Peintre-graveur () is a term probably invented and certainly popularized by the great scholar of the old master print,

Adam Bartsch Johann Adam Bernhard Ritter von Bartsch (17 August 1757 – 21 August 1821) was an Austrian scholar and artist. His catalogue of old master prints is the foundation of print history, and he was himself a printmaker practicing engraving and et ...

(Johann Adam Bernhard von Bartsch: 1757 - 1821, both Vienna). The term, meaning "painter-engraver", is intended to distinguish between printmakers, whether working in

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an in ...

etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...

woodcut Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas tha ...

, who designed images with the primary purpose of producing a print, and those who essentially copied in a print medium a composition by another, to produce what is known as a "reproductive print", or who produced only essentially non-artistic work in print form, such as

map A map is a symbolic depiction emphasizing relationships between elements of some space, such as objects, regions, or themes. Many maps are static, fixed to paper or some other durable medium, while others are dynamic or interactive. Although ...

s for example. "Painter-engraver" is sometimes used in English. Alternative terms for the work of a Peintre-graveur are "artist's print", "original print", "graphic art". "Art print" now tends to mean a reproduction of any work of art. Bartsch's great catalogue of old master prints, published in Vienna in 21 volumes in 1803-21,was called "Le Peintre Graveur". It has been reprinted five times, most recently in 1982. ''The Illustrated Bartsch'' ( Abaris Books, New York) is an English language illustrated version (the original was unillustrated by technological necessity) which released the first volume in 1978, and is projected to include at least 164 volumes. Most of the picture volumes are published; the accompanying text volumes, in effect complete new catalogues raissonés, are taking longer. It (currently Abaris Books has granted a non-exclusive license for many of the images found in ''The Illustrated Bartsch'' and they are available online to colleges and other institutions subscribing to

ARTstor Artstor is a nonprofit organization that builds and distributes the Digital Library, an online resource of more than 2.5 million images in the arts, architecture, humanities, and sciences, and Shared Shelf, a Web-based cataloging and image manageme ...

Sources

*Antony Griffiths, ''Prints and Printmaking'', p 128 etc., British Museum Press (in UK), 2nd edn, 1996 *A Hyatt Mayor, ''Prints and People'', Metropolitan Museum of Art/Princeton, 1971, no., *Dossi, Barbara; ''Albertina, The History of the Collection and its Masterpieces'', Prestel, 1999, {{ISBN, 3-7913-2340-7

Sources

See also