Antoine Bara Blaisot (1794, Paris - 1876), also known as Antoine Barru Blaisot, was a French engraver, publisher of lithographs and gallery owner.[3] He is known to have operated a gallery selling engravings at 6 rue de Grammont, Paris.[3]

Antoine Bara Blaisot
Born1794 (1794)
Paris
Died1876 (aged 81–82)[1]
Other namesAntoine Barru Blaisot[2]

Publishing

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Blaisot frequently commissioned artists to created engravings for his Galerie Universelle series, published from 1822 through 1828.

 
French painter Antoine-Jean Gros in a lithograph published under Blaisot's Galerie Universel.

Lithographs from the Galerie Universelle series are held in the National Library of Portugal,[4] the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich,[5] the Musée Carnavalet, Paris,[6] the British Museum,[7] the Dallas Museum of Art[8] and the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.[9]

In 1836, with Charles Gosselin, he co-published Pétrarque by Alphonse Rastoul.[10]

From 1862 to 1864 he edited Luigi Ceroni's engravings of enamel caricatures created by Jean Petitot.[11]

Blaisot was the editor and publisher of the Petit Atlas National des 86 départements de la France et de ses colonies., published in 1833.[12][13][14]

The Competition

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Throughout the 1820s, Godefroy Engelmann and François-Séraphin Delpech proved to be Blaisot's main competitors.[15]

Engelmann's influence stemmed largely from the fact that after formally learning the art of lithography in Germany, he thereafter travelled to Paris and founded a printing press in 1816.[16]

Apart from this, Delpech resoundingly stood out to be the most popular Parisian publisher of fine art prints of the era.  In today's terms, he would be considered to have been the Go To Guy for producing prints which could depict noble personages or provide immediate coverage concerning significant events.  Presumably, he was well established, whereby he operated his business from 23 Quai Voltaire for more than a decade; thereby overlooking the Seine River within close proximity to the Louvre.[17][18]

In this regard, a table is presented below which enables viewers to compare prints of Marie Antoinette which were circulated by all three publishers:

IMAGES OF MARIE ANTOINETTE
ENGELMANN
Published 1822[19]
DELPECH
Published 18?[20]
BLAISOT
Published 1827[21]
View corresponding image of
Marie-Antoinette[22]
View corresponding image of
Marie-Antoinette[23]
View corresponding image of
Marie-Antoinette[24]

As for Alois Senefelder, the inventor of the lithography, another comparison is made with respect to Lord Byron, evidently clothed in the same attire.

IMAGES OF LORD BYRON
SENEFELDER
Published 1826[25]
BLAISOT
Published 1826[26]
View corresponding image of
Lord Byron[27]
View corresponding image of
Lord Byron[28]

As it pertains to the prints identified above, Blaisot's notability becomes quite apparent, whereby he:

  • Moved from a religious rendition of Marie-Antoinette to one which exhibits a more secular disposition
  • Moved from a somewhat noble or ethereal rendition of Lord Byron to one which assumes more the appearance of an everyday citizen

Such types of alterations appealed to an upcoming clientele of masses who thereafter found themselves finally able to afford fine art prints as they began to circulate in large quantities in and about Paris.  The reason for a greater acceptance was quite obvious; being that such depictions, for the most part, actually bore a closer resemblance to themselves.

References

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  1. ^ Beraldi, Henri. Les graveurs du 19e siècle; guide de l'amateur d'estampes modernes. Paris L. Conquet.
  2. ^ "Antoine Barru Blaisot (1794-1876)". data.bnf.fr.
  3. ^ a b Blanc, Charles Le (1854). Manuel de l'amateur d'estampes (in French).
  4. ^ "Don Juan, Empereur du Brésil, mort en 1826". purl.pt.
  5. ^ "Le Marechal Brune Ne a Brives la Gaillarde Dept de la Correze en 1763 Assassine a Avignon le 2 Aout 1815. Galerie Universelle No.96. Publiee par Blaisot | Royal Museums Greenwich". www.rmg.co.uk.
  6. ^ "Portrait de l'acteur Talma (1763-1826), dans le rôle de Sylla. (IFF 10) | Paris Musées". www.parismuseescollections.paris.fr.
  7. ^ "print | British Museum". The British Museum.
  8. ^ "Voltaire - DMA Collection Online". www.dma.org.
  9. ^ "Portret van hoboïst Henri Brod, Antoine Catherine Adolphe Fonrouge, after Perrot, c. 1835". Rijksmuseum.
  10. ^ municipale, Narbonne (France) Bibliothèque (1891). Catalogue de la Bibliothèque publique de la ville de Narbonne (in French). Impr. F. Caillard.
  11. ^ Les émaux de Petitot du Musée imperial du Louvre. Portraits de personnages historiques et de femmes célèbres du siècle de Louis XIV. Paris, Blaisot. 1862.
  12. ^ "Petit Atlas National des 86 départements de la France et de ses colonies., Musée National de l'Éducation, Collections of the National Museum of Education". Collections of the National Museum of Education.
  13. ^ Petit Atlas national des 86 départements de la France et de ses colonies, 1833 (par Blaisot). Blaisot.
  14. ^ nationale, Bibliothèque; France, Bibliothèque nationale de (1855). Catalogue de l'histoire de France (in French). Firmin-Didot.
  15. ^ Scroll down to Compilation of Fine Art Plate Producutivity by Creator (1812-1830) chart at Truescans.
  16. ^ Lithography 1800-1850; Twyman, Oxford University Press, 1870 pp. 52–54.
  17. ^ Scroll down to Map of Where Lithographers Set Up Operations Within Central Paris during the Bourbon Restoration at Truescans.
  18. ^ Imprimerie lithographique de F. Delpech; Museum number 1861,1012.842 at the British Museum.
  19. ^ Marie Antoinette at "WorldCat", the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC); OCLC Number 693507814.
  20. ^ Marie Antoinette at "WorldCat", the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC); OCLC Number 221394922.
  21. ^ Marie Antoinette at "WorldCat", the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC); OCLC Number 1011467788.
  22. ^ Engelmann lithograph of Marie Antoinette at Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF).
  23. ^ Delpech lithograph of Marie Antoinette at the National Library of Australia (nla).
  24. ^ Blaisot lithograph of Marie Antoinette at WorthPoint.
  25. ^ Lord Byron at "WorldCat", the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC); OCLC Number 1257070487.
  26. ^ Lord Byron at "WorldCat", the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC); OCLC Number 1011453946.
  27. ^ Blaisot lithograph of Lord Byron at archive.org.
  28. ^ Scroll down to LORD BYRON and then click on name at Truescans.