Maxime Praud

Catalogue of a 2007 exhibition of Desmazières’ etchings at the Musée Jenisch, Vevey, Switzerland. It contains reproductions of eighty of Demazières’ prints, sorted into seven thematic sections: Cities, Battles, Explorations, Curiosities, Comedies, Chambers of wonders and Libraries. Under the Cities heading, for example, there are Piranesian perspectives, science-fictional vistas, and invented townscapes in the manner of 17th-Century topographical prints. The etchings themselves are beautiful, and well-presented, but the accompanying texts (given in French and English) offer relatively little of interest.… (mere)