Atelier 6000 Art Exhibition Complements 2011 Nature of Words Event With Broadside Exhibition
So what is a Broadside?
Broadsides are single sheets printed on one side. Historically, they are the most common form of printed material between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries. Rich in detail and variety, and sometimes with eye-catching illustrations, broadsides offered clear insights into the daily activities and attitudes of the individual and communities that created yesteryear.
Usually posted or read aloud, broadsides provided news of battles, deaths, executions, and other current events; official notices of laws and regulations; they preached of morality and the consequences of wrongdoing; and were an inexpensive method for selling poetry, songs, and satires. Produced in large numbers and distributed free or at a nominal cost in town squares, taverns and churches, broadsides were intended to have an immediate impact. Illustrations were difficult to design and time-consuming to cut from wood, so most printers accumulated a supply of “stock” woodcuts for repeated use. Broadsides were the popular “broadcasts” of their time.
Broadside printing has grown since the emergence of printing itself. The oldest dated example, a letter of indulgence printed by Gutenberg in the mid 1400’s before he printed his Bible. Colonial printers of newspapers and almanacs printed and posted broadsides as a source of extra income. Late-breaking news was transmitted as broadside “Postscripts” or “Extras” to the weekly newspapers.
In fact, the first publication of an estimated 200 copies of the US Declaration of Independence was printed on the night of July 4, 1776 by John Dunlap as a broadside. Dunlap also printed broadsides announcing the crossing of George Washington across the Delaware, on December 30, 1776.
Today, broadsides can still be the direct expression of our cultural, historical, political, social, spiritual, personal and collective perspective. Slow, elegant gestures, quick modern messages, fragments of visual poetry and image for our times are reflected in the fine art broadside.
Ephemeral by nature and in purpose, broadsides are collected by historical societies around the world, museums, libraries and individuals. They are valued as refined examples of information for the study of art, literature, history, culture, theater, music, graphic and book arts.
Opens First Friday, November 4, 2011, 5:30 – 8:30 pm
Exhibit: November 1 - 30, 2011
Broadsides are single sheets printed on one side. Historically, they are the most common form of printed material between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries. Rich in detail and variety, and sometimes with eye-catching illustrations, broadsides offered clear insights into the daily activities and attitudes of the individual and communities that created yesteryear.
Usually posted or read aloud, broadsides provided news of battles, deaths, executions, and other current events; official notices of laws and regulations; they preached of morality and the consequences of wrongdoing; and were an inexpensive method for selling poetry, songs, and satires. Produced in large numbers and distributed free or at a nominal cost in town squares, taverns and churches, broadsides were intended to have an immediate impact. Illustrations were difficult to design and time-consuming to cut from wood, so most printers accumulated a supply of “stock” woodcuts for repeated use. Broadsides were the popular “broadcasts” of their time.
Broadside printing has grown since the emergence of printing itself. The oldest dated example, a letter of indulgence printed by Gutenberg in the mid 1400’s before he printed his Bible. Colonial printers of newspapers and almanacs printed and posted broadsides as a source of extra income. Late-breaking news was transmitted as broadside “Postscripts” or “Extras” to the weekly newspapers.
In fact, the first publication of an estimated 200 copies of the US Declaration of Independence was printed on the night of July 4, 1776 by John Dunlap as a broadside. Dunlap also printed broadsides announcing the crossing of George Washington across the Delaware, on December 30, 1776.
Today, broadsides can still be the direct expression of our cultural, historical, political, social, spiritual, personal and collective perspective. Slow, elegant gestures, quick modern messages, fragments of visual poetry and image for our times are reflected in the fine art broadside.
Ephemeral by nature and in purpose, broadsides are collected by historical societies around the world, museums, libraries and individuals. They are valued as refined examples of information for the study of art, literature, history, culture, theater, music, graphic and book arts.
Opens First Friday, November 4, 2011, 5:30 – 8:30 pm
Exhibit: November 1 - 30, 2011
