Printed images began the American Revolution by spreading the concept of democracy and freedom to large audiences across the country. Now, the Haggerty Museum of Art pays tribute to those printed images with its new exhibition “Defying Empire: Revolutionary Prints from Britain and America.”
The exhibit opened on Jan. 23 on the second floor of the Haggerty, serving as a tribute to the 250th anniversary of the United States. It offers a fresh perspective on the methods of protest that led to the American Revolution.
The gallery was curated by Associate Professor of History and Public History, Patrick Mullins, and coordinated by Postdoctoral Curatorial and Teaching Fellow Jessica A. Cooley, in collaboration with the Chipstone Foundation — a nonprofit organization that owns and studies a collection of historic decorative art objects.
The exhibition showcases a variety of prints from 18th-century America, aiming to re-examine how printed images shaped political thought and public opinion during the Revolutionary era on both sides of the Atlantic.
Lynne Shumow, Haggerty Museum Curator for Academic Engagement, commented on the role that these prints play in shaping collective viewpoints.
“At the heart of [this exhibition] is the idea that printmaking allowed for reaching a wide audience,” Shumow said. “Printed materials can be used to significantly sway public opinion.”
Today, Americans understand the revolution through the national narrative of liberty and justice. However, “Defining Empire” offers the Marquette Community a new lens.
By examining popular political imagery and printed works from the time period, a more complex portrait of the Revolution is revealed, one that not all Americans supported, and not all Britons denounced. Through observing the paintings, prints and ceramics of the time, a deeper world of debate, one that is less nationalistic and more passionate, is opened up.
The exhibition displays a plethora of different forms of the print medium. Paintings and etchings—art made by scratching a metal plate and using acid to create a print— hang on the wall of one room, while ornate ceramics with printed images engrained in them are positioned just below it.
In the exhibit’s first room hang engravings and etchings from colonial America. John Brooks’ “A View of the Landing the New England Forces in Ye Expedition against Cape Breton” hangs above John Carwitham’s “A South East View of the Great Town of Boston in New England in America.”
The former depicts the 1745 siege on the French fortress at Louisbourg, and portrays a rare moment of alliance between colonial forces and the British royal navy — whose ships can be seen still on the shores of the etching’s seaside background. The latter shows the flourishing colonial city of Boston, a central hub in 18th-century New England. The engraving serves as a record of Boston’s importance as a cultural center in early American history. Both pictures look into two moments in history overshadowed by the war between Britain and the American colonies.
Just under Brooks and Carwitham’s picture, two creamware dishes are placed.
They date back to the mid-18th century and serve as a reminder of another revolution in the 18th century—the “Consumer Revolution.” The “Consumer Revolution” was a shift that occurred in Britain and America when increased incomes and innovation created more available goods and a desire for luxury items. People could now afford prints — copies of original paintings.
“[These prints] were intended for large audiences,” Shumow said. “When someone makes a painting, [it] is basically intended for one.”
As a standard yet luxurious item, creamware dishes sprang in popularity due to the newfound ability to mass produce them at the time. The dishes often came with small engraving and art printed inside them, adding to their delicate appeal.
The exhibition will stay open until Aug. 1, and more information about the exhibit can be found here.
This article was written by Allison Scherquist. She can be reached at [email protected].
