Umění grafiky v osvícenské korespondenční síti a jihlavský rytec Matthias Ignaz Frey (1723–1790)
| Title in English | The Art of Graphic in the Enlightenment Correspondence Network and the Jihlava Engraver Matthias Ignaz Frey (1723–1790) |
|---|---|
| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2025 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | "I myself owned a collection of high-quality copperplate engravings, but last year, out of frustration with my son, who is completely dismissive of art, I sold it." With these words, the teacher, archivist, and amateur graphic artist Johann Heinrich Marzy (1722–1801) commented on the sale of his art collection. Marzy at the end of the 18th century informed Johann Petr Cerroni (1753–1826), author of one of the first writings on Moravian art history, about the artistic situation in his native Jihlava (Iglau). Marzy compiled biographical sketches of important Jihlava artists for this educated Brno official and collector, with whom he had established personal contact in many cases. One of them was the engraver Matthias Ignaz Frey (1723–1790), whose diverse work, wide range of clients, and considerable local influence represent a hitherto uncharted part of Moravian and Czech graphic production. The aim of this paper is to use the correspondence between two Moravian art lovers as an example to illustrate the specific characteristics of the sharing of art-historical knowledge about the graphic medium, which is one of the pieces of evidence of a fundamental shift in the hierarchy of art forms during the Enlightenment. The second part of the paper, using the example of an evaluation of the life and work of Matthias Ignaz Frey, emphasizes the high and as yet incompletely exploited potential that this type of information offers for research into little-known graphic artists of the second half of the 18th century. |
| Related projects: |