Re-presenting Neglected 20th-Century Printmaking Practices

Researchers
Dr Harry Heuser
Professor Robert Meyrick

The Overview

Dr Harry Heuser and Professor Robert Meyrick facilitate an appreciation for, and understanding of, once prominent but now side-lined creative practices and the changing values they reflect. Retrieving, documenting and re-presenting a wide range of early to mid-20th-century cultural products, they generate public interest and engagement, demonstrably impacting on culture and society. While their catalogues raisonné serve as standard reference texts for collectors, dealers, auctioneers and museum curators worldwide, their exhibitions enable key cultural institutions such as the Royal Academy of Arts to extend their reach for the benefit of a broader, more inclusive audience.

The Research

Dr Heuser and Professor Meyrick’s investigative research challenges the ways in which cultural products are classified and historical relevance is determined. Underlying their research projects is the central question why some works, especially products existing as multiples or disseminated via mass media, are canonised while others fall into oblivion or face critical neglect.

Examining the historic circumstances and institutional forces that shape the production and reception of works of visual and material culture, they assess largely untapped primary sources and archival materials to demonstrate how legacies are constructed, practices abandoned and traditions rejected, how spheres of influence widen and reputations fade.

Their ongoing research for catalogues raisonné on British printmakers, which since 2012 has been undertaken in partnership with the Royal Academy of Arts, entails tracking down and closely examining thousands of works in public collections, private archives and commercial galleries to identify subjects and uncover their cultural and autobiographical references.

They have used comparable methodologies in piecing together the biographies of collectors such as queer Welsh dilettante George Powell (1842–1882) and artist-dealer Hugh Blaker (1873–1934), in order to uncover the rationales that underlie collecting practices. Open to the multiple and complex narratives this yields, their research has led to unexpected and wide-ranging discoveries.

The Impact

Broadening Public Interest

Dr Heuser and Professor Meyrick’s projects for the Royal Academy of Arts have assisted a major institution in fulfilling its mission to ‘introduce new audiences to [its] art and artists’. In turn, the Royal Academy and regional tour venues have invested significant resources to stage Dr Heuser and Professor Meyrick’s outputs. Their Royal Academy exhibitions have attracted nearly £100,000 of corporate sponsorship.

Attendance figures for the exhibitions rank among the highest recorded for the Royal Academy’s Tennant Room displays, and visitor books attest to their appeal and resonance. An Abiding Standard: The Prints of Stanley Anderson was considered ‘frighteningly topical’ and a ‘marvellous discovery’ of an artist whose ‘world view is still pertinent [today]’. Similarly, their exhibition on the prints of Charles Tunnicliffe was welcomed as ‘an eye opener’ that offered ‘much to learn as well as view’. The accompanying curator talks and lunchtime lectures also proved increasingly popular. Their video introductions on the Royal Academy’s website, Vimeo and Twitter broadened public reach and increased engagement.

The exhibitions were recommended as among the top three ‘must see’ shows in the UK (The Telegraph), ‘the best things to see, do and book this weekend’ (Country Life), and ‘Art Picks of the Week’ (London Evening Standard). They attracted audiences interested in British wildlife (Tunnicliffe), architectural history and social history (Anderson) as well as farming methods and traditional crafts, with reviews appearing in diverse periodicals such as The Mayfair Times and the Regional Furniture Society.

Providing a Trusted, Principal Source of Reference

Dr Heuser and Professor Meyrick’s catalogues raisonné are now a principal source of reference for curators and private collectors, dealers and auctioneers, educators, and the general public. They are held by the British Museum, Christchurch Art Gallery, New York Public Library, Chicago Public Library, Princeton, Rijksmuseum, Smithsonian and the Yale Centre for British Art. Curators, salesrooms and dealers now routinely reference ‘Heuser-Meyrick’ catalogue numbers.

Enquiries from collectors, national and international dealers, auctioneers, the media and the public demonstrate trust in Dr Heuser and Professor Meyrick’s connoisseurship. Dr Heuser’s research on George Powell led to regional participation in ArtUK’s Sculpture Near You project, talks to community groups, and an invited LGBTQ+ performance. Professor Meyrick’s research on Hugh Blaker furnished Louvre curators with provenance documentation for a canvas now identified as the work of Georges de la Tour.

Get in touch

As a University, we’re always keen to share our knowledge and expertise more widely for the benefit of society. If you’d like to find out more or explore how you can collaborate with our researchers, get in touch with our dedicated team of staff in the Department of Research, Business and Innovation. We’d love to hear from you. Just drop an e-mail to:

research@aber.ac.uk

Research Impact Case Studies | Research Theme: Culture