Currier & Ives: An Americana Panorama

They also praised family values, provided role models for wives and mothers and captured people's aspirations and success. In short, Currier & Ives created a visual history of America's journey from fledgling nation to world power.

But before the pair begat a wholesome American self-image, Currier won fame documenting disaster. His first big break came in 1835 when he published "Ruins of the Planters 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 litho made it possible for people to "see" details of the catastrophe at a time when newspapers were print only. Currier's financial success was assured in 1840 when the New York Sun published the first litho in newspaper history. It was the sinking of the Lexington. According to reports, the presses ran day and night to fill the demand.

By the time Ives joined the firm, the year was 1852. Ives, a self-taught artist, signed on as a bookkeeper, but took such keen interest in the business that Currier made him a full partner in 1857.

By 1869, Currier & Ives had so molded the American perspective that the Martha Stewarts of the day, Catherine Ester Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe, wrote in American Women's Home, "the great value of pictures for the home would be, after all, in their sentiment. They should express the sincere ideas and tastes of the household and not the tyrannical dictates of some art critic or neighbor."

In other words, buy what you like. And who could resist images that flattered the hardworking and rounded off life's sharp edges? Images that were all this and cheap, to boot. A few pennies scraped from the household cookie jar could result in the acquisition of a print that, prior to Currier & Ives' lithographic mass production techniques, was essentially the domain of the wealthy.

The partners not only leveled the playing field for art, they created an industry that supported numerous artists and craftspeople.

"What is so wonderful," Haskell said, "is how the Currier & Ives story integrates into the story of Nineteenth Century American art."

According to Sommer, "Currier & Ives employed some of the finest artists of the day. Eastman Johnson did a painting for the print 'Husking,' which is very famous. And they often based prints on paintings by well known artists," (i.e., a stone artist would copy the artwork in crayon onto a litho stone from which dozens of prints were pulled). Among the name artists that worked for Currier & Ives were George Innes of the Hudson River School, George Henry Durrie, the New England winter scene painter, and Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait, the Western and sports artist.

One of the firm's most prolific artists was Frances Flora Palmer. Ironically, this wife, mother and passionate fisherwoman was responsible for a large number of the company's landscapes, even though only a few bear her name. "She was one of the few women of the 1800s to support herself and her family with her art," Sommer added.

The curator went on to describe the process by which the firm was able to print in quantity and maintain quality. "They developed a sort of assembly line process where the lithographs were printed and then each print was taken home to be hand colored, usually by German female immigrants with an art background. One person would color the sky and then bring it back in the morning. Another person would color the trees, and so forth down the line. And then, at the end there would be a sort of master artist who would color check these prints and make sure they were acceptable to go out to market."

If lithography was Currier's forte, Ives may arguably have been the first true marketing genius. Ives allowed door-to-door peddlers to pick up in the morning and return in the evening with the day's take and any unsold prints. He sold uncolored lithos to dealers, complete with paint by number instructions. But his most visionary tactic was the mail-order catalog that made the Currier & Ives inventory available across the states. As a result, some prints bear catalog reference numbers.

"The big sales push would have been in the 60s and 70s," Sommer stated. "Currier & Ives depicted the Civil War in great detail." Among these images is "General Andrew Jackson at New Orleans," undated, and "The Soldier's Grave," 1865. These severe images were offset by poignant and lighthearted offerings like the portrait of a youngster in paper hat and uniform titled "Light Artillery," 1863.

"They were very active in the 70s as well, documenting the postwar boom, Victorian culture and so forth," Sommer added.

"Moving westward," Haskell interjected, "Currier & Ives advocated a positive view of expansion, of the beauty of the land, of the bounty, the really positive aspects." Exemplifying this theme are "The Trapper's Defense," 1862, and "Home in the Wilderness," 1870.

"For the people living in crowded cities," the director continued, "this was a way to live vicariously, thinking that these wide-open spaces didn't have any challenges. And if there were challenges, certainly the white man and the frontiersmen were able to persevere."

The 1880s and 1890s marked yet another shift in focus. Prints of this period tend to be more sociological in approach. They celebrate personal wealth, with images like "The Skating Carnival," a picture that silently references the labor laws that made leisure time a reality.

The same decade saw a rise in yachting. Currier & Ives promoted it in a series of lithos of great ocean going racers, exemplified by "The Race for the Queen's Cup," undated. Horseracing, too, made its debut as a pastime, as was documented in "The Champion Trotting Stallion Nelson," 1891. Hunting became a popular theme that featured gentlemen sportsmen out for the day, their status underscored by brand new country homes in the background.

It seems to be a universal theme that city-dwellers dream of a home in the country. Currier & Ives produced some 50 images of houses. Among them, "Home Sweet Home," 1869, and "American Homestead, Winter," 1868. Despite their locale, "most of the houses tend to mirror the New England aesthetic - white, two stories, set in a lovely landscape," Sommer said.

In selecting images to produce, Currier & Ives generally did not print a piece unless they thought it would sell at least 100 copies. Stones that were top-sellers were numbered and saved for later printings. (Subsequent editions often incorporate a revision, or a date.) If a print proved to be extremely popular, Currier ordered several stones ground and printed.

Conversely, if a print flopped, Currier recycled, using the verso of the image for another printing. Among these is a rare two-sided image with "Clipper Ship Sweepstakes," 1853, on one side and the highly popular "Maple Sugaring," 1856, on the other. The double-sided print is on view at the Springfield exhibition.

Always ones to give Americans what they wanted, Currier & Ives changed content as needed. "For instance," Haskell mused, "the print of George Washington holding a goblet of wine was not well received, especially by the temperance women, so Currier & Ives changed it. With the bottle of wine removed, the print sold much better."

Such was the brilliance of Currier & Ives. It is a backstory that does not bleed through the pristine images that captured America's fancy and gave it a sense of identity. Currier & Ives prints are a part of American heritage. They inspire and educate - and that is the goal of the exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts in Springfield.

The Museum of Fine Arts is at the Quadrangle on Edwards Street off Chestnut. For information, 413-263-6800 or www.springfieldmuseums.org.