Often found on calendars, cookie tins and Christmas cards, Currier & Ives images strike a nostalgic chord in many people.
The exhibition features sixty-four prints from the collection of the Michele & Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts in Springfield, Massachusetts. The exhibition explores the artistry behind the prints as well as the important role they played in forging an American self-image.
Currier & Ives got its start in 1835, when Nathaniel Currier created a sensation with his lithograph illustrating the great fire that swept through New York City’s business district. In only four days, he printed thousands of copies, attempting to satisfy the public demand to see Ruins of the Merchants’ Exchange N.Y. after the Destructive Conflagration of Decbr. 16 & 17, 1835. Realizing the American public’s thirst for images of the news, Currier created several more disaster prints and other inexpensive lithographs illustrating local and national happenings, and gained a reputation as an accomplished lithographer.
Ruins of the Merchants’ Exhcange N.Y. , 1835
His business partner, James Merritt Ives, encouraged production of the prints that are now identified with the firm – idealized pictures of the daily experiences of middle class American life in the 19th century. Inexpensive and eagerly sought by ordinary people, the prints hung on the walls of homes, stores, barbershops and firehouses.
The Legacy of Currier & Ives: Shaping the American Spirit showcases some of Currier & Ives’ most popular themes. The country’s pride in its emerging national identity is expressed through images of Civil War and Revolutionary War battles, patriotic symbols and famous founding fathers.
An idealized vision of home is depicted in pictures of bucolic farms, rural landscapes and happy, comfortable domestic scenes, often with a New England flavor.
The idea of progress is expressed in prints of railroads and steamboats, panoramic scenes of westward expansion, images of cities, impressive monuments and public works projects.
American Homestead Winter, 1868
Scenes of leisure pastimes such as hunting, yachting and horse racing illustrate the rewards of achieving material and social success and celebrate America’s enjoyment of its newfound wealth and leisure time.
Another section of the exhibition describes the contributions of some of the well-known artists who designed prints for the firm, including Frances (Fanny) Flora Palmer, George Durrie, and Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait.
Currier & Ives became the longest running printing firm in the United States, producing more than 7,500 different images. From its inception, Currier & Ives produced prints that celebrated the American experience and created a visual history that has become part of the fabric of national consciousness. On view through January 9, 2011
The Legacy of Currier & Ives: Shaping the American Spirit has been made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts as part of American Masterpieces: Three Centuries of Creative Genius. The exhibition has been organized by the Michele and Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts in Springfield, Massachusetts. This exhibition has been made possible, in part, by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts; the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation; the F.M. Kirby Foundation and private donations.
Image: Ruins of the Merchants’ Exhcange N.Y. , 1835 Morris Museum
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