King Lear

Date

ca. 1803

Creator

This print represents Barry’s only foray into the newly invented technique of lithography. It was published on April 30, 1803, by Phillip André in Specimens of Polyautography, a collection of twelve prints that represents one of the pioneering uses of lithography in an artistic context. Barry was joined in this project by such distinguished colleagues as Benjamin West, Henry Fuseli, Richard Westall, and Thomas Stothard. Like etching and aquatint, lithography was a relatively easy technique for an artist like Barry who had no formal training as a printmaker. In this case, he simply had to draw directly onto the stone with pen and the greasy lithographic ink before turning it over to the printer. As he experimented, Barry chose a familiar motif from his existing work, in this case the head of Lear from his print King Lear and Cordelia [2015.001.001], describing it even in this much more fluid, painterly technique with the cross-hatchings, parallel lines, and stipple effects that he knew from etching and that he had also incorporated into his late drawing style. from Bindman, No Cross, No Crown: Prints by James Barry from the Collection of William L. and Nancy Pressly (Notre Dame, 2016)