Views of the American West
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James H. Beard. "Westward Ho." New York: Crosby Opera House Art Association, 1866. Engraving by T. Dwight Booth. Printed by W. Pate, N.Y. Steel engraving. 22 1/2 x 29 3/4. Full margins. A tear extending one inch into plate mark at left, not touching image, and small chip in top margin. Otherwise, very good condition and impression.
A classic frontier image by James Henry Beard (1812-1893). This exaltation of westward expansion was printed at the beginning of the period of greatest migration. Beard's scene shows a pioneer family living in a lean-to, before they had cleared the forest and built their cabin. Beard presents the tableaux in the shape of a perfect neoclassical triangle formed by the central figure of the father and balanced by the family and their animals. The limestone formations in the background suggests the Missouri River as a location, but this is really a paradigm image of "Westward Ho." $1,350
"Yosemite Valley-Cathedral Rock." New York: Colton, Zahm, & Roberts, ca. 1870. Chromolithograph, mounted on original canvas backing with publisher stamp. 11 x 13 3/4. In original frame with original label on back (though with wear so artist name cannot be read). Very good condition.
In the second half of the nineteenth century, print publishers began to issue chromolithographs that were intended to duplicate the appearance of oil paintings. This style of print was developed by Prang & Co. out of Boston, but soon other publishers joined in. These prints were a way for Americans of the middle class to hang art work that had the appearance of oil paintings in their homes at prices they could afford. Colton, Zahm, & Roberts was a firm from New York that issued a number of these prints, including this lovely view of Yosemite Valley, with Cathedral Rock in the distance. The artist was listed on the original label, but it has been so worn as to be illegible. The composition and quality of this print indicates the artist was of some skill. With the handsome original frame, this is a fine example of American printmaking in the post-Civil War period. $1,600
Henry J. Warre. "The American Village." [Oregon City, Oregon]. From Sketches in North America and the Oregon Territory. London, 1848. 9 3/4 x 12 3/4. Lithograph by Dickinson & Co. Excellent condition. Ref.: Howes: 114; Sabin: 101455; J.R. Abbey: 656; Deak: 550; Reps: 3270.
In 1845 Captain Henry J. Warre, later Sir Henry Warre, led a British expedition across the Northern Rocky Mountains to Puget Sound to gather information on the area in case the United States and his country went to war over the Oregon-Washington Boundary. By the time he returned to England with the information, the differences had been settled amicably, so maps and other strategic information was not needed. Nevertheless, in 1848 Warre issued twenty views on sixteen sheets in a portfolio entitled Sketches in North America and the Oregon Territory. The plates--which Howes compares to Bodmer's wonderful aquatints for draughtsmanship and beauty--showed some of the earliest and most beautiful views of Oregon in the nineteenth century. They appeared in versions with both hand coloring and printed by multiple tint stones.
Oregon City is located on the east bank of the Willamette River twelve miles southeast of Portland. The town was established in 1829 by John McLoughlin and other retired workers from the Hudson Bay Company. By the time Warre arrived at the site there were so many American settlers who had moved there in the 1840s that it had lost its identity as a British outpost. Warre described the town as "a flourishing village, with two churches, and 100 houses, store houses, & c. all of which have been built within five years." A fine item of Western Americana. $2,600
"San Francisco. 1854." New York: Henry Bill, 1857. From The History of the World. 8 x 16. Tinted lithograph. Folded as issued. Margins as issued. Minor stains in sky; short tears in margins. Else, very good condition.
A bird's eye view of San Francisco within five years of the Gold Rush. Though by this time San Francisco was a bustling, robust settlement, it was still quite a small community, with the buildings merging rapidly into the rural surrounding hills. This print was issued in Bill's History of the World, and this explains the folds. Though quite a number of these prints were issued, few have survived in good condition. This a lovely and most desirable print of San Francisco. $625
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Prints by Currier & Ives. New York. Lithographs. Original hand color. Very good condition, except as noted.
The Currier & Ives firm was America's greatest nineteenth century printmaker, providing for the American people a pictorial history of their own development. One of their most popular topics was the American frontier and western expansion. The following prints are not clear-eyed documentations of this epoch of American history, but rather they wonderfully express the idealized image most Americans had of the great western migration.
A handsome small view of El Capitan in Yosemite, by an unknown artist. The majestic rock formation towers in the distance, as two figures rest on a riverside boulder in the foreground. $185
"Across the Rocky Mountains." Cincinnati: William M. Donaldson & Co., 1879. 22 1/2 x 29 1/2. Chromolithograph. Margins trimmed to image as originally issued. Very good condition. In period frame.
A majestic Western scene, produced in chromolithography by the Donaldson company in Cincinnati. This firm specialized in circus posters, but also produced fine chromolithographs for framing and display, such as this dramatic print. The Rocky Mountains are shown towering over a forested valley. Snow, clouds and mist hug the mountain peaks. In the foreground are some Indians pointing as the train bursts thru the tunnel opening. Much of the West was still unknown at this time. The whole scene is a wonderful representation of Manifest Destiny. Man's ability to over come any topographical obstacle and his inevitable quest to conquer the West. Overall a very atmospheric and dramatic image of the Rocky Mountains. $2,600
Louis B. Akin. "El Tovar Hotel, Grand Canyon." Published by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Company, 1906. 17 1/2 x 35 3/4. Chromolithograph. Margins trimmed to the image as originally issued. Very good condition. With original period frame and descriptive brass plaque.
The promotion of the Grand Canyon was pursued by corporations that stood to profit from their association. The Atchinson, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway looked to art as one of many ways to increase the number of passengers on its railways. For many years the company was the only direct route to the Grand Canyon. The company financed artists to visit the area to paint. In this way the Company acquired a large collection of original art to decorate stations, offices and hotels. Some of the paintings were reproduced on letterheads, ink blotters and chromolithographs, which were distributed to passengers as souvenirs or printed as public advertisements such as this print.
Louis Akin (1868-1913) is best known for his paintings of the Grand Canyon, Southwestern landscapes and Hopi Indian life. Akin was born near Corvallis, Oregon on June 6, 1868. A man who loved the outdoors Akin moved to New York in 1897, to study in William Merritt Chase's New York Art School. While in New York he took various jobs as a commercial artist and illustrator but in 1903 was offered a commission by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to paint the Hopi Indians. Three years later the Railway asked him to create a painting of the newly completed El Tovar Hotel at Grand Canyon. That image became something of a trademark for the Santa Fe Railway. Akin's work in the Southwest brought him another commission by the American Museum of Natural History in New York to paint murals for a hall on Indians of the Southwest. Based in Flagstaff, Arizona, Akin traveled throughout the Southwest, making sketches for the planned mural. Unfortunately, Akin died of pneumonia in 1913 before he could complete this work. His largest landscape painting, "Evening - Grand Canyon", may be seen in Verkamp's gift shop in Grand Canyon Village on the South Rim.
The El Tovar Hotel, completed in 1905, was built just twenty feet from the south rim of the Grand Canyon and is considered as the architectural crown jewel of the Grand Canyon. The hotel is made of native stone and Oregon pine and its design is based on various rustic hunting lodges in Europe. Architect Charles Whittlesey designed the building to complement the hotel's geological surroundings. The hotel is named for the Spanish explorer Don Pedro de Tovar. $4,200
Thomas Moran. "Grand Canyon of Arizona From Hermit Rim Road." Chicago: Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Railway System, 1913. 26 1/2 x 35 1/4. Chromolithograph by American Lithographic Co. In original frame without glass, as issued. Image somewhat time toned. Otherwise, very good condition.
An impressive American chromolithograph of Thomas Moran's famous image of the Grand Canyon from the Hermit Rim. Moran is one of America's best painters of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, and he is particularly known for his luminous paintings of the American west. Moran accompanied the 1871 Ferdinand V. Hayden expedition to the Yellowstone, and upon his return he produced a superb group of watercolors which Boston publisher Louis Prang turned into 15 chromolithographs which he issued in a portfolio limited to 1,000 copies. The success of these marvelous prints inspired Moran to head west again two years later. In 1873 he joined John Wesley Powell, who had navigated the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon in 1869, on another expedition to the Grand Canyon. This trip resulted in a painting taken from the Kaibab Plateau on the north rim, which in turn was turned into this stunning chromolithograph.
The promotion of the Grand Canyon was pursued by corporations that stood to profit from their association. The Atchinson, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway looked to art as one of many ways to increase the number of passengers on its railways. For many years the company was the only direct route to the Grand Canyon. Along with Moran, the company also financed other artists to visit the area to paint. In this way the Company acquired a large collection of original art to decorate stations, offices and hotels. Some of the paintings were reproduced on letterheads, ink blotters and chromolithographs, which were distributed to passengers as souvenirs or printed as public advertisements. Moran's original painting is still in the possession of the company. However, the Santa Fe did not acquire the painting directly from Moran, but purchased it from the American Lithographic Co., who had bought it from Moran's Chicago dealer. For the sum of $4,000 the railroad received the oil and reproduction rights along with 2,500 chromolithographs that the Passenger Department distributed. This grand image was also reproduced in the company's annual calendars for many years. $2,800
Prints of the Indian Wars. From The United States Army and Navy. Akron, Ohio: Werner Company, 1899. Chromolithographs. All ca. 9 1/4 x 13 1/4. Very good condition, except some with minor marginal tears (repaired) and as noted.
A series of dramatic prints illustrating the American Indian wars after the Civil War. The prints are from a series on the United States Army and Navy, and each print captures in detail the various types of uniforms worn by each service and by rank. The scenes are unusual in depicting military action, with the troops attacking or being attacked.
A handsome print from Picturesque America. This two volume set provided a glimpse of nineteenth century America--its towns, cities, rivers, ports, important architecture- through its text and illustrations. Most of the images were of eastern locations, but this is one of the few showing the American West. In it, Mount Shasta looms over an Indian encampment near the forest. $125 Colored version available at $135
Herrmann J. Meyer and his father, Joseph Meyer, were German publishers of an illustrated travel series called Meyer's Universum. Joseph Meyer very much admired the United States and sent his son to establish a publishing house in New York. Herrmann proceeded to publish an American edition of the Universum, but also desired to publish a new series of his own called, The United States Illustrated. Meyer enlisted the services of Charles A. Dana editor of the New York Tribune to serve as editor of the series. Unfortunately, the series did not do well, and Meyer decided to return to Germany. After the death of his father, he assumed control of their Bibliographischen Institut which is still in business today. The prints from Meyer's various publications are mostly based on first-hand renderings and are finely engraved. They are some of the most interesting and desirable small views of the trans-Mississippi West.
Harper's Weekly was a weekly newspaper filled with woodblock illustrations by many of the leading American artists of the last half of the nineteenth century. It, and other illustrated newspapers of the day, provide one of the only sources for contemporary images of the American West during the nineteenth century. Drawn by a number of expert artists, including Frederic Remington, Charles Graham, R.F. Zogbaum and Thomas Moran, these images are just now beginning to be appreciated not only as decorative and affordable, but as having their own historic value for the collector. This is a fine contemporary view of a Cavalry charge during the Sioux War of 1863. $75
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