Art of Writing, from Encyclopédie 1760

Curator: Ah, a piece titled "Art of Writing," made around 1760 by Benoit Louis Prevost, hailing from France. It’s currently residing here at the Art Institute of Chicago. Editor: Oh, lovely! At first glance, it's almost a celebration of the humble quill. Kind of makes you yearn for a simpler time, doesn't it? Curator: Precisely! And the celebration of craft, that's where my interest truly lies. We see the writing tools showcased so deliberately. From the quills themselves to the inkwells and sandboxes... even a visual dissection of a hand in the act of writing! Note how the tools, the materials, become the subject, almost elevated beyond mere function. Editor: Right, the layout really breaks things down—an almost clinical separation between the tools, the writer, and the act itself. A bit cold, maybe? I’m thinking how intimate writing truly is and yet the composition presents something quite distant. Curator: Perhaps distant to our contemporary gaze, distanced from the *experience* of the artist who originally created it! However, in its historical context, this engraving functioned as a vital part of the "Encyclopédie." Knowledge became industrialized, the methods of creating became systematized, and it became widely available to burgeoning academic audiences of the time. A sort of proto-instructional manual, you might say! The engraving serves as a testament to Enlightenment values where everything is illuminated through reasoned inquiry. Editor: Hmmm. I feel that coldness a bit more acutely now. What a shift—transforming something inherently creative and personal into an almost mechanical procedure. But maybe there's a quiet dignity in recognizing the labour? Curator: Yes, and consider also the cultural implications of France’s global influence at the time. This simple image is wrapped up with notions of class, labor, the societal importance placed on recording and disseminating knowledge through physical artifacts, and the printmaking trade as a craft industry with complex labour relationships of its own. Editor: A potent mix to distill from what seems at first to be a simple illustration! It’s prompted me to look at my own assumptions on process and artistry, for sure. Curator: And for me, to remember that even depictions of the humblest everyday activity are born from, and become folded into, grand narratives of power and societal change.