This thesis considers the eighteenth-century search for the longitude through Plate 8 of
William Hogarth’s A Rake’s Progress, where a ‘longitude lunatic’ seeks to solve the problem
on the wall of his cell in Bedlam. In doing so, it addresses two linked issues: first, how the
longitude problem was discussed by the wider British community, and how this affected the
actors directly involved in seeking the solution; and second, what was so iconic about this
problem that made Hogarth place it at the centre of his modern moral series about a young
man ruined by London society. The thesis combines considerations of longitude from plays,
poems, religious tracts, novels, prints, paintings and correspondence, alongside the archives
and instruments that recorded the search by the Board of Longitude. Useful parallels emerge
between the Board’s most famous applicant, John Harrison, and William Hogarth’s own
career.
I open with discussion of the place of the longitude problem, and navigational science more
generally, within London life and Hogarth’s works, arguing that London became Hogarth’s ‘
ship of fools,’ in need of guidance. I then consider three ways in which longitude was a ‘
problem.’ Visually, it presented new challenges about how to communicate contested ideas
on paper with words and images, through maps, illustrations and diagrams. These
considerations developed alongside contemporary concerns over copyright and patenting.
Mentally, longitude highlighted the complex boundary between impossible ‘projects,’ mad
schemes and ‘genius’ inventions, raising questions about the status of innovation and
originality. Socially, ‘the longitude’ articulated a problematic space between polite and
impolite science, which made it a useful concept with which to negotiate wider contemporary
social boundaries. The status of both women and instruments became key to these
discussions. In sum, the longitude problem, as the final image in the final plate of Hogarth’s
series, presented a means of orientating a disorientated Augustan society. What we might call
the longitude ‘moment’ meant that all these concerns coalesced into the single image of a
drawing on the wall of Bedlam.

The publication of the Grafik des Kapitalistischen Realismus (Graphic Art of Capitalist Realism) print portfolio by the René Block Gallery in 1968 marked a notable graphic debut of the Capitalist Realism art group in West Germany. Commissioned by Berlin dealer and curator René Block, six artists, then living in West Germany, and all contemporaries of one another, were each invited to contribute one screenprint each to the project. The work of Klaus Peter Brehmer, Karl Horst Hödicke, Konrad Lueg (Fischer), Sigmar Polke, Wolf Vostell and Gerhard Richter are featured in the portfolio, along with an offset lithograph, designed by Block himself, which serves as the frontispiece.

The primary concern of this thesis is both formal and critical. It is rooted in the understanding that Capitalist Realism is based upon a mosaic of influences and operated as a multi-dimensional artistic movement applying both inventive material modes of parody and appropriating key symbols of postwar West Germany and the promises of the Economic Miracle. Some specific considerations include the manner in which each artist manipulates the screenprint medium to connote parodies of mass-media imagery and modern life; an examination of the 1963 performance piece, "Living with Pop: A Demonstration for Capitalist Realism," organized by two of the portfolio’s contributors – Gerhard Richter and Konrad Lueg in Düsseldorf; and René Block’s 1971 publication of the catalogue raisonné Grafik des Kapitalistischen Realismus: Werkverzeichnisse bis 1971.

Over recent decades scholarly investigations of the practice of print makers, printers, and dealers have revealed the far-reaching scope of the print market in terms of the breadth of imagery that was produced, sold and reviewed by critics. The broad influence of the printed image was unchallenged during the 18th century, not at least because the numerous copies produced in typical editions encouraged widespread distribution. Moreover, their manageable size and weight made it easy to send prints to far-away destinations where images could radically alter their meanings in the new cultural context.

The focus of this investigation is on the print maker, publisher and dealer Johann Georg Wille, a successful artist in Paris, whose work was represented in Europe’s major art cabinets at the time. He was in personal contact to Europe’s artistic and intellectual elite and he supported friendly, collegial relationship with the cultural circles in the city of Mannheim, a thriving cultural center in southern Germany. Wille’s prints feature prominently in the city’s premier collections--his images were collected by the elector Carl Theodor as well as by high-ranking officials; Wille’s images are featured among the holdings of the main art dealers in town, who supplied a local as well as international European clientele. Wille’s engravings enjoyed a strong presence and admiration in Mannheim.

Wille fostered personal connections to artists and collectors in the city. The landscape painter Ferdinand Kobell and court engravers Egidius Verhelst and Heinrich Christoph Sintzenich among others had traveled to and trained at Wille’s Parisian atelier, exchanged with him works of art and discussed matters of aesthetics and trade. Wille’s work bridged in formidable manner the high technical expectations for eighteenth-century fine engraving on the one hand, with new founded ideas of ‘nature’ and nationalism on the other. His personal experimentation in and support of the northern, German aesthetic helped formulate an enlightened and pre-Romantic conception of a national art. This is of particular interest in the enlightened cultural scene of Mannheim, a city that had become a center for national artistic emancipation in the second half of the century. The print could play a key role in the national endeavor: Its experimental nature and possibility for wide distribution allowed the printed image to be a projector for new aesthetics and political ideas. In such context, Wille’s publications were crucial for the new movement. While his graphic works had become part of the artistic canon and thus his artistic authority was unquestioned, his personal support of local artists and movements validated and expounded their engagement in the national discourse. Moreover Wille’s support of Mannheim’s artists helped establish a modern printmaking school and graphic aesthetic in the region of Palatinate, and projected the regional artistic production onto an international stage. Wille enlisted influential dealers, such as the auctioneer Chariot in Paris, to represent Mannheim’s print makers and distribute their work throughout Europe. The publishing and distribution of images by and through Wille had far reaching consequences: The print maker, printer and publisher launched innovative experimentation toward a national art and identity.

James Reid: Selected Wood Engravings is a limited edition of 125 portfolios, of which twelve copies are not for sale. The portfolio houses thirty-two wood engravings printed directly from the surviving blocks created by James Reid (1907 - 1989). Nineteen of the engravings originally appeared in The Life of Christ in Woodcuts, a wordless book published by Farrar & Rinehart in 1930 and issued in both American and English editions. The thirteen additional engravings originally appeared as illustrations accompanying passages from the Song of Solomon, published as The Song of Songs by Farrar & Rinehart in 1931. Apart from a very few engravings printed by James Reid for presentation to family members, the engravings have never before been issued separately.

The engravings, their folders, and the booklet cover were printed by Art Larson at Horton Tank Graphics in Hadley, Massachusetts; Larson apprenticed with Harold P. McGrath and produced work for Leonard Baskin at his Gehenna Press and for Barry Moser at his Pennyroyal Press. He is among the most skillful fine press craftsmen working today. His work on the James Reid project produced prints whose detail and fidelity to the original matrices exceeded those of the original publications in book form.

The custom portfolio box, produced by Portfoliobox at Pawtucket Rhode Island also contains a descriptive booklet written by the publisher, Robert Strossi and designed by Michael Russem of Kat Ran Press of Cambridge, Massachusetts. The booklet text pages were printed on a six-color Indigo digital press at Puritan Press of Hollis, New Hampshire.

The portfolio was published with the principal intent of introducing the long neglected work of James Reid to both institutions and individual collectors in the belief that Reid's work fully merits their attention and deserves a permanent place in the history of American arts in the twentieth century.

INK provides broad observations and synthesis of trends and events related to the print world, as well as criticism on specific subjects when appropriate.

INK is written by Sarah Kirk Hanley, who is an independent print specialist and critic as well as a frequent contributor to Art in Print. She is also an adjunct instructor at NYU and a consulting expert and advisor for several art appraisal services and online fine art marketplaces. Hanley is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, ArtTable, the College Art Association and the Association of Print Scholars. She has held positions at Christie’s, the Milwaukee Art Museum, and the Lower East Side Printshop.

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