Artists' Paper

More about the book

Edited by Penelope Banou, Georgios Boudalis, Patricia Engel, Stephen R. Hill, Joseph Schirò, and Jedert Vodopivec Tomažic, this volume explores the question of why artists select specific papers for their creations. It examines whether this choice is influenced by availability and cost or driven by artistic motivation. The book features examples from artists such as Nikolai Astrup, Micheline de Bellefroid, Auguste Beuret, Johann Martin Schmidt, and Henri Cueco, alongside insights from Danish and Belgian artist groups, as well as traditions from India, Turkey, Japan, and the Aztecs. It also presents both traditional and cutting-edge methodologies for analyzing paper as a medium. The research highlights how a scribe's or printer's choice of paper reflects the local paper-making craft, availability of materials, trade practices, and cultural habits, while also incorporating the artist's intent. This comprehensive examination is significant for both art history and conservation, emphasizing the relevance of paper selection from the Renaissance to the present. The insights aim to encourage further interdisciplinary studies that merge conservation research with art history.