The
complete series of drawings by John Adam were reproduced
by the Parisian engraver:
Amand
Durand
(1831-1905)
Amand Durand
was born in Paris France, in 1831, and early on in
his career became known as a well respected Master
Engraver.
He had a deep admiration for the Old Masters from
the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries, especially their
etchings and engravings which he noted through the
ravages of time had faded and were no longer producing
quality impressions. |
Inspired
by Rembrandt
Durand
comprehensively researched many public and private
collections displaying the Old Masters' engravings
and realised that many of the images would eventually
fade completely. He especially admired the works of
Rembrandt and scrutinised his plates and techniques.
Rembrandt's engravings were created in the 1600's,
but by the mid 1800's the original plates were worn
and in a defective condition. Durand dedicated the
major part of his life to recreating in exact detail
Rembrandt's surviving engravings thus preserving the
quality of the images for future generations. These
newly created plates came to be called 'Amand Durand's
after Rembrandt.'
In order
to form exact reproductions he used as his guide,
not the worn and flat copper plates, but the 1st and
2nd state engravings of the original works.
Durand's reproductions were so well respected major
collectors throughout Europe sought to acquire them,
including the French Biblioteque Nationale and the
Louvre Museum in Paris.
Amand Durand died in 1905. |
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Click
here to view prints
The
Van Gogh brothers
In 1895
brother and manager of the then infamous Vincent Van
Gogh, Theo Van Gogh, was so impressed with the works
of Durand that he sought him out to spend an evening
with him at his home.
Theo was so moved with Durand's intellect and artistic
abilities that he promptly wrote a letter of acclamation
to Vincent expressing his approval of the Master Engraver.
The Van Gogh brothers were not the only ones who recognised
the abilities of Amand Durand throughout his impressive
career. |
Buncle
In like
manner, before the Van Gogh brothers, in 1880 Thomas
Buncle proprietor of the Arbroath printing company
T. Buncle & Co. Ltd. sought out the talents of
Amand Durand in order to recreate the fine drawings
of Arbroath artist John Adam as exquisite and detailed
engravings.
These were then bound with a variety of local poems
and verse into the impressive printed volume 'Round
About the Round O with its Poets', published
in 1883.
A series of quality giclée reproductions of
these engravings, enhanced with narrative from the
same period, have now been published and made available
by the Artists of Scotland Fine Art Publishing
Company. |
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