Lecture- Print Culture & Distribution

Print had a massive impact on distribution of image, as in 1820 it was realised that printing could make more money, as copies of paintings could be sold many times over at a very small cost, which began to feed the mass image culture, since everyday people could now own their own artwork.

The paintings chosen for replication were often because their visual quality was easy to reproduce, not necessarily because of their visual quality, such as the examples below.

'Culture is the best that has been thought and said in the world'- Matthew Arnold author of culture and anarchy
-seeks to minister the diseased spirit of our time.

Leavisism- Traditional beaux arts over 'popular' arts, very much dictated by class

In addition this panning out of arts to a wider audience introduced a pop culture in arts, which was not cognitive but is addictive and is used as an escape from the everyday, a pre-curser of modern day pop culture.

'The work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction' -Walter Benjamin 1936