|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In 1812, Philadelphia bookseller and publisher Moses Thomas purchased a monthly magazine entitled Select Reviews, engaged Washington Irving as editor, and renamed the publication The Analectic Magazine. Illustration "was one of the magazine's chief distinctions. Not only were there the usual engravings on copper, but some of the earliest magazine experiments in lithography and wood engraving appeared here. The plates were chiefly portraits, though some other subjects were used." (Mott, A History of American Magazines) This is a particularly wonderful image from the magazine, drawn by Philadelphia genre painter John Lewis Krimmel. Krimmel captured better than anyone the life of the common American citizen in the first few decades of the nineteenth century. His charming scenes are filled with wonderful detail of the dress, objects and environment of everyday life. Like other Krimmel pictures a variety of things are happening among the various people. The grandmother looks up from her Bible as the school mistress is taking away the young lady student who will be missed by her young gentleman lover and the family dog. The father displays the money which allows this event to happen, and the coachman stands at the door wanting to hurry along. The girl's mother doffs her husband's hat showing that she knows manners even if her rough but wealthy husband does not. $225
John L. Krimmel. "Home Scene-With Presents/ Returned From Market." New York: W.H. Bidwell, ca. 1844-50. First state. Mezzotint, with engraving, by John Sartain. 9 1/2 x 13 3/4. Excellent condition. Naeve, John Lewis Krimmel, #112.
A rare and wonderful American genre print issued around the middle of the nineteenth century. The image was based on a painting by John L. Krimmel (1785-1821), a German artist who came to the United States in 1810 and settled in Philadelphia. Krimmel painted portraits and miniatures, but he is particularly well known for his good-natured, elaborate street and domestic scenes. Krimmel had a wonderful manner of vividly portraying the personalities of his subject, and his scenes are renowned for their elaborate compositions and delightful humor. This print shows a father and mother just home from market, bearing presents for everyone, from grandfather, with his paper, to the babe in arms, with her rattle. Characteristically, Krimmel fills the scene with the rich details of everyday life, including farm implements and livestock as well as domestic items like a bird cage and kitchen equipment. The scene presents a whirlwind of activity upon the return the parents, but Krimmel provides a poignant and calm center to the image with a depiction of a black boy, in bare feet, holding the horse while everyone bustles about him.
Krimmel's painting is superbly rendered in mezzotint with some engraving by John Sartain (1808-1897). John, the patriarch of the Sartain family of artists and engravers, was born in England and apprenticed as an engraver. Seeking to establish himself as a printmaker, he emigrated in 1830 to Philadelphia, where he remained for the rest of his life. His copious and well-executed output earned him the title of 'father of mezzotint engraving' in the United States, where he popularized the little-known process. Over the years, John Sartain engraved many large-scale images after such important artists as Thomas Sully, John Neagle, Peter Rothermel, George Caleb Bingham, Emanuel Leutze, F.O.C. Darley, Christian Schussele, and here John L. Krimmel. $1,400
Tompkins H. Matteson. “The Distribution of the American Art-Union Prizes at the Tabernacle – Broadway, New York 24th December 1847.” Drawn on stone by Francis Davignon. Lithograph. New York: Sarony & Major, 1848. 15 3/4 x 20 3/4. Very good condition.
The AAU is well known today for the thirty-six engravings it published based on the paintings of some of the most luminous names in American art, including George Caleb Bingham, Thomas Cole, F.O.C. Darley, R.C. Woodville, Asher B. Durand and William Sidney Mount. The association is especially important for the seminal role it played in stimulating American art and for spreading an awareness of it throughout the country. With its gallery and thousands of subscribers, the AAU probably had more to do than any other force with the success of many of America’s nineteenth century artists and the popularization of their work. The legacy of the American Art Union is immense, and its prints are an important part of that.
In this print, the AAU itself is held up for examination. Though some controversy surrounded the association’s lottery-style distribution, this print illustrates the open manner in which the drawings were conducted. AAU members fill the auditorium of the Tabernacle, observing a process presided over by various military officers and government officials. After Tompkins H. Matteson produced the drawing of the proceedings, it was lithographed and distributed to AAU Honorary Secretaries as an aid to garnering new subscriptions. That year, new memberships spiked, due at least in part to the appeal of this fine print. $7,500
Go to page with other American Art-Union prints.
William Sydney Mount. "Coming to the Point." New York: William Schaus, 1855. 19 1/4 x 23. Lithograph by Soulange Tessier, Paris. Superb original hand color. Small (1/2 x 1/8) repaired hole in top margin and a few very short tears at edges. Otherwise, excellent condition.
A wonderful image after a painting by William Sidney Mount. Mount (1807-1868) was the first important American genre painter. He spent most of his life on Long Island, where he recorded his observations of local daily life in a large number of charming portraits, landscapes and genre scenes. In the mid-nineteenth century, a number of the better American artists, including Mount and George Caleb Bingham, had images made of their paintings to be sold as separate prints. An important source of support for native-born American artists, such prints were also key tools in the dissemination of 'fine art' to the general American public.
Goupil, Vibert & Company was a very large print publisher and art dealer in Paris. In 1847, the firm sent William Schaus to New York to open an American branch and to set up an International Art Union which would compete with the American Art Union. Mount, who was displeased with the American Art Union, struck up a friendship with Schaus, and the printer eventually arranged issue of ten of Mount' paintings as large color lithographs: seven were published by Goupil and three by Schaus himself after he left Goupil. This print is a second version of Mount's earlier "Bargaining for a Horse." Both images exemplified a favorite American myth, the witty triumph of the hayseed over the city-slicker. The quality of this print, lithographed by the best craftsmen in Europe, is excellent -- one of the finest examples of American genre art. $7,500
William Sidney Mount. [Just in Tune.] New York: W. Schaus/Goupil & Co., 1850. Lithograph by Emile Lassalle. Printed by Lemercier, Paris. 24 x 19 1/2 (sheet size). Title and imprint trimmed off. Black painted around image. Very good condition. Framed.
Another of the Schaus lithographs after Mount. This image shows a violin player tuning his instrument, and Mount beautifully captures the personality of the bearded youth. Mount sent the painting, which he sold in 1849, to Paris to be lithographed into a print (which he hoped would earn him additional income). This print is also a nice example of a technique popular in the second half of the nineteenth century, viz. the painting of the blank area around the main image with an opaque black paint. Throwing the central figure into vivid contrast, the rich black background adds drama to the print's composition. Though many German prints were issued with a black background, it was often print collectors and gallery owners who modified prints to achieve this style. While unmodified examples of this image are wonderful, the dramatic effect of this print shows why this style was popular in the nineteenth century. $2,100
Richard Caton Woodville. "Mexican News." New York: American Art Union, 1851. Copyright 1853. Engraving by Alfred Jones. 20 1/2 x 18 1/2. Strong image; text light. A fine copy. Mann, p. 61.
Self-titled as a purveyor of truly national art, the American Art Union focused on widely-appealing art that could unify the divided nation of the mid-nineteenth century. Funded by membership subscriptions, the AAU purchased paintings from some of the most luminous names in American painting, including George Caleb Bingham, Thomas Cole, F.O.C. Darley, Asher B. Durand, William Sidney Mount, and Richard Caton Woodville. By selling the resultant prints and opening their gallery to the public, the union did much to advance American art as a democratic tradition.
One of their best-known engravings, "Mexican News" became a defining piece of American genre art that keenly reflects America during the eventful expansion of mid-nineteenth century. By 1834, white and enslaved Americans outnumbered the Spanish-speaking population in Stephen Austin's Texas colony by four to one. Their weak allegiance to Mexico led to separation (and eventual independence) when Mexican President Santa Anna declared a unified constitution in 1835. Ten years later, the United States opened the West to its own settlers by annexing Texas and acquiring California and Oregon, angering Mexico and inciting war. While neither legal nor moral, the war was very popular, alternately entrancing and inflaming Americans with battle news. In this print, all sorts of people gather at the aptly named "American Hotel," which is also marked as the post office. As a dapper-looking businessman reads aloud the newly-arrived newspaper, the small crowd around him reacts from their perches on the hotel's stoop. Buildings like this, located in the newly formed states along the Mississippi River, would have been the major hub for communication and socialization in a frontier town. All the states bordering the Mississippi River sent volunteers to the war, and this rural scene reflects that passionate interest. For Woodville to gather many types of Americans here to receive news of the war, then, is a telling picture of national sentiment and growth. An exquisite print. $3,200
Go to page with other American Art-Union prints.
Thomas Cole (1801-1848) is known as the founder of the Hudson River School of landscape painting and produced primarily realistic and imaginary landscapes. Samuel Ward commissioned Cole to paint a set of four allegorical paintings in 1839. These four prints, engraved after Coles' paintings, depict the stages of life from birth to death. Cole's inspiration may have come from a sermon by Reverend Reginald Heaver referring to "life [which] bears on us like the stream of a mighty river."
The series begins with Childhood, in which a small child and its "Spirit Guide" (guardian angel) emerge from a dark cavern in a boat whose figurehead holds an hour glass. The boat's sides depict more figures of the hours. The cavern represents man's earthly origin and mysterious past; the soft light of morning and the abundant flowers and plants growing alongside the "Stream of Life" are symbols of early life. The narrowness of the river banks and the limited scope of scene represent the limited experience of childhood. The Egyptian lotus, in the foreground, provides another symbol of human existence.
In Youth, the landscape widens and the foliage becomes diversified, with trees overshadowing the bank. Alone in the boat, the "Voyager" takes the helm himself. The "Spirit Guide" now stands on the bank. The Voyager points to the sky where the vision of an exotic dome appears to him, symbolizing the dreams and aspirations of youth.
As the Voyager enters Manhood the landscape shifts to a dramatically dark and stormy setting. The dreams of youth are replaced by the struggles of middle age. The current of the stream has become swift and the Voyager seems to have lost control of his boat. Ahead of him is a waterfall with sinister trees in the foreground. "Life's Passenger" looks toward heaven for guidance, but in the clouds lurk the demons of Suicide, Intemperance and Murder, which Cole thought were ever present in the life of man.
In the final scene, Old Age, the Voyager has navigated the Stream of Life, which has emptied into a tranquil but dark and lonely sea, lined with jagged rocks and cliffs. The boat, damaged from life's storms, reveals that time is nearly at an end for the Voyager. Only now is the Spirit Guide revealed to him, guiding him toward his final destination. Old and gray, the passenger assumes a pious pose and readies himself for his inevitable fate. A shaft of light parts the clouds, and angels descend to usher the Voyager to another life.
Rarely found together, these prints were beautifully engraved by James Smillie, who was born in New York on January 16, 1833, and trained by his father, James Smillie, as an engraver on steel. While his principal work was bank-note engraving, Smillie produced many engravings after the work of other artists. He was an excellent etcher and a founder, and later president, of the New York Etching Club. In 1849, Smillie engraved Youth for the American Art Union (1839-1851), an organization created to support and develop popular appreciation of American art by issuing prints engraved after paintings which the organization owned. The favorable reception of this print led Smillie to engrave the three other voyages and issue the four print set in 1855. The resulting prints are considerably rarer than the initial AAU print and are much sought-after. The set of four: $4,600
Thomas Cole. "Voyage of Life-Youth." Boston: B.B. Russell, ca. 1860. 15 1/4 x 22 1/2. Engraving by J. Smillie. Very light stain in left margin just touching image. Otherwise, very good condition.
A single print from Cole's famous series. This image shows the man just beginning to depart from his angel, before he begins to deal with the difficult currents of manhood through appeal to God. $800
Frederic Edwin Church. "The hearts [sic] of the Andes." Berlin: F. Sala & Co., ca. 1858. Tinted lithograph with hand highlights. 15 1/2 x 21 3/4. Very good condition.
Frederic Edwin Church (1826-1900) is one of the most influential landscape artists of the nineteenth century. A pupil of Thomas Cole, he was a key figure in the Hudson River School of American artists. In the 1850s, inspired by Alexander von Humboldt, Church went to South America and made sketches for what would become his most impressive painting, "The Heart of the Andes," completed in 1858. Church's large canvas (6 x 10 feet) was a huge success with the public and attracted more than twelve thousand viewers when it was exhibited in New York in 1859. Though this print, produced in Germany, cannot convey the impact of the huge original, it still beautifully captures Church's grand concept and the careful detail set in an awe-inspiring landscape. $1,200
Rembrandt Peale. "The Court of Death." New York: C.Q. Colton, [1859]. 16 3/4 x 27 3/4. Wood engraving by Loomis & Annin. Rich original hand color. Some chips in right margin and expertly repaired short tears. Otherwise, very fine condition.
This print is after the painting by Rembrandt Peale (1778-1860). Born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, he was the son of Charles Willson Peale. Rembrandt travelled to England and studied under Benjamin West from 1801 to 1803. A founder of the National Academy of Design, Peale is best known for his portrait of George Washington. Other important paintings of his are Napoleon on Horseback, The Roman Daughter, and portraits of Thomas Jefferson and Gilbert Stuart.
"The Court of Death," painted in 1820, was one of the most popular paintings of that decade. In the first year of its traveling exhibition, Peale earned over $8,000 in admissions, and it continued to be exhibited for half a century. The size of the canvas was a huge 11 feet by 23 feet, and was based upon a poem by the recently deceased Bishop of London, Beilby Porteus. Death is represented enthroned in a gloomy cave, his feet resting on the body of a man stricken in the prime of life. Surrounding him are his agents: War, Conflagration, Famine, Pestilence, Pleasure, Intemperance, Remorse, Delirium Tremens, Suicide, and an array of deadly diseases. Before the throne is Old Age who is supported by Faith. Members of the Peale family posed for most of the figures with the artist’s daughter as the women and his famous father as “Old Age”. Much was made in the time that the corpse was based on an actual cadaver from a medical school in Philadelphia. Below the image is a stanza from Porteous’ poem “The Court of Death.” The popularity of this painting created a demand to reproduce the image. Two large prints were published by Colton but involved different processes. One was a chromolithograph printed by Sarony & Major, and the second was this wood engraving. This print was probably issued to make it even more affordable for the average person to own a copy of Peale’s painting, since wood engravings were less expensive to produce than chromolithographs. The result is one of the most ambitious wood engravings for fine art in early American history. $650
Jasper F. Cropsey. "American Autumn, Starucca Valley, Erie R. Road." Philadelphia: Thomas Sinclair, 1865. Chromolithograph by William Dreser. 22 x 31 7/8. Very good condition.
A fine example of mid-nineteenth century American chromolithography. Chromolithography was originally developed to enable printmakers to produce images of the texture and richness of oil paintings. Some of the most important artists of the period, including Jasper Cropsey, William Harnett, and Frederick Church, had their paintings reproduced using this complex medium. This is one of the most successful such projects, with chromolithographer William Dreser, using many layers of color, being able to closely follow the appearance of the original painting. This print is not only superb artistically, but also has a fascinating history. Uranus H. Crosby, of Chicago, built an opera house which he intended to donate to his city. Construction costs ran much higher than expected and Crosby needed to raise funds to finish. He thus held a lottery, the winner of which was the opera house and another prize of which was the original painting of this scene. In order to increase sales, Crosby gave a copy of this print to anyone who purchased at least four tickets. The scene, by Cropsey, shows the Starucca Valley located between the Blue Ridge and the Catskills. It is a wonderful rendering of a northern Pennsylvania scene in the height of autumn. $1,600
An unrecorded pair of prints by the famous American genre artist John George Brown (1831-1913). Born in Durham, England, on the 11th of November 1831, Brown studied at Newcastle-on-Type, in the Edinburgh Academy, and after moving to New York City in 1853, at the schools of the National Academy of Design. In 1866 he became one- of the charter members of, the Water-Color Society, of which he was president from 1887 to 1904. He is best known for his images of children, though usually street urchins rather than the beatific young ladies depicted here.
The 50 years following the Civil War have been called the period of "chromo civilization" in America. Millions of chromolithographs were made and they became the customary decoration in most homes throughout the country; they were what Peter Marzio calls "the core of American life." One of the great appeals of chromolithography was that it allowed for the inexpensive production of thousands of colored prints, bringing bright and attractive images within the reach of the masses. But chromolithography was much more than this. Through chromolithography, historical events were graphically depicted, American views were spread far and wide, and all aspects of American life were vividly documented. At the same time, many artists used the process to create prints that very closely followed their artistic vision, and many chromolithographs, which were produced using heavy oil-based inks, closely duplicated the appearance of actual oil paintings.
Here we have a pair of prints designed to provide morally uplifting images for the home, with figures representing the virtues of hope and purity. Catherine E. Beecher & Harriet Beecher Stowe, in The American Women's Home (1869), said this about the role of such prints, "The educating influence of these works of art can hardly be overestimated. Surrounded by such suggestions of the beautiful, and such reminders of history and art, children are constantly trained to correctness of taste and refinement of thought, and stimulated-sometimes to efforts at artistic imitation, always to the eager and intelligent inquiry about the scenes, the places, the incidents represented." We have been unable to find any record of J. Snedecor nor his "Chromos," so this may have been a failed attempt to break into the market for top end chromolithographs that had been pioneered by Prang. Despite this apparent lack of success for these prints, their quality is very fine and the artist an important one, making them wonderful example of Victorian American prints for the home. For the pair, $1,200
This print was purchased from a woman whose grandfather owned a print and frame shop in New Jersey during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The print was never sold, and/or framed, and remained in storage for nearly 100 years, and thus has never had a proper home and owner. $1,400
A particularly large and wonderfullly rendered image published by the best American chromolithographic publisher, Louis Prang. $725
Two shoeshine boys at odds over a corner prime for the trade. $800
Noted for his sympathetic images of African-Americans, American painter Thomas Waterman Wood earned the Water Color Society of New York's prize with his painting "Uncle Ned and I." Born in abolitionist New England, Wood came of age as a portrait painter in antebellum Boston, where he studied with Chester Harding. His later travels took him around the country and the world before he settled in Montpelier and New York, focusing on American genre subjects. About one quarter of his paintings focused on African-American subjects, who he portrayed with remarkable sympathy for the period. Though "Uncle Ned" echoes the titles "Uncle" and "Aunt" given to enslaved Africans (and held over in post-bellum years), the subject here appears in much the same garb and stance as Wood's Caucasian farm worker subjects. The sentimental dignity afforded to both man and child here reflects the Victorians' obsession with the virtue of childhood. Rather than presenting an African-American man as a comical or political symbol, Wood portrays him here as a man, in much the same position and light as a Caucasian man of similar age and occupation. $850
Andrew W. Melrose. "Lake George." [Sabbath Day Point/Roger's Slide]. Washington: A. Melrose, ca. 1885. 21 1/2 x 35 1/2. Chromolithograph by Raphael Tuck and Sons. Margins trimmed to image as issued. Vibrant colors. Very good to excellent condition. In period frame.
Andrew Melrose (1836-1901) was an artist of American landscapes. He had studios in Hoboken and Guttenburg, New Jersey during the 1870s and 1880s. He is particularly known for his paintings of views from North Carolina to New England, though he also produced images of Ireland, the Tyrols and Cornwall, England. This lovely and colorful Adirondack scene shows the area of Sabbath Day Point, near the present day town of Hague, New York. The view is looking north. In the background, on the left is Roger's Slide. In foreground, is a cabin with people unloading provisions on the shore. In the middle distance a flat bottom boat is ferrying people to another location on the lake. Melrose published a number of large chromolithographs after his paintings. Many artists tried selling these large and colorful prints to make extra money and to help establish their reputations. This is an excellent example of nineteenth century chromolithography used to reproduce American paintings. $3,200
Go to exhibition of chromolithographs
8441 Germantown Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19118 USA
(215) 242-4750 [Phone]
(215) 242-6977 [Fax]
PhilaPrint@PhilaPrintShop.com 
©The Philadelphia Print Shop, Ltd. Last updated June 17, 2009
Place Order