Exploring Art History
Ep. 5. VISUAL LITERACY - A History of Illustration: A conversation with D.B. Dowd
Published: 18 May 2026 at 13:25 Europe/London
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Episode notes
Illustrator, writer and scholar D.B. Dowd, Washington University, discusses fascinating aspects of the historical development of illustration as an integral part of the reading experience, often serving to visualize, enhance, or respond to a text. This richly illustrated conversation begins with an examination of relief prints and woodcuts in ancient China and Japan before moving to printing and platemaking in early modern Europe, followed by an exploration of the role of illustration linked to more recent developments such as the illustrated news, recreational reading, ad-driven consumer culture, advertising, social media and propaganda based on Dowd's recent book Reading Pictures: A History of Illustration.
*Host: Howard Burton
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
1:36 D.B Dowd's motivations and unique perspective to write a history of illustration
19:50 Illustrations in Japan and China, colonialism and mixed moments across history
25:29 Caricaturists, Charles Dickens and Robert Seymour
38:25 Belle Époque posters, Japanese prints, movable type and xylography
42:46 Japan opens up to the West, Japonisme and its effect on French illustrations
47:27 Late 19th-century racial stereotyping, Darwin and pseudoscience
53:07 Making illustrations more visible while examining the harm that illustration has caused
