The Pictorial Album, or Cabinet of Paintings for the Year 1837 - George Baxter

Gift of Henry M. Huxley

"The Pictorial Album, or Cabinet of Paintings for the Year 1837" by George Baxter (1837) Book with letterpress and eleven Baxter prints on ivory wove paper, bound in hardcover with tooled and painted leather and dark red velvet.

Commentary

"The Pictorial Album, or Cabinet of Paintings for the Year 1837" by George Baxter (1837) invites a close look at how form and feeling work together. The print-based method rewards close viewing, where line, texture, and contrast do most of the expr essive work. Themes to notice include wood engraving. This piece is held in the source collection's Prints and Drawings collection. George Baxter is the artist behind this work. A useful anchor for reading the piece: George Baxter (English, 1804-1867) published by Chapman and Hall, London. The work is cataloged within a England cultural context. How to look at this work: It is cataloged as wood engraving, which gives a clue to how the museum frames the object. Its medium (Book with letterpress and eleven Baxter prints on ivory wove paper, bound in hardcover with tooled and painted leather and dark red velvet) affects texture, durability, and how detail reads at different distances. Its listed dimensions (25.2 × 19.4 × 1.7 cm (9 15/16 × 7 11/16 × 11/16 in.)) suggest how intimate or monumental it may feel in person. Subject cues from the catalog include wood engraving. Compare this reading with the museum record at the source collection: https://www.artic.edu/artworks/61631

Sources: Art Institute of Chicago; Art Institute of Chicago / Public Records; Art Institute of Chicago Collection Data