feedback is to help you to improve your future work. If you do not understand your feedback or want to talk about your ideas further, you are warmly encouraged to meet your Supervisor during their Office Hours.

Indicative reading

  • Ackermann, Rudolph, et al. The Microcosm of London. 3 vols. London: Ackermann, 1808-10.
  • Clayton, Timothy. The English Print 1688-1802. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997.
  • Donald, Diana. The Age of Caricature: Satirical Prints in the Reign of George III. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997.
  • Fordham, Douglas. "Satirical Peace Prints and the Cartographic Unconscious." In Exhibiting the Empire: Cultures of Display and the British Empire, edited by John McAleer and John MacKenzie, 64-89. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2015.
  • Godfrey, Richard, ed. James Gillray: The Art of Caricature. London: Tate Publishing, 2001.
  • Hallett, Mark. The Spectacle of Difference. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999.
  • Mee, Jon. "'Mutual Intercourse' and 'Licentious Discussion' in The Microcosm of London." London Journal 37, no. 3 (2012): 196–214.
  • Monteyne, Joseph. From Still Life to the Screen. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2013.
  • O'Connell, Sheila. London 1753. London: British Museum Press, 2003.
  • Rosenthal, Angela, David Bindman, and Adrian W. B. Randolph, eds. No Laughing Matter - Visual Humor in Ideas of Race, Nationality, and Ethnicity. New Hampshire: Dartmouth College Press, 2015.
  • Stubbs, George. The Anatomy of the Horse (1766). London: Chiswick Press, 1938.


The information on this page is indicative of the module that is currently on offer. The University is constantly exploring ways to enhance and improve its degree programmes and therefore reserves the right to make variations to the content and method of delivery of modules, and to discontinue modules, if such action is reasonably considered to be necessary by the University. Where appropriate, the University will notify and consult with affected students in advance about any changes that are required in line with the University's policy on the Approval of Modifications to Existing Taught Programmes of Study.