Heinrich Guttenberg

Heinrich Guttenberg was a printmaker and engraver whose documented professional activity is concentrated during a brief period spanning 1775 to 1776. Known primarily for genre scenes and historical documentation rendered as prints, Guttenberg’s surviving output offers a precise visual record of late eighteenth-century life and events.

Five Heinrich Guttenberg prints are currently represented in museum collections, confirming the artist’s historical significance. These works include documentary pieces such as Le mercure de France, and two impressions of the engraving The Last Words of Jean Jacques Rousseau. Guttenberg also contributed plates to significant publications of the era, notably providing images for Monument du Costume Physique et Moral de la fin du Dix-huitième siècle, including Meeting in the Woods of Boulogne and Rendezvous For Marly.

The enduring quality of these compositions is established by their preservation in esteemed collections, including the Art Institute of Chicago. The availability of these historical images ensures continued scholarship into the period. Many of these important Heinrich Guttenberg prints are now in the public domain, allowing institutions to provide high-quality prints for educational purposes and exhibition.