Terry
Though I haven't had enough of a history of comparing plates to the original
prints I can tell you this:
Musee des Beaux Artes, Montreal, Symboliste exhibition of paintings,
drawings, etchings, sculptures, lithographs and photographs, beatifully
arranged and naturally hand in hand
Steichen, the one with Rodin, his thinker, and one of his paintings in the
background
Nothing, NOTHING, beat turning around a corner, seeing its muted, dark tones
from across the room, image barely discernable from a distance of 25 feet or
so (because of the distance, and because of my old eyeglass prescription)
and walking towards it sooo slowlyyy and standing in it's face for however
long it took. This and the F. Holland Day, and the huge Joel Peter Witkin
(this one at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Magicians of Light {a nice
collection of great photographs spanning the years, but thematically
incomparable to the Symboliste at Montreal }).
Despite issues of quality, there's a different kind of Dance that goes on
when one (this one, at least) sees the pieces she drooled over in books, live.
cheers
risa