Filippo Morghen

Filippo Morghen was an artist and printmaker active during the late 18th century, with his documented production period spanning the years 1764 to 1783. His surviving output consists predominantly of graphic works, noted for their highly inventive and often satirical concepts related to engineering, survival, and exaggerated natural history.

Morghen’s prints frequently depict imaginative mechanical devices or impossible scenarios, such as A Boat That Has for Sails the Wings of a Huge Bird and the satirical device described in A new device to cleave wild beasts from Head to Tail. The database records thirteen total works attributed to the artist, with twelve designated as prints.

These works are held in the permanent collections of major American institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Cleveland Museum of Art, establishing his presence within the history of late 18th-century graphic arts. Noteworthy examples of his conceptual prints include A Pumpkin Used as a Fishing Boat and A House on Water, and a New Way to Summon Geese by the Beat of a Drum.

The institutional preservation of his work ensures its continued availability for scholarship. Because many of these pieces are now in the public domain, researchers have access to high-quality prints and downloadable artwork for study, securing Morghen’s legacy as an imaginative figure in graphic art.