French Prints Make American Debut at Elvehjem

Clearly, the peddler depicted in the 19th century illustration has the two boys precisely where he wants them. They are completely transfixed – without question ready to lay down their coin – for one or more of the brightly colored prints that the peddler is taking from his pack.

In all likelihood, the peddler is selling prints just like the one in which he appears.

The aforementioned print-within-a-print mise-en-scéne is typical of the wry humor exhibited by the French printer Pellerin in the “É” prints. “The prints are so appealing,” says Gertrude Herman, professor emerita of library and information studies. “They’re often humorous, always colorful.” And, for generations of European children, the prints provide a compelling window on the world of French history, current events and culture, she says.

Now, more than 170 booklets, broadsheets, pamphlets and other materials these prints adorned will make their American debut Sept. 6-Nov. 30 at the Elvehjem Museum of Art in an exhibition organized by the Musée du Quebec.

From its headquarters in the village of É, Pellerin widely distributed – often by itinerant peddlers – inexpensive prints in the form of broadsheets, booklets, songbooks and fliers between the 18th and 20th centuries. Originally, the anonymous artistsé engraved designs into blocks of pearwood. After printing, handmade stencils provided the striking and long-lived colors.

Herman says (É publications helped important cultural aspects reach a broad audience. Subject matter ranged from literature to public figures to song illustrations and more.

“For example, there’s a booklet about railroads, published at about the same time railroads were getting established in France. É broadsheets also were used to preserve folk traditions, such as the fairy tales of Charles Perrault (whose 17th-century canon includes ‘Cinderella,’ ‘Sleeping Beauty’ and ‘Puss in Boots’),” she says.

Herman says the prints’ legacy continues to reverberate in contemporary culture; the publications’ usual “storyboard” style and vivid colors prefigured today’s comic books and comic strips, she says.

Herman will discuss the prints in a free public lecture Oct. 16 at 4 p.m. in L140 Elvehjem. Her lecture is one of a number of special lectures, workshops and family presentations in conjunction with the exhibition. For more information, check Wisconsin Week calendar listings, or call the Elvehjem at 262-2246.