Recently, Tru Ludwig and Leo Zhao (MICA '23) co-published a lithograph putting forward a concatenated timeline of a history of Western prints (HoP). As Tru and Ann were coming up with their top 10, there was one last one that put it over the top to 11. In the immortal words of Nigel Tufnel, "these go to eleven."
Tru also included momentous points in history as guideposts, starting with the invention of the printing press, a nod to the Italian Alps (HoPsters will get the reference to the Alps, the Alps, the Alps), Martin Luther's 95 theses blowing up Christendom, WWI, WWII, and the invention of the Internet.
Here are the top eleven:
Martin Schongauer, Saint Anthony Tormented by Demons, c. 1470-75
Antonio Pollaiuolo, Battle of the Ten Nude Men, c. 1470-90
Albrecht Dürer, Knight, Death, and the Devil, 1513
Jacques Callot, The Hanging Tree, 1633
Rembrandt van Rijn, The Three Trees, 1643
Claude Mellan, The Holy Face on the Sudarium of Saint Veronica, 1649
Francisco Goya, The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters, 1799
Honoré Daumier, Rue Transnonain, April 15, 1834
Pablo Picasso, Minotauromachy, 1935
Henri Matisse, Icarus, from the book Jazz, 1943-44
Leonard Baskin, Hydrogen Man, 1954
Coming up with the landmarks of HoP isn't hard. There are definitely standout moments. But whittling down to eleven meant any women artists got left off the list (Kollwitz, Catlett, Cassatt for starters). They're not happy about that, but are thinking about a second version featuring women only. Stay tuned.
