Pair of Antique Prang Chromolithographs - Desserts after Robert D. Wilkie, 1870

Description

Up for sale is this gorgeous framed pair of antique Louis Prang chromolithographs from the "Dessert" series by artist Robert … more Up for sale is this gorgeous framed pair of antique Louis Prang chromolithographs from the "Dessert" series by artist Robert D. Wilkie, ca. 1870. Framed in wood with an overall size of 16 3/4" x 21 1/2", both are in excellent condition, as pictured.

About the artist:

An American painter, draftsman, illustrator and educator, Robert D. Wilkie (1828–1903) was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia and died in Swampscott, Massachusetts. He had lived in Boston and its environs since the early 1850s. In addition to easel painting and teaching, Wilkie did illustrations for periodicals such as Gleason’s Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion and Frank Leslie’s Weekly, and his works were reproduced as chromolithographs by Louis Prang.


About Louis Prang:

Louis Prang, from Boston, was a prolific and influential publisher of American chromolithographs. Born in Germany, Prang learned to print in color from his father. After immigrating to the US, he set up his own firm of L. Prang & Co. in 1860, finding his first success with small prints which buyers collected and kept in albums. This success led him to issue copies of famous paintings. His chromolithographs, which were "sold in all Picture stores," were based on oils and watercolors and received highly praise from the press. Prang did more to create the market for chromolithographs in America than any other publisher, and his work also great shaped the output of other publishers around the country. These art prints became hugely successful, with about 800 of them eventually issued by Prang. He advertised them as "PRANG'S AMERICAN CHROMOS. 'THE DEMOCRACY OF ART' . . . Our Chromo Prints are absolute FACSIMILES of the originals, in color, drawing, and spirit, and their price is so low that every home may enjoy the luxury of possessing a copy of works of art, which hitherto adorned only the parlors of the rich. less