Adam von Bartsch

Adam von Bartsch (Johann Adam Bernhard von Bartsch) , 1757-1821, Austrian engraver, etcher, and writer. His critical catalog, Le Peintre Graveur (21 vol., 1803-21), is still authoritative. Bartsch executed over 500 plates from his own designs and from those of others.

Bartsch, Adam von (b Vienna, 17 Aug. 1757; d Vienna, 21 Aug. 1821). Austrian art historian. He studied engraving at the Vienna Academy and became a renowned authority on printmaking. Most of his career was spent at the Imperial Library in Vienna and he was also adviser to Archduke Albert of Sachsen-Teschen (see Albertina). From 1803 to 1821 he published in twenty volumes Le Peintre graveur, the pioneering work in the systematic study of Dutch, Flemish, German, and Italian painter-engravers (see peintre-graveur) from the 15th to the 17th century. It is now outdated in certain respects, but still remains of fundamental importance in the study of many artists (particularly Italians) and its numbering system has been referred to by most subsequent works in its field. There have been various continuations and supplements and in 1979 a series of illustrations to the work (known as The Illustrated Bartsch) began publication; a similar series (Le Peintre graveur illustré) was begun in 1971, but only the first volume ever appeared.