Sammlung: Imprinted: The American Painter-Etcher Movement

Fenimore Art Museum

April 1 – May 10, 2023

Featuring twenty etchings and two paintings from Fenimore Art Museum’s collection, Imprinted examines the American Painter-Etcher Movement. Also known as the Etching Revival, the movement sought to re-establish public appreciation for etching and counter the popular view that engraving was solely a way to make affordable reproductions of artwork. Painter-Etchers rejected the hard line, tight handling, and high finish of engraving in favor of a freer, sketchier style, and a more personally expressive and spontaneous mood. This goal emphasizes the original training of the movement’s “members” who were trained painters and watercolorists, such as Thomas Waterman Wood and Samuel Colman. These artists aspired to embed their etchings with the same aesthetic originality as their paintings.