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Research Library Hours:
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Making the Düsseldorf Catalogue
Carl Theodor's court architect Nicolas de Pigage collaborated with Christian von Mechel, a printmaker and art dealer working in Basel, to produce the Düsseldorf catalogue.
Producing prints for the catalogue was complex and costly. First, a draftsman in Düsseldorf sketched the most important elements of a painting in rough outline. The sketch was usually transferred onto another sheet of paper in red chalk, replicating the details of the painting (see the drawings in Krahe's Failed Galeriewerk). In addition, scale elevations of the walls, with miniature drawings of the paintings, were produced, and everything was sent to Mechel's printmakers in Basel. There, the wall layout was refined and painted in wash on transparent paper. Only then could the copperplates be made.
Scale elevation of gallery wall: First Room, Second Facade of the Düsseldorf Gallery; Joseph Erb, Joseph August Brulliot, and Georg Metellus; ca. 1770; graphite, red chalk, pen and ink. 870670.22
The Getty Research Institute possesses preparatory drawings and proof prints for the catalogue's pages (images below). These include intermediary impressions from the unfinished plates and the resulting final prints.
Transfer drawing: First Room, Second Facade of the Düsseldorf Gallery, Right Section; 1775; wash, pen and ink. Drawing for Nicolas de Pigage and Christian von Mechel, La galerie électorale de Dusseldorff; ou, Catalogue raisonné et figuré de ses tableaux (Basel, 1778). 870670.20
Proof from unfinished plate: First Room, Second Facade of the Düsseldorf Gallery, Right Section, 1775, etching with graphite. Intermediary impression for Nicolas de Pigage and Christian von Mechel, La galerie électorale de Dusseldorff; ou, Catalogue raisonné et figuré de ses tableaux (Basel, 1778). 870670.19
Printer's proof: First Room, Second Facade of the Düsseldorf Gallery, Right Section, 1775, etching. Printer's proof for Nicolas de Pigage and Christian von Mechel, La galerie électorale de Dusseldorff; ou, Catalogue raisonné et figuré de ses tableaux (Basel, 1778). 870670.18
