The etchings and drypoints of Ignaz M. Gaugengigl (1855-1932) reflect the rich detail and intimacy for which the artist’s paintings are well-known.    Born in Passau, Bavaria in 1855, Gaugengigl immigrated to Boston in 1878 and quickly became friends with the influential Sylvester Rosa Koehler, first curator of prints at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Amid a successful painting career, Gaugengigl began etching under Koehler’s direction and completed his first plate, "Summer," in 1880 for "American Art Review" (1879-1880). After "American Art Review" ceased publication in 1880, Koehler continued to act as Gaugengigl’s teacher and patron, securing his inclusion in print publications and high-profile exhibitions such as the Boston Museum of Fine Arts’ Exhibition of American Etchings, April 11 – May 9, 1881.

Of the 25 plates known to have been etched by Gaugengigl, several relied upon his own paintings as models, including The Duel, 1902, Happy Hours, 1990 and Andante, 1898. The artist tended to make etchings after his paintings rather than vice versa. His favorite subjects included French Revolution era genre pictures, costume studies and graceful portraits, including a self-portrait that relates to a painting at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Musuem in Boston. Gaugengigl’s graphic work was situated directly within the high point of etching in American history, reflecting both the Etching and Colonial Revivals.

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