Miles Standish

Howard Chandler Christy was born in 1873 in Ohio, showed love for art at age three. Encouraged by his parents, he began with sketching and later turned to watercolors. In 1890, he left for New York to pursue his passion. Christy found a mentor in a famous painter, William Merritt Chase. He admired illustrators Howard Pyle and Edwin Austin Abbey and became a magazine illustrator. His creations included likenesses of women who would become known as "Christy Girls," similar to the famous "Gibson Girls." Married twice, his first daughter Natalie was born during his marriage to model Maybelle Thompson. His second marriage was in 1919 to Nancy Palmer. He retired from magazine illustrating in 1921. His partner until his death at age 80 was Elise Ford. They had a daughter named Holly, born in 1939. He took up professional portraiture and painted portraits for the elite including President and Mrs. Calvin Coolidge, Mr. and Mrs. Hearst and Herbert Hoover. Renowned paintings include We The People in 1937, The Signing Of The Constitution in 1940 and The Signing of The United Nations Charter in 1946–47. Christy had several works in progress when he passed away at his artist studio in 1952 at age 80. They were a portrait of Douglas Mac Arthur and a Gettysburg painting. Among Christy's honors were an honorary membership in the U.S. Naval Academy, medals from Paris and Chicago Expos and decorations from the N.Y Police Force and Veterans of Foreign Wars. Christy's magazine illustrations are collector's items.

Painting is an art form that has spanned innumerable cultures, with artists using the medium to tell stories, explore and communicate ideas and express themselves. To bring abstract, landscape and still-life paintings into your home is to celebrate and share in the long tradition of this discipline.

When we look at paintings, particularly those that originated in the past, we learn about history, other cultures and countries of the world. Like every other work of art, paintings — whether they are contemporary creations or works that were made during the 19th century — can often help us clearly see and understand the world around us in a meaningful and interesting way.

Cave walls were the canvases for what were arguably the world’s first landscape paintings, which depict natural scenery through art. Portrait paintings and drawings, which, along with sculpture, were how someone’s appearance was recorded prior to the advent of photography, are at least as old as Ancient Egypt. In the Netherlands, landscapes were a major theme for painters as early as the 1500s. Later, artists in Greece, Rome and elsewhere created vast wall paintings to decorate stately homes, churches and tombs. Today, creating a wall of art is a wonderful way to enhance your space, showcase beautiful pieces and tie an interior design together.

No matter your preference, whether you favor Post-Impressionist paintings, animal paintings, Surrealism, Pop art or another movement or specific period, arranging art on a blank wall allows you to evoke emotions in a room while also showing off your tastes and interests. A symmetrical wall arrangement may comprise a grid of four to six pieces or, for an odd number of works, a horizontal row. Asymmetrical arrangements, which may be small clusters of art or large, salon-style gallery walls, have a more collected and eclectic feel. Download the 1stDibs app, which includes a handy “View on Wall” feature that allows you to see how a particular artwork will look on a particular wall, and read about how to arrange wall art. And if you’re searching for the perfect palette for your interior design project, what better place to turn than to the art world’s masters of color?

On 1stDibs, you’ll find an expansive collection of paintings and other fine art for your home or office. Browse abstract paintings, portrait paintings, paintings by popular artists and more today.