Épinal Print

エピナル版画 / 1796– / Style / Popular Prints

Pellerin of Épinal mass-produced popular prints whose clear outlines and stencil color told stories, armies and morals. They shaped popular vision so completely that 'image d'Épinal' came to mean a rosy cliché.

Épinal Print — Épinal print Souriquet — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — Épinal print Souriquet — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

Épinal Print — Une ingénieuse capture — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — Une ingénieuse capture — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

Épinal Print — Current events print 1894 (CC0) — Current events print 1894 (CC0) · CC0

At a glance

Visual cues

Clear outlines
Bright stencil coloring
Stories in panels
Morals and hero tales

Best used for

Story cards for children and teaching plates read in a strict sequence
Nostalgic packaging for food or souvenirs told through narrative imagery

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Dictionary entry

Type: One caption line under each panel, one face and one measure throughout
Composition: Panels ruled into an even grid, the story moving top row to bottom
Material: A black outline plate with four bright stencil colors, slight misfit kept
Caution: Copying only the bright color and the neat frames removes the moral spine of the story and leaves a cliche that sells nothing but nostalgia.
Further study: the Pellerin workshop / pochoir stencil coloring / the prehistory of bande dessinée

Related entries

Lubok (ルボーク)Same Popular Prints lineage.Compare Épinal Print and Lubok
Circus Poster (サーカスポスター)Shared effects: Play / Nostalgia.Compare Épinal Print and Circus Poster

Often confused with

Lubok (ルボーク)compare

Cite this entry

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Link: https://indexstyle.org/styles/epinal-print
Markdown: [Épinal Print — IndexStyle](https://indexstyle.org/styles/epinal-print)
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