Copper Plate and Acid: Two Printmakers Making an Etching

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Copper Plate and Acid: Two Printmakers Making an Etching

1839

Eugen Napoleon Neureuther (German, 1806–1882) Published by Julius Buddeus, Düsseldorf (active early 19th century)

In this image, Neureuther is timing his assistant to prevent his being overcome by hallucinatory fumes while immersing an etching plate in an acid bath. The pencil inscription “Probedruck” (proof impression) indicates that Neureuther printed this copy of the etching to check his work on the plate before completing it. In the final version, the blank space contains a caption in German that translates as: “You may well protect your mouth from the spirit of the acid, / There is no way to guard your picture from the goblin within.”

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Object Details

Titles:

Copper Plate and Acid: Two Printmakers Making an Etching
Kupferplatte und Scheidewasser, You may well protect your mouth from the spirit of the acid, / There is no way to guard your image from the goblin within, Schützen wohl magst du den Mund vor dem Geist aus ätzendem Wasser / Gegen den Kobold in ihm schützet kein Mittel dein Bild. , Plate 5 from Album deutscher Künstler in Original-Radirungen (Düsseldorf: Julius Buddeus, 1839-42)

Date:

1839

Artists:

Eugen Napoleon Neureuther (German, 1806–1882) Published by Julius Buddeus, Düsseldorf (active early 19th century)

Medium:

Etching

Dimensions:

Plate: 10 5/16 x 7 7/8 inches (26.2 x 20 cm) Sheet: 14 15/16 x 10 15/16 inches (37.9 x 27.9 cm)

Classification:

Prints

Credit Line:

The Muriel and Philip Berman Gift, acquired from the John S. Phillips bequest of 1876 to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, with funds contributed by Muriel and Philip Berman, gifts (by exchange) of Lisa Norris Elkins, Bryant W. Langston, Samuel S. White 3rd and Vera White, with additional funds contributed by John Howard McFadden, Jr., Thomas Skelton Harrison, and the Philip H. and A.S.W. Rosenbach Foundation, 1985

Accession Number:

1985-52-14294

Geography:

Made in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, Europe

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