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Show CHAPTER FOUR TABLEAU 37, THE WHITE CASTLES: LANDSCAPES To finally judge the overall documentary and artistic value of Bodmer's aquatints, it is critical to isolate and examine the reasons behind the image changes Bodmer made in his illustrations for Travels. What influences, constraints, and conventions combined to impose upon Bodmer and Maximilian the decisions leading up to these documentary inaccuracies? Romanticism. Book Illustration, and Deadlines Bodmer's dissatisfaction and frustration-brought on by the drawn-out production process, which by the time Vignette 26, The Travellers Meeting at Fort Clark, was completed had already spanned over six years-may have been the immediate cause for many of the inaccuracies in the later prints. What had begun in optimistic enthusiasm for the project, after years of searching for subscribers, dealing with production delays, and handling difficult negotiations with three separate publishers, had become for Bodmer an unrewarding and irritating burden. At the core of Bodmer's frustration was the fact that recognition and appreciation of his work by the Parisian art community had never materialized. Bodmer, with the backing of his illustrious |