CURRIER AND IVES (PUBLISHERS) ACROSS THE CONTINENT: "WESTWARD THE COURSE OF EMPIRE TAKES ITS WAY" (G. 39; 2085) Hand colored lithograph with touches of gum Arabic, 1868, after the painting by Frances F. Palmer, on stone by James Merritt Ives, with large 3-4 inch margins and lower publication line, in good condition apart from slight soiling, foxing and discoloration in the margins, backed with Japan, framed, measuring 28" x 20" (visible artwork), 38" x 30" (framed). In 1868 the lithography firm of Currier & Ives produced this fanciful print dramatizing the railroad heading into the American west. A wagon train has led the way, and is disappearing into the background on the left. In the foreground, railroad tracks separate the settlers in their newly constructed small town from the untouched scenery populated by Indians. And a mighty steam locomotive, its stack bellowing smoke, pulls passengers westward as both settlers and Indians seem to admire its passing. Commercial lithographers were highly motivated to produce prints they could sell to the public. Currier & Ives, with their developed sense of popular taste, believed this romantic view of the railroad playing a major part in the settlement of the west would strike a chord. People revered the steam locomotive as a vital part of an expanding nation. And the prominence of the railroad in this lithograph mirrors the place it was beginning to take in the American consciousness. This work is a pictorial account of American history and would make a stunning museum quailty addition to any fine Americana collection.
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