Cité de l'Image - Epinal
Mar 31, 2015 14:02:48 GMT
Post by Deleted on Mar 31, 2015 14:02:48 GMT
Epinal has a cultural fame much greater than the size of the city (pop. 35,000) due to its historical printing industry, which has been in activity since 1796. "Image d'Epinal" has entered the French language as an expression covering a stereotypical or naive description of something, generally to criticise someone who has oversimplified a subject. And that was the whole point of the Epinal printing industry -- to make pictures accessible to the common man when the rich had oil paintings hanging on their walls and the churches were covered with elaborate illustrations of the lives of saints. They were sold by travelling salesmen who walked from village to village on foot with a big box of prints loaded on their backs. The wooden boxes themselves weighed 6 kilos and they were filled with 15-20 kilos of merchandise.
At the height of popularity of the image printing industry, there were at least 30 printing companies scattered around Europe but later they were mostly grouped in eastern France (Metz, Nancy, Pont-à-Mousson...) due to the proximity of the paper mills. Most of items sold were pious images of saints to protect people's homes but patriotic images of Napoleonic soldiers were also popular, plus another very important item before the invention of television and the internet -- playing cards! As new printing methods were invented, the traditional printers slowly went out of business until there was only one left -- the one in Epinal.
Just about everybody has seen some of the images of Epinal, whether or not they knew what they were called. For example, how about some tarot cards?
Another invention from those times are the pictures with hidden images for children ("Can you find the cat in the picture?" "Where is the goose?") It took until 2003 to finally create a museum dedicated to the images of Epinal. It is right next to the historical Imprimerie Pellerin which is still in activity (with a name change to Imagerie d'Epinal in recent years -- since it is the very last place in Epinal). It was classified a national monument in 1986. The printing presses inside received the same classification in 1987, and the 6000 or so engraved lithographic stones in the cellar were classified in 1991. One of the reasons for this is that the company nearly went out of business back then, and it was the easiest way to ensure that the material would not be sold off and dispersed no matter what happened. It was first saved by a consortium of 51 local investors who ran it for 30 years and was sold again last year to an owner who wants to develop the activity while respecting the historical printing methods. In its heydey, it employed 200 people. It now has a staff of 20 but is hoping to rise to 30 over the next couple of years.
Anyway, I went to the museum first. We're very much out in the provinces here, with the museum closing for 2 hours at lunch, but I was there at 14:00 when it reopened. I noticed there was no signage anywhere in any language other than French. That is unusual now, particular for a museum that just opened in the 21st century. However, they ask for your postal code or country when you buy a ticket, so at least they are keeping track of who is visiting.
At the height of popularity of the image printing industry, there were at least 30 printing companies scattered around Europe but later they were mostly grouped in eastern France (Metz, Nancy, Pont-à-Mousson...) due to the proximity of the paper mills. Most of items sold were pious images of saints to protect people's homes but patriotic images of Napoleonic soldiers were also popular, plus another very important item before the invention of television and the internet -- playing cards! As new printing methods were invented, the traditional printers slowly went out of business until there was only one left -- the one in Epinal.
Just about everybody has seen some of the images of Epinal, whether or not they knew what they were called. For example, how about some tarot cards?
Another invention from those times are the pictures with hidden images for children ("Can you find the cat in the picture?" "Where is the goose?") It took until 2003 to finally create a museum dedicated to the images of Epinal. It is right next to the historical Imprimerie Pellerin which is still in activity (with a name change to Imagerie d'Epinal in recent years -- since it is the very last place in Epinal). It was classified a national monument in 1986. The printing presses inside received the same classification in 1987, and the 6000 or so engraved lithographic stones in the cellar were classified in 1991. One of the reasons for this is that the company nearly went out of business back then, and it was the easiest way to ensure that the material would not be sold off and dispersed no matter what happened. It was first saved by a consortium of 51 local investors who ran it for 30 years and was sold again last year to an owner who wants to develop the activity while respecting the historical printing methods. In its heydey, it employed 200 people. It now has a staff of 20 but is hoping to rise to 30 over the next couple of years.
Anyway, I went to the museum first. We're very much out in the provinces here, with the museum closing for 2 hours at lunch, but I was there at 14:00 when it reopened. I noticed there was no signage anywhere in any language other than French. That is unusual now, particular for a museum that just opened in the 21st century. However, they ask for your postal code or country when you buy a ticket, so at least they are keeping track of who is visiting.
imageshack.com/a/img908/1107/toekDv.jpg
imageshack.com/a/img633/5167/Wblnem.jpg
imageshack.com/a/img538/176/6MMnMP.jpg
I looked at the temporary exhibit first, which was a modern interpretation of the old graphic style. It showed something like the 15 or 16 phases of unsuccessful love.
imageshack.com/a/img537/1457/FUm6o9.jpg
imageshack.com/a/img537/4169/jg2V8B.jpg
imageshack.com/a/img540/7168/VDFgIS.jpg
There was also a mirror of unfriendly angels.
imageshack.com/a/img901/9949/fsgERS.jpg
Then it was on to the permanent collection. A lot of the early images were to tell well-known stories of saints and other personalities.
imageshack.com/a/img540/1329/Et5vaq.jpg
imageshack.com/a/img673/3946/A130Oz.jpg
Let us not forget important morality lessons. Disobedient dolls must be spanked on their bare porcelain buttocks.
imageshack.com/a/img537/2173/JvmKgv.jpg
Yet another invention of the time were the cut-out cardboard theatres and houses in which to stage stories.
imageshack.com/a/img661/4803/Jeufpq.jpg
imageshack.com/a/img633/5167/Wblnem.jpg
imageshack.com/a/img538/176/6MMnMP.jpg
I looked at the temporary exhibit first, which was a modern interpretation of the old graphic style. It showed something like the 15 or 16 phases of unsuccessful love.
imageshack.com/a/img537/1457/FUm6o9.jpg
imageshack.com/a/img537/4169/jg2V8B.jpg
imageshack.com/a/img540/7168/VDFgIS.jpg
There was also a mirror of unfriendly angels.
imageshack.com/a/img901/9949/fsgERS.jpg
Then it was on to the permanent collection. A lot of the early images were to tell well-known stories of saints and other personalities.
imageshack.com/a/img540/1329/Et5vaq.jpg
imageshack.com/a/img673/3946/A130Oz.jpg
Let us not forget important morality lessons. Disobedient dolls must be spanked on their bare porcelain buttocks.
imageshack.com/a/img537/2173/JvmKgv.jpg
Yet another invention of the time were the cut-out cardboard theatres and houses in which to stage stories.
imageshack.com/a/img661/4803/Jeufpq.jpg
