Late 19th-century Lithograph, Benjamin Franklin at the Court of King Louis 16th. Franklin charmed, and sometimes scandalized, the French, America’s strongest ally during the Revolutionary War. He served as the American Minister (ambassador) to France from 1778 to 1785.
American Beauty
by Bradshaw Crandell (American, 1896-1966) While Bradshaw Crandell’s greatest satisfaction as an artist came as a result of his later portraiture of governors and heads of state, it was as a commercial artist that he achieved his greatest recognition. For a dozen years Crandell was the cover artist for Cosmopolitan Magazine, illustrating Hollywood’s most attractive…
Almost Got It
Painted for the Father’s Day cover (June 18, 1939) of This Week Magazine by Russell Sambrook (American, 1891-1956). Illustrators such as Sambrook fill in the gap between the age dominated by Joseph Leyendecker and the renaissance of Americana seen through Norman Rockwell’s eyes. Sambrook’s approach to visual design and sense of stagey humor owe a…
Rose Medallion Garden Barrel
The garden barrel would have provided a seat for contemplation, with the cool porcelain making the garden pleasurable on a hot day.
Madonna and Child
by Domenico Zampieri (or Domenichino) (Italian, 1581-1641). Domenichino was trained under Annibale Carracci and began his early work in Rome. Following a distinguished career there, he moved to Naples where he painted numerous scenes in the city’s cathedrals and churches. He was friends with Giovanni Battista Agucchi with whom he collaborated on a Treatise on…
Portrait of a Young Woman
by Neysa McMein (American, 1888-1949), cover of the Saturday Evening Post, March 11, 1922. Born Marjorie Moran in Quincy, Illinois, McMein attended the Art Institute of Chicago and in 1913 went to New York City. Her pastel drawings of chic, healthy American girls proved highly popular and brought her many commissions. During World War I…
Ceremonial bronze offering dish or censer is Zhou
Dynasty, 1046 –256 BCE. This dish was made during the time when humans and animals were sacrificed and placed in tombs, with offering items such as this bronze dish. Stylized demon faces on the handles provide extra security for the deceased. Bronze sword, made ca. 300 BCE. Looking closely at the handle/hilt, it is possible…
Study for Saturday Evening Post
Study for Saturday Evening Post cover, March 23, 1940, by Joseph Leyendecker. Leyendecker (American,1874 –1951) was one of the most popular American illustrators of the early 20th century. He is best known for his poster, book and advertising illustrations, and his numerous covers for The Saturday Evening Post. Between 1896 and 1950, Leyendecker painted more…
Soldiers on warhorses
The horses and the riders are ready for battle, and the animals show us how horses would have been adorned before a battle. The horses are depicted as nearly celestial, with oversized chests and very developed bodies atop strong legs that could have carried their riders safely into and out of battle.
Sunday Morning
by Martha Walter (American, 1875-1976). An American impressionist painter, Walter studied in Philadelphia and Europe, ultimately returning to teach at William Chase’s New York School of Art. She was a master at capturing small-town imagery and local landscapes filled with rich colors and light.