19th Century Printmaking
Nathaniel Currier (1813-1888) of Roxbury Mass teamed up with James Ives (1824-1895) of New York City to create inexpensive hand-painted lithographs of Americana cultural (usually rural) scenes. Originally, their company was known as "The Grand Central Depot for Cheap and Popular Prints." That mouthful was changed in 1857 to just "Currier and Ives." Perhaps you've heard of them. That famous lithograph company made their popular art for ordinary folks from 1835 to 1907. It is reliably estimated that these dedicated artists and businessmen created 7,500 original lithographs in the 72 years that the company was in business. In addition, their company produced one million plus hand-colored prints too. That amounted to about two to three new creations per week!
Retro Jeff of Illinois sent me the following Currier and Ives Lithographs of rural scenes depicting hard-working men who typically wore long red flannel underwear under their clothes that could be seen with shirt sleeves rolled up! Some examples:
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| "Preparing For Market," 1856 |
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| "Haying Time, The First Load" 1868 |
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| 1869 |
Chris: some years ago, I visited the U.S. American Adventure Pavilion in Orlando, Florida. In the entry to the hall were displays of American artwork. One of the paintings depicted a farmer like those above with his sleeves rolled up, showing the long red underwear he wore under his clothes. Your posting reminded me of this fabulous trip through a number of countries’ pavilions.
ReplyDelete—-Jason / New Orleans
Those lithographs so accurately reflected the times, in clothing, commerce, backgrounds, and the long red underwear that boys and men wore back in the 19th century.... Boston Samuel
ReplyDeleteRight you are, Boston Samuel! Until photographic illustrations started to become more common very late in the 19th century these lithographs and wood block prints were the way most people viewed their world. If any USFs know of other prints of this period that reveal a glimpse of exposed long underwear, please email Chris so he can share it with us. ----- Retro Jeff in Illinois
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