Artwork Information

  • Title:

    Notre Dame, Paris

  • Artist:

    Schutz, Anton

  • Artist Bio:

    American (born in Prussia), 1894–1977

  • Date:

    1927

  • Medium:

    Etching

  • Dimensions:

    11 7/8 x 8 7/8 inches

  • Credit Line:

    Wichita Art Museum, Museum purchase, C.A. Seward Memorial Collection

  • Object Number:

    2019.34

  • Display:

    Not Currently on Display


About the Artwork

Anton Schutz

American (born in Germany), 1894–1977

Notre-Dame, Paris, 1927

Etching

Wichita Art Museum, C.A. Seward Memorial Collection

2019.34

Anton Schutz—originally trained as an architect—rose to artistic fame in the 1920s for his images of towering skyscrapers and harbor-spanning bridges. In this print, Schutz turns to an older engineering marvel—Notre-Dame Cathedral. Although many artists and thinkers during this period admired cathedrals for their connection to an allegedly simpler past, others venerated cathedrals for their modernity and innovation. Many critics saw Gothic architecture as a precursor to modern architecture, which also aimed to erect ever-taller, lightweight structures. For instance, Eugиne Viollet-le-Duc—the famous Parisian architect who restored Paris’ Notre-Dame Cathedral in the mid-19th century—argued that “the principles already applied by the architects of the Middle Ages, after careful study, place us upon the modern path of incessant progress. This study permits us every innovation…”