Celebrity in Print
Reopening August 30 in the Michael L. and Carolyn C. McNamara Gallery
This exhibition has been generously funded by Michael L. and Carolyn C. McNamara.
Fame. Notoriety. Celebrated. These were all words used in the 18th century to describe what is known today as celebrity. Through print media – biographies, newspapers, and engravings - stars were born. With the expansion of the printed word and pictures in the 18th century, news and portraits of notable people – both famous and infamous, willing and unwilling – traveled around the globe. Over the course of the 18th century, consumers from every walk of life had access to some kind of printed image of writers, actors, criminals, social climbers, athletes, politicians, and military figures. This exhibition features prints of some of these notable figures from the Marquis de Lafayette to Tomo Chachi Mico, Yamacraw leader, to the playwright and actress Susanna Cent-Livre to talented horse rider, Jacob Bates. Each person has a unique story to tell.
Explore Pieces from the Exhibition
Jacob Bates The Famous English Horse Rider, engraved by Georg Peter Nusbiegel after his own work, Nuremberg, Germany, 1766, etching with line engraving, 15 1/8” × 19 1/8”, 1941-171
Loum Kiqua, engraved by Thomas Burford after work by Dominique Serres,London, England, 1757, mezzotint, 14” × 10”, 1979-309
Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, engraved by Noël Le Mire after work by Jean-Baptiste Le Paon, Paris, France, 1789, line engraving and etching, 21 5/8” × 15”, 1950-227
Mrs. Susanna Cent-Livre, engraved by Peter Pellham after work by D. Fermin, London, England, 1769, mezzotint, 14 ¼” × 10 1/8”, 1979-81
Tomo Chachi Mico of King of Yamacraw, and Tooanahowi his Nephew, Son to the Mico of the Etchitas, engraved by John Faber Jr. after work by Willem Verelst, London, England, ca. 1734, mezzotint, 14 ¼” × 10 ¼”, 2004-42
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