The Great Waterfall

Josef Karel Burde

Josef Karel Burde - The Great Waterfall
In 1804, Josef Karel Burder (1779-1848), a painter, printmaker, art conoisseur, restorer and collector, became the first Custodian (later Inspector) of the Picture Gallery of the Society of Patriotic Friends of the Arts - the historical forerunner of the National Gallery Prague. His output focused on reproductions of Old Master paintings, caricature studies of human types and pre-Romantic landscape printmaking. The configuration of The Great Waterfall is a variant of the title page to the series of etchings in which Burde presented a wide range of themes in contemporary landscape printmaking. The series was produced over the long period of 1803-1813 and all seems to indicate that Burde had regarded the work as a long-term assignment, which he did not intend to rush, working on it at a time that was filled with numerous other tasks and activities, above all duties related to his function of Inspector. Burde’s etchings comprised two sets of numbering: the Arabic numbers marked the overall sequence of each sheet within the series, while the Roman numerals designated the position of the sheet, wherever it formed a part of two or three scenes. The title The Great Waterfall thus indicates that the etching was made as the sixteenth in succession and was produced as an individual print.
date:
measurements: height 324 mm
width 234 mm
material: paper
technique: etching
inscription:
inventory number: R 1818
gallery collection: Collection of Prints and Drawings
author of the entry Mgr. PETR ŠÁMAL, Ph.D.

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