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Item Ships From: Wisconsin
"Orient-Express, " Colored Lithograph Poster signed by Pierre Fix-Masseau
By Pierre Fix-Masseau
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Orient-Express" is a lithograph poster by Pierre Fix-Masseau. It depicts two people dining and being served drinks on a luxury train. The artist signed the artwork in the image lower right. There was a small tear on the margin that has been repaired. 38 5/8" x 24 1/4" art 40 1/2" x 26" frame French Poster...
Category

1980s Art Deco Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

"Mexican Family, " Black & White Lithograph Family Portrait
By Howard Norton Cook
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Mexican Family" is a black and white lithograph by Howard Cook. The artist signed the piece lower right. It is from an edition of 250, unnumbered. This...
Category

1940s Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

"Swimmers, " Seascape Linoleum Cut by Clarice George Logan
By Clarice George Logan
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Swimmers" is an original linoleum print by Clarice George Logan. It features five figures enjoying a swim, jumping off from a small boat. Image: 4.94" x 6" Framed: 13.87" x 14.87" Clarice George Logan was born in Mayville, New York in 1909 but moved to Wisconsin in 1921. She attended the Milwaukee State Teachers College from 1927 to 1931 where she studied with Robert von Neumann...
Category

1930s American Modern Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Linocut

'Coupe Gordon Bennett 1909' original lithograph by Marguerite "Gamy" Montaut
By Marguerite Montaut
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Coupe Gordon Bennett 1909 — Curtiss le Gagnant" is an original Lithograph with Pochoir created by Marguerite Montaut (GAMY). Gamy presents the viewer w...
Category

Early 1900s American Realist Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph, Ink

"Erotica IV Marginala, " from the Mask of the Red Death series signed Castellon
By Federico Castellon
Located in Milwaukee, WI
This lithograph was one of sixteen Federico Castellón produced in 1968, published by Aquarius Press, to illustrate Edgar Allan Poe's 1832 story 'The Mask of the Red Death.' The image...
Category

1960s Surrealist Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

"Seba after Hiroshige" from "Japanese Suite" original lithograph signed pop art
By Michael Knigin
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Seba after Hiroshige" is an original color lithograph from the Japanese Suite by Michael Knigin. The artist signed the piece lower right and titled it...
Category

1970s Pop Art Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

20th century drypoint etching figurative animal print black and white signed
By John Edward Costigan
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Boy With Cows" is an original drypoint etching by John Edward Costigan. It depicts a young boy with three cows standing in a watering hole. The artist si...
Category

1930s American Realist Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Drypoint, Etching

"Actor, After Kunishige" Original Lithograph japan pop art figure bright signed
By Michael Knigin
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Actor, After Kunishige" is an original color lithograph by Michael Knigin. The artist signed the piece lower right and titled it lower left. This piece features a figure in a tradit...
Category

1970s Pop Art Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph, Ink

19th century color lithograph figurative print seated female subject signed
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Manomon (L'Estampe Moderne Volume I)" is an original estampe originale in color by Rene-Xavier Prinet. The artist signed the piece lower right. This piece was published in "L'Estampe Moderne," an Art Nouveau publication, and features a seated woman in a white robe and large, coiffed hair. 15 3/4" x 12" art 25 1/4" x 21 1/2" frame René-Xavier Prinet , born on December 31 , 1861 in Vitry-le-François and died on January 26 , 1946 in Bourbonne-les-Bains is a French painter Prinet exerts a spiritual talent, holding a distinguished place in Parisian society. He is noted for his bourgeois interiors and his portraits (families Saglio and Desgranges for example). His home region, Franche-Comté , as well as the Normandy coast where his residence the "Double Six...
Category

1890s Art Nouveau Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Color, Lithograph

20th century color lithograph figurative print male subjects sketch scene signed
By Claude Weisbuch
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"La Lecon Du Professor Tulp" is an original lithograph by Claude Weisbuch. The artist signed the piece lower right and wrote the edition (ETAT) in the lower left. This piece depicts ...
Category

1970s Modern Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph, Paper

"The Parade -La Garconne Series, " a Color Pochoir
By Kees van Dongen
Located in Milwaukee, WI
This color pochoir was done in 1925 on Arches paper No. 738/750 depicting a parade with animals and balloons. Archivally framed with 23k gold; 23k gold fillet, silk mat, and museum...
Category

1920s Art Deco Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Other Medium

"Young Girl With Hat, " Victorian Portrait Etching signed Frederick M. Spiegle
By Frederick M. Spiegle
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Young Girl With Hat" is a classical Victorian portrait etching. It is signed in graphite in the lower right by the artist, F.M. Spiegle. It depicts a Victorian girl with curly hair ...
Category

1880s American Realist Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Etching, Paper

"Say a Prayer -La Garconne Series, " a Color Pochoir
By Kees van Dongen
Located in Milwaukee, WI
This color pochoir by Kees Van Dongen is titled which was done in 1925 on arches paper No. 738/750. Archivally framed with 23k gold; 23k gold fillet, silk mat, and museum glass. 9...
Category

1920s Art Deco Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Other Medium

'Floorboard Plus Four' original collagraph signed by Joseph Rozman
By Joseph Rozman
Located in Milwaukee, WI
The present unique collagraph is an excellent example of Joseph Rozman's pictographic style. The composition is organized like a tiled floor, each square containing an abstracted ima...
Category

1960s Abstract Expressionist Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Paper, Ink, Watercolor

Late 19th century color lithograph art nouveau ornate bookplate figures
By Alphonse Mucha
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Going to Meet the Princess" and "Ilsee's Followers" are two sides of one double-sided original lithograph by Art Nouveau master Alphonse Mucha. These illustrations were pages 53 & 5...
Category

1890s Art Nouveau Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

"Couple Conversing - La Garconne Series, " Pochoir on Paper
By Kees van Dongen
Located in Milwaukee, WI
A color pochoir on arches paper by Kees Van Dongen titled "Couple Conversing" from the La Garconne Series "Un Couple Parle Ensemble." Two figures are surrounded by an aura-like pink ...
Category

1920s Art Deco Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Other Medium

'Untitled' original 1960s signed serigraph silver abstract vintage train pop art
Located in Milwaukee, WI
In this untitled serigraph, Vincent DiMattio combines the aesthetics of the space age with Pop Art sensibilities and techniques. In the postwar era of the 1950s and 1960s, the United States was in the midst of a period of economic growth for the middle class, and so the trappings and imagery of middle class life became the subjects of a number of artists. While figures like Andy Warhol focused on images of celebrities and soup cans, here DiMattio looks to robots and rockets. At the far left, a figure appears with a round green head and a small clamping arm. To the right, a form like a tank with phallic protrusions, one with a head like the form of a space ship. These signs all alight with the space age toys...
Category

1960s Pop Art Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Foil

"La race blanche (The White Race), " Lithograph after Painting by Rene Magritte
By René Magritte
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"La race blanche (The White Race)" is a color lithograph after the original 1937 painting by Rene Magritte. A female figure is made out of a mix of body parts. An eye sits on top of an ear, which is on top of a mouth, then two noses. Two breasts lying on a stomach; two arms come from the breasts. Legs are tucked under the stomach. This figure is on a sand dune next to the ocean. Art: 26.5 x 19.63 in Frame: 40.88 x 33.88 in René-François-Ghislain Magritte was born November 21, 1898, in Lessines, Belgium and died on August 15, 1967 in Brussels. He is one of the most important surrealist artists. Through his art, Magritte creates humor and mystery with juxtapositions and shocking irregularities. Some of his hallmark motifs include the bourgeois “little man,” bowler hats, apples, hidden faces, and contradictory texts. René Magritte’s father was a tailor and his mother was a miller. Tragedy struck Magritte’s life when his mother committed suicide when he was only fourteen. Magritte and his two brothers were thereafter raised by their grandmother. Magritte studied at the Brussels Academy of Fine Arts from 1916 to 1918. After graduating he worked as a wallpaper designer and in advertisement. It was during this period that he married Georgette Berger, whom he had known since they were teenagers. In 1926, René Magritte signed...
Category

Early 2000s Surrealist Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

'Plus White Deer' collagraph by Joseph Rozman from 'Los Animales' portfolio
By Joseph Rozman
Located in Milwaukee, WI
The present color collagraph, from the portfolio 'Los Animales,' is an excellent example of Joseph Rozman's pictographic style. Rozman's work often looks to ancient and non-western a...
Category

1960s Abstract Expressionist Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Paper, Ink

"Angelika's Pets, " Wood Engraving by Robert Franz Von Neumann
By Robert Franz Von Neumann
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Angelika's Pets" is an original wood engraving by Robert Franz Von Neumann. It features a young woman sitting at a desk, working on a wood engraving. Two large cats sit near her and look out a window nearby. Image: 6" x 5" Framed: 13.43" x 12.43" 1888 - 1976 Born in Rostock, Mecklenburg, Germany, Robert von Neumann...
Category

1930s American Modern Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Woodcut

Late 19th century color lithograph art nouveau floral ornate bookplate verso
By Alphonse Mucha
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"From: Ilsée, Princess of Tripoli Recto: "Jaufre's Entrance" Verso: "Father Scolds Son" is an original color lithograph by Alphonse Mucha. Exquisite double-sided color lithographs f...
Category

1890s Art Nouveau Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Pour Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler Figure in Landscape
By Yves Rouvre
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Pour Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler Figure in Landscape" is an original lithograph by Yves Rouvre. The artist signed the piece lower right. It features an abstracted figure in fields of co...
Category

1960s Modern Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

"Rayon des Soieries, Opera Bouffe en un Acte, " Litho Poster by Maurice Dufrene
By Maurice Dufrêne
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Rayon des Soieries, Opera Bouffe en un Acte" is an original color lithograph poster by Maurice Dufrene. The artist's name is written lower right. This piece depicts an Art Deco repr...
Category

1930s Art Deco Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

"The Urchin (Le Gamin) -Second and Final State, " Etching signed by Edouard Manet
By Édouard Manet
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"The Urchin (Le Gamin)" is an original etching by Edouard Manet. It depicts a young boy holding a basket with his long-haired dog. This is the second and fina...
Category

1860s Modern Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Etching

'Lovers of Okazaki' Original Erotic Shunga Woodblock Print by Utagawa Hiroshige
By Utagawa Hiroshige (Ando Hiroshige)
Located in Milwaukee, WI
The present work is an excellent example of the erotic Shunga prints produced by Utagawa 'Ando' Hioshige and his school. Shunga imagery became especially widespread in Japan with the...
Category

Mid-19th Century Edo Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Woodcut

Don Quichotte & Sancho Panza, c.1972, (A/P)
By Claude Weisbuch
Located in Milwaukee, WI
29 3/4 x 21 1/2 paper 34 x 25 1/4 framed Signed lower right. Claude Weisbuch was born in Thionville, France in 1927 and was a pupil at L' École des Beaux-Arts de Nancy, France. As ...
Category

Late 20th Century Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

"Noel, " Relief Print signed by Sylviz Spicuzza
By Sylvia Spicuzza
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Noel" is an original relief print by Sylvia Spicuzza. A holiday themed print, this features the image of the virgin Mary and baby Jesus. Image: 4" x 3" ...
Category

Late 20th Century American Modern Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Linocut

'Jones Island' original woodcut engraving by Gerrit Sinclair
By Gerrit Sinclair
Located in Milwaukee, WI
The print 'Jones Island' is something of a self portrait. In the image, an artist stands before and easel, depicting the docks and buildings on the coast. The title indicates that this is Jones Island in Milwaukee, the peninsula along Lake Michigan that today is home to largely industrial buildings. The buildings and figures in the print suggest that this might be a view of the last of the Kashubian or German immigrant settlements on the peninsula before they were evicted in the 1940s to make way for the development of the harbor. The artist in the image thus acts as a documentarian of these peoples. The careful line-work of the woodblock engraving adds a sense of expressionism to the scene, leaving the figures and buildings looking distraught and dirty, though the image nonetheless falls into the Social Realist category that dominated American artists during the Great Depression. This print was published in 1936 as part of the Wisconsin Artists' Calendar for the year 1937, which included 52 original, hand-made prints – one for each week of the year. 6 x 5 inches, image 10 x 7.13 inches, sheet 13.43 x 12.43 inches, frame Signed "GS" in the print block,upper left Entitled "Jones Island" lower left (covered by matting) Inscribed "Wood Engraving" lower center (covered by matting) Artist name "Gerrit V. Sinclair" lower right (covered by matting) Framed to conservation standards using 100 percent rag matting and museum glass, all housed in a silver gilded moulding. Gerrit Sinclair studied at the Art Institute of Chicago from 1910 - 1915, under Vanderpoel, Norton, and Walcott. In World War I, he served in the Army Ambulance Corps and later recorded his experiences in a series of oil paintings. He taught in Minneapolis before arriving in Milwaukee in 1920 to become a member of the original faculty of the Layton School of Art. He was also a member of the Wisconsin Painters & Sculptors. Sinclair's paintings and drawings were executed in a lyrical, representational style, usually expressing a mood rather than a narrative. His paintings reveal a great sensitivity for color and atmosphere. His subject matter focused on cityscapes, industrial valleys, and working-class neighborhoods, captured from eye-level. A decade before the popularity of Regionalism, Sinclair's strong interest in the community was reflected not only in his paintings, but also in his encouragement to students to return to their communities as artists and teachers. Joseph Friebert...
Category

1930s American Modern Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Woodcut, Engraving

"See Ya Next Week, " Giclee Print after 1999 Mixed Media signed by Reginald Gee
By Reginald K. Gee
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"See Ya Next Week" is a giclee print on paper after a 1999 acrylic and pastel on grocery bag signed by Reginald K. Gee. A male and a female embrace in the foreground. The man's face ...
Category

2010s Contemporary Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Paper, Giclée

20th century color lithograph nude female figure landscape expressionist line
By André Masson
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Dalila" is an original color lithograph by Andre Masson. This piece, which features an abstract, surreal woman, is from Masson's "Je Reve (I Dream)" por...
Category

1970s Surrealist Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Derriere Le Miroir
By Saul Steinberg
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Derriere Le Miroir" is an original color lithograph created by the artist Saul Steinberg. Edition: 53/150 Artwork Size: 14"x 20" Frame Size: 33 1/8"x 25 5/8" From the Saul Steinb...
Category

1970s Contemporary Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Ink, Lithograph

Late 19th century color lithograph art nouveau owl border woman figure
By Alphonse Mucha
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"From: Ilsée, Princesse de Tripoli Recto: "Blaye Castle" Verso: "Reflecting Pool" is an original color lithograph by Alphonse Mucha. Exquisite double-s...
Category

1890s Art Nouveau Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

"Le Bouquet tout fait (The Ready-made Bouquet), " Lithograph after Rene Magritte
By René Magritte
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Le Bouquet tout fait (The Ready-made Bouquet)" is a color lithograph after a 1954 original painting by Rene Magritte. A bourgeois "little man" faces away from the viewer looking towards a fall forest. Flora, the goddess of flowers and season of spring, from Sandro Botticelli's "Primavera" is painted on the back of the man. This juxtaposes fall and spring. Art: 12 x 9.75 in Frame: 22.38 x 20.38 in René-François-Ghislain Magritte was born November 21, 1898, in Lessines, Belgium and died on August 15, 1967 in Brussels. He is one of the most important surrealist artists. Through his art, Magritte creates humor and mystery with juxtapositions and shocking irregularities. Some of his hallmark motifs include the bourgeois “little man,” bowler hats, apples, hidden faces, and contradictory texts. René Magritte’s father was a tailor and his mother was a miller. Tragedy struck Magritte’s life when his mother committed suicide when he was only fourteen. Magritte and his two brothers were thereafter raised by their grandmother. Magritte studied at the Brussels Academy of Fine Arts from 1916 to 1918. After graduating he worked as a wallpaper designer and in advertisement. It was during this period that he married Georgette Berger, whom he had known since they were teenagers. In 1926, René Magritte signed a contract with the Brussels Art Gallery, which allowed him to quit his other jobs and focus completely on creating art. A year later he had his first solo show at the Galerie la Centaurie in Brussels. At this show Magritte exhibited what is today thought of as his first surrealist piece, The Lost Jockey, painted in 1926. In this work a jockey and his steed run across a theater stage, curtains parted on either side. Throughout the scene, there are trees with trunks shaped somewhat like chess pawns with musical scores running vertically up their sides and branches sticking out from all angles. Critics did not enjoy this style of art; it was new, different, and took critical thought to understand, but The Lost Jockey was only the first of many surrealist artworks Magritte would paint. Because of the bad press in Brussels, René and Georgette moved to Paris in 1927, with the hope that this center of avant-garde art would bring him success and recognition. In Paris, he was able to become friends with many other surrealists, including André Breton and Paul Éluard. They were able to learn from and inspire one another, pushing the Surrealist movement further forward. It was also in Paris that Magritte decided to add text to some of his pieces, which was one of the elements that made his artwork stand out. In 1929, he painted one of his most famous oil works: The Treachery of Images. This is the eye-catching piece centered on a pipe. Below the pipe is written “Ceci n’est pas un pipe,” which translates to “This is not a pipe.” This simple sentence upset many critics of the time, for of course it was a pipe. Magritte replied that it was not a pipe, but a representation of a pipe. One could not use this oil on canvas as a pipe, to fill it with tobacco and smoke it. Thus, it was not a pipe. In 1930, Magritte and Georgette moved back to Brussels. Though they would travel to his exhibitions elsewhere, their home going forward would always be in Brussels. Magritte had his first American exhibition at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York City in 1936 and his first show in England two years later in 1938 at The London...
Category

2010s Surrealist Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

'Gladia' original lithograph in colors signed by Rudolph Carl Gorman
By Rudolph Carl Gorman
Located in Milwaukee, WI
'Gladia' is an original color lithograph by the renown printmaker R.C. Gorman. from Arizona, the artist's later works focus almost entirely on the female figure and take Native American and Southwestern imagery as a source of inspiration. Here, a single woman sits in a colorful yet undefined space. The oval shape of her broad seated form is repeated in the delicately drawn shape of the flower basket at her feet. The basket contains a bundle of multicolor gladiolus flowers...
Category

1990s Contemporary Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

19th century engraving figurative landscape Victorian urban city scene signed
By Winslow Homer
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"SEESAW--Gloucester, Massachusetts" is an original wood engraving after Winslow Homer. The artist initialed the piece in the lower right. This print depicts six children on a seesaw ...
Category

1870s Academic Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Engraving

Chevalier a Genou (Kneeling Knight)
By Salvador Dalí­
Located in Milwaukee, WI
No. 305. Prestel. Ed. Ralf Michler and Lutz W. Lopsinger. Catalog Raisonne of Dali's Etchings and Mixed-Media Prints, 1924 - 1980. From the Faust Series (La Nuit de Walpurgis). This ...
Category

Late 20th Century Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Drypoint, Etching

19th century etching black and white figurative print female subject signed
By Jean Leon Gerome Ferris
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"The Spinner" is an original etching by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris. It depicts a woman in an interior next to a spinning wheel. The artist signed the piece lo...
Category

1880s Realist Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Etching

'The Rabbit' original woodcut engraving by Clarice George Logan
By Clarice George Logan
Located in Milwaukee, WI
In 'The Rabbit,' Wisconsin artist Clarice George Logan presents the viewer with a multi-figural scene: under a wood-frame structure, four children crouch on the ground, gathered around a young woman who presents a rabbit. Under normal circumstances, such an image of children with a bunny would recall childhood storybooks. In this case, however, the image is more ambiguous and suggests the unfortunate economic circumstances many children suffered during the interwar years. Nonetheless, the group could also be interpreted as a nativity play, with the rabbit taking the place of the Christ child, shining light on the children like in a painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Correggio. The careful line-work of the woodblock engraving adds a sense of expressionism to the scene, leaving the figures looking distraught and dirty, though the image nonetheless falls into the Social Realist category that dominated American artists during the Great Depression. This print was published in 1936 as part of the Wisconsin Artists' Calendar for the year 1937, which included 52 original, hand-made prints - one for each week of the year. Clarice George Logan was born in Mayville, New York in 1909 but moved to Wisconsin in 1921. She attended the Milwaukee State Teachers College from 1927 to 1931 where she studied with Robert von...
Category

1930s American Modern Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Engraving, Woodcut

17th century etching black and white figures sketch
By Claude Lorrain
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Etude d'Une Scene du Brigands (Study with Brigands)" is an etching by Claude Gellee (Le Lorrain). This etching is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum, the Art Institute of...
Category

Mid-17th Century Old Masters Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Etching

19th century color lithograph landscape figures horseback house scene trees sky
By Nathaniel Currier
Located in Milwaukee, WI
The present print is one of several examples produced for Nathaniel Currier by his longtime collaborator Frances F. "Fanny" Palmer. Harry T. Peters wrote of her: "There is no more interesting and appealing character among the group of artists who worked for Currier & Ives than Fanny Palmer. In an age when women, well-bred women in particular, did not generally work for a living Fanny Palmer for years did exacting, full-time work in order to support a large and dependent family ... Her work ... had great charm, homeliness, and a conscientious attention to detail." One of a series of four prints showing American country life in different seasons, the image presents the viewer with a picturesque view of a successful American farm. In the foreground, a gentleman rides a horse with a young boy before a respectable Italianate country house. Two women and a young girl pick flowers in the garden and several farm workers attend to their duties. Beyond are other homes and a city on the coast. 16.63 x 23.75 inches, artwork 28.13 x 33.38 inches, frame Entitled bottom center "American Country Life - May Morning" Signed in the stone, lower left "F.F. Palmer, Del." Signed in the stone, lower right "Lith. by N. Currier" Copyrighted lower center "Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1855 by N. Currier in the Clerk's office of the Southern District of N.Y." Inscribed bottom center "New York, Published by N. Currier 152 Nassau Street" Framed to conservation standards using silk-lined 100 percent rag matting and Museum Glass with a gold gilded liner, all housed in a stained wood moulding. Nathaniel Currier was a tall introspective man with a melancholy nature. He could captivate people with his piercing stare or charm them with his sparkling blue eyes. Nathaniel was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts on March 27th, 1813, the second of four children. His parents, Nathaniel and Hannah Currier, were distant cousins who lived a humble yet spartan life. When Nathaniel was eight years old, tragedy struck. Nathaniel’s father unexpectedly passed away leaving Nathaniel and his eleven-year-old brother Lorenzo to provide for the family. In addition to their mother, Nathaniel and Lorenzo had to care for six-year-old sister Elizabeth and two-year-old brother Charles. Nathaniel worked a series of odd jobs to support the family, and at fifteen, he started what would become a life-long career when he apprenticed in the Boston lithography shop of William and John Pendleton. A Bavarian gentleman named Alois Senefelder invented lithography just 30 years prior to young Nat Currier’s apprenticeship. While under the employ of the brothers Pendleton, Nat was taught the art of lithography by the firm’s chief printer, a French national named Dubois, who brought the lithography trade to America. Lithography involves grinding a piece of limestone flat and smooth then drawing in mirror image on the stone with a special grease pencil. After the image is completed, the stone is etched with a solution of aqua fortis leaving the greased areas in slight relief. Water is then used to wet the stone and greased-ink is rolled onto the raised areas. Since grease and water do not mix, the greased-ink is repelled by the moisture on the stone and clings to the original grease pencil lines. The stone is then placed in a press and used as a printing block to impart black on white images to paper. In 1833, now twenty-years old and an accomplished lithographer, Nat Currier left Boston and moved to Philadelphia to do contract work for M.E.D. Brown, a noted engraver and printer. With the promise of good money, Currier hired on to help Brown prepare lithographic stones of scientific images for the American Journal of Sciences and Arts. When Nat completed the contract work in 1834, he traveled to New York City to work once again for his mentor John Pendleton, who was now operating his own shop located at 137 Broadway. Soon after the reunion, Pendleton expressed an interest in returning to Boston and offered to sell his print shop to Currier. Young Nat did not have the financial resources to buy the shop, but being the resourceful type he found another local printer by the name of Stodart. Together they bought Pendleton’s business. The firm ‘Currier & Stodart’ specialized in "job" printing. They produced many different types of printed items, most notably music manuscripts for local publishers. By 1835, Stodart was frustrated that the business was not making enough money and he ended the partnership, taking his investment with him. With little more than some lithographic stones, and a talent for his trade, twenty-two year old Nat Currier set up shop in a temporary office at 1 Wall Street in New York City. He named his new enterprise ‘N. Currier, Lithographer’ Nathaniel continued as a job printer and duplicated everything from music sheets to architectural plans. He experimented with portraits, disaster scenes and memorial prints, and any thing that he could sell to the public from tables in front of his shop. During 1835 he produced a disaster print Ruins of the Planter's Hotel, New Orleans, which fell at two O’clock on the Morning of the 15th of May 1835, burying 50 persons, 40 of whom Escaped with their Lives. The public had a thirst for newsworthy events, and newspapers of the day did not include pictures. By producing this print, Nat gave the public a new way to “see” the news. The print sold reasonably well, an important fact that was not lost on Currier. Nat met and married Eliza Farnsworth in 1840. He also produced a print that same year titled Awful Conflagration of the Steamboat Lexington in Long Island Sound on Monday Evening, January 18, 1840, by which melancholy occurrence over One Hundred Persons Perished. This print sold out very quickly, and Currier was approached by an enterprising publication who contracted him to print a single sheet addition of their paper, the New York Sun. This single page paper is presumed to be the first illustrated newspaper ever published. The success of the Lexington print launched his career nationally and put him in a position to finally lift his family up. In 1841, Nat and Eliza had their first child, a son they named Edward West Currier. That same year Nat hired his twenty-one year old brother Charles and taught him the lithography trade, he also hired his artistically inclined brother Lorenzo to travel out west and make sketches of the new frontier as material for future prints. Charles worked for the firm on and off over the years, and invented a new type of lithographic crayon which he patented and named the Crayola. Lorenzo continued selling sketches to Nat for the next few years. In 1843, Nat and Eliza had a daughter, Eliza West Currier, but tragedy struck in early 1847 when their young daughter died from a prolonged illness. Nat and Eliza were grief stricken, and Eliza, driven by despair, gave up on life and passed away just four months after her daughter’s death. The subject of Nat Currier’s artwork changed following the death of his wife and daughter, and he produced many memorial prints and sentimental prints during the late 1840s. The memorial prints generally depicted grief stricken families posed by gravestones (the stones were left blank so the purchasers could fill in the names of the dearly departed). The sentimental prints usually depicted idealized portraits of women and children, titled with popular Christian names of the day. Late in 1847, Nat Currier married Lura Ormsbee, a friend of the family. Lura was a self-sufficient woman, and she immediately set out to help Nat raise six-year-old Edward and get their house in order. In 1849, Lura delivered a son, Walter Black Currier, but fate dealt them a blow when young Walter died one year later. While Nat and Lura were grieving the loss of their new son, word came from San Francisco that Nat’s brother Lorenzo had also passed away from a brief illness. Nat sank deeper into his natural quiet melancholy. Friends stopped by to console the couple, and Lura began to set an extra place at their table for these unexpected guests. She continued this tradition throughout their lives. In 1852, Charles introduced a friend, James Merritt Ives, to Nat and suggested he hire him as a bookkeeper. Jim Ives was a native New Yorker born in 1824 and raised on the grounds of Bellevue Hospital where his father was employed as superintendent. Jim was a self-trained artist and professional bookkeeper. He was also a plump and jovial man, presenting the exact opposite image of his new boss. Jim Ives met Charles Currier through Caroline Clark, the object of Jim’s affection. Caroline’s sister Elizabeth was married to Charles, and Caroline was a close friend of the Currier family. Jim eventually proposed marriage to Caroline and solicited an introduction to Nat Currier, through Charles, in hopes of securing a more stable income to support his future wife. Ives quickly set out to improve and modernize his new employer’s bookkeeping methods. He reorganized the firm’s sizable inventory, and used his artistic skills to streamline the firm’s production methods. By 1857, Nathaniel had become so dependent on Jims’ skills and initiative that he offered him a full partnership in the firm and appointed him general manager. The two men chose the name ‘Currier & Ives’ for the new partnership, and became close friends. Currier & Ives produced their prints in a building at 33 Spruce Street where they occupied the third, fourth and fifth floors. The third floor was devoted to the hand operated printing presses that were built by Nat's cousin, Cyrus Currier, at his shop Cyrus Currier & Sons in Newark, NJ. The fourth floor found the artists, lithographers and the stone grinders at work. The fifth floor housed the coloring department, and was one of the earliest production lines in the country. The colorists were generally immigrant girls, mostly German, who came to America with some formal artistic training. Each colorist was responsible for adding a single color to a print. As a colorist finished applying their color, the print was passed down the line to the next colorist to add their color. The colorists worked from a master print displayed above their table, which showed where the proper colors were to be placed. At the end of the table was a touch up artist who checked the prints for quality, touching-in areas that may have been missed as it passed down the line. During the Civil War, demand for prints became so great that coloring stencils were developed to speed up production. Although most Currier & Ives prints were colored in house, some were sent out to contract artists. The rate Currier & Ives paid these artists for coloring work was one dollar per one hundred small folios (a penny a print) and one dollar per one dozen large folios. Currier & Ives also offered uncolored prints to dealers, with instructions (included on the price list) on how to 'prepare the prints for coloring.' In addition, schools could order uncolored prints from the firm’s catalogue to use in their painting classes. Nathaniel Currier and James Merritt Ives attracted a wide circle of friends during their years in business. Some of their more famous acquaintances included Horace Greeley, Phineas T. Barnum, and the outspoken abolitionists Rev. Henry Ward, and John Greenleaf Whittier (the latter being a cousin of Mr. Currier). Nat Currier and Jim Ives described their business as "Publishers of Cheap and Popular Pictures" and produced many categories of prints. These included Disaster Scenes, Sentimental Images, Sports, Humor, Hunting Scenes, Politics, Religion, City and Rural Scenes, Trains, Ships, Fire Fighters, Famous Race Horses, Historical Portraits, and just about any other topic that satisfied the general public's taste. In all, the firm produced in excess of 7500 different titles, totaling over one million prints produced from 1835 to 1907. Nat Currier retired in 1880, and signed over his share of the firm to his son Edward. Nat died eight years later at his summer home 'Lion’s Gate' in Amesbury, Massachusetts. Jim Ives remained active in the firm until his death in 1895, when his share of the firm passed to his eldest son, Chauncey. In 1902, faced will failing health from the ravages of Tuberculosis, Edward Currier sold his share of the firm to Chauncey Ives...
Category

Mid-19th Century Romantic Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Watercolor, Lithograph

"La Grande Guerre (The Great War), " Color Lithograph after Rene Magritte
By René Magritte
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"La Grande Guerre (The Great War)" is a color lithograph after the 1964 painting by Rene Magritte. A Victorian lady stands in white facing the viewer. A bouq...
Category

2010s Surrealist Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Frontispiece
By Salvador Dalí­
Located in Milwaukee, WI
No. 189. Prestel. Ed. Ralf Michler and Lutz W. Lopsinger. Catalog Raisonne of Dali's Etchings and Mixed-Media Prints, 1924 - 1980. From the Secret Poems by Apollinaire Series (Poemes...
Category

Late 20th Century Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Drypoint, Etching

20th century color lithograph figurative print male subjects sketch scene signed
By Claude Weisbuch
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Geste et Peinture" is an original color lithograph by Claude Weisbuch. The artist signed the piece in the lower right and wrote the edition number (16/160) in the lower left. This p...
Category

1970s Modern Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

"November Morning, " Original Etching signed by Churchill Ettinger
By Churchill Ettinger
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"November Morning" is an original etching by Churchill Ettinger. The artist signed the piece in pencil lower right and titled it in pencil lower left. It depicts two fishermen workin...
Category

1940s Realist Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Etching

20th century color lithograph French scene female figures cathedral signed
By Francois Batet
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Un Parisienne a Longchamp" is an original color lithograph by Francois Batet. The artist signed the piece in the lower right and wrote the edition number (15/200) in the lower left....
Category

1980s Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

"The Temptation of Saint Anthony " Etching, Signed
By Fernand Cormon
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"The Temptation of Saint Anthony" is an original etching by Fernand Cormon. This piece has the artist's stamp. The piece is signed in pencil by the artis...
Category

1890s Academic Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Etching, Paper, Ink, Laid Paper

20th century color lithograph French scene female figures cafe table signed
By Francois Batet
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Tea Salon" is an original color lithograph by Francois Batet. The artist signed the piece in the lower right and wrote the edition number (126/200) in the lower left. This piece dep...
Category

1980s Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

"Projet D'Assiette, " from first ed. of 50 Original Zincographie by Paul Gauguin
By Paul Gauguin
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Projet D'Assiette" is an original zincographie print by Paul Gauguin. It is from the first edition of 50, created in 1889. 18 7/8" x 13" art 24 3/4" x 21" framed Paul Gauguin (1...
Category

Late 19th Century Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Black and White

"Cheveaux Et Cavalier (Horse & Rider) VI, " Lithograph signed by Marino Marini
By Marino Marini
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Cheveaux Et Cavalier (Horse & Rider) VI (Black, Red, Blue, White)" is an original color lithograph signed in pencil by the artist Marino Marini in the lower right. Reference: Guasta...
Category

1970s Post-Modern Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

'Le Chef D'Oeuvre Inconnu' original signed lithograph, artist painting at easel
By Claude Weisbuch
Located in Milwaukee, WI
'Le Chef D'Oeuvre Inconnu,' or in English 'The Unknown Masterpiece,' is an original signed lithograph by the contemporary artist Claude Weisbuch – and it is an excellent example of t...
Category

1970s Contemporary Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

"Marche a la Volaille, a Gisors, " Original figurative Etching signed
By Camille Pissarro
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Marche a la Volaille, a Gisors" is an original etching by Camille Pissarro. It depicts a dense crowd in black and white. This is edition 34/43 from Loys Delteil 98, 2nd State. 14" ...
Category

1890s Impressionist Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Etching

"Tokijiro, Midori, and Katsumi, " a Color Woodcut
By Kuniyoshi
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Tokijiro, Midori, and Katsumi" is an original Japanese color woodcut by the artist Kuniyoshi. It was created in 1851 and depicts a scene from the play "Akegarasu Hana no Nureginu" (...
Category

1850s Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Woodcut

'Polichinelle Et Ses Trois Chiens' original signed lithograph, Pulcinella & dogs
By Claude Weisbuch
Located in Milwaukee, WI
'Polichinelle Et Ses Trois Chiens,' or in English 'Pulcinella and His Three Dogs,' is an original signed lithograph by the contemporary artist Claude Weisbuch – and it is an excellen...
Category

1980s Contemporary Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

19th century etching black and white seascape print figure waves rocks signed
By James Fagan
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"The Fisherman's Catch" is a signed (in pencil lower right and in plate lower left) etching by James Fagan. It depicts a fisherman walking on a beach in black and white. It is signed...
Category

1880s American Realist Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Etching

19th century lithograph art nouveau ornate bookplate recto and verso face
By Alphonse Mucha
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"From: Ilsee, Princess of Tripoli Recto: "Title Page" Verso: "Art Nouveau Motif" is an original by Alphonse Mucha. Exquisite double-sided lithographs from "Ilsee, Princesse de Tripo...
Category

1890s Art Nouveau Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

"Daphnis et Chloe - The Lovers, " an Original Lithograph by Pierre Bonnard
By Pierre Bonnard
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Daphnis et Chloe - The Lovers" is an original lithograph by Pierre Bonnard. This lithograph is a rare proof for the illustrated edition of Daphnis et Chloe. There were two proofs, o...
Category

Early 1900s Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Late 19th century color lithograph art nouveau bookplate figure ornate text
By Alphonse Mucha
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"From: Ilsée, Princess of Tripoli Ilsee's Vision" is an original color lithograph by Alphonse Mucha. Exquisite double-sided color lithographs from "Ilsee, Princesse de Tripoli," a ra...
Category

1890s Art Nouveau Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

'The Turquoise Suite' complete portfolio of lithographs by Rudolph Carl Gorman
By Rudolph Carl Gorman
Located in Milwaukee, WI
'The Turquoise Suite' is a portfolio of three original color lithograph by the renown printmaker R.C. Gorman. From Arizona, the artist's later works fo...
Category

1990s Contemporary Wisconsin - Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

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