#colored lithograph

[thefugitivesaint]

Maximilian Liebenwein (1869-1926), 'Schwarzquell, Brauerei Zum St. Georg', 1907 Source

[podartists]

Greyhound (1912) | Moriz Jung (1885-1915)

[kobzars]

Mykola Popov's color lithograph "Ukrainian Girl in National Dress" captures the essence of Ukrainian tradition and cultural pride. The composition features a young woman in traditional attire, standing against an abstracted background that evokes a rural, pastoral setting. The figure’s serene yet intense gaze and the bold stylization of her attire draw attention to her cultural identity and connection to heritage.

[floral-art-prints]

Flowered Textile Design, possibly by William Kilburn (1745-1818) by English School (colour lithograph)

[mote-historie]

Wilton Williams, Hunstanton, LNER Poster, Norfolk, United Kingdom, 1930.

Vintage 1930s LNER Hunstanton Railway Poster.

[uwmspeccoll]

A Pigeon-fluencer Feathursday

This week’s post was inspired by a recent Guardian article on the rise of Pigeon-influencers on TikTok and their role in reviving the popularity of the oft-derided and underestimated birds.  

Throughout history, pigeons have provided sustenance (“squab”), labor (in the form of the “pigeon post”), and companionship to human populations. Though these days we may typically associate the Rock Pigeon (Columba livia, otherwise known as the common pigeon) with other animals classified as “pests” in urban landscapes, they are in fact understood to be the world's oldest domesticated bird. Historical documentation of pigeons can be found in hieroglyphic texts and art dating back as far as ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. According to Colin Jerolmack, professor of Sociology and Environmental Studies at NYU and author of The Global Pigeon, pigeons “have been in cities as long as we’ve had cities” and, prior to the technological innovation of the telegram, were “the most reliable messaging system in the world”. While “fancy” pigeons (like Frillbacks, English Magpies, Jacobin, and Archangel pigeons) were bred and kept as prized pets in the Victorian era, the North American Passenger Pigeon (or “wild pigeon”) was hunted to the point of extinction in the early 20th century.

To illustrate the complexity of our love-hate relationship with the birds we've selected a variety of illustrations and text from our collection and featured them alongside some images from outside sources.

The engravings in images #2 & #8 from The Illustrated Natural History: Birds (London: George Routledge & Sons) were created by the Brothers Dalziel, a wood engraving shop in Victorian London founded in 1839 and operated by George and Edward Dalziel. Image #1 from Birds of America; Fifty Selections (with commentaries by Roger Tory Peterson) (New York: Macmillan) is a reproduction of a hand-colored lithograph produced by the shop of J. T. Bowen of Philadelphia from a painting by naturalist and artist John James Audubon in the early 19th century.

--Ana, Special Collections Graduate Intern

Other image sources:

#3: Western Crowned Pigeon (Goura cristata) in TMII Birdpark - Western crowned pigeon - Wikipedia

#4: Keyla Rose with Tony, her pigeon, on a walk in New York. Photograph: Alaina Demopoulos/The Guardian. August 23, 2024.

#5-6: from City Creatures: Animal Encounters in the Chicago Wilderness Pigeons (poem) by Chicago-based Puerto Rican poet and community activist David Hernandez, DH+BH (image of tattoo) by Camilo Cumpian.

#7: Ceiling Fragment Depicting Pigeons in Flight | New Kingdom | The Metropolitan Museum of Art (metmuseum.org) (ca. 1390–1352 B.C.)

#9: a Memorial to the extinct Passenger Pigeon at Wyalusing State Park in Wisconsin (1947)

#10: from Nikola Tesla's Obsession with Pigeons, Electricity, and a Plan to Wirelessly Connect the World (nautil.us)

[oncanvas]

25 Cats Name(d) Sam and one Blue Pussy, Andy Warhol, circa 1954

Offset lithographs with hand-coloring in watercolor on paper 9 ¼ x 6 ⅛ in. (23.5 x 15.6 cm) each

[artsandculture]

Tournée du Chat Noir (1896) 🎨 Théophile Alexandre Steinlen 🏛️ Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya 📍 Barcelona, Spain

[acrosscenturiesandgenerations]

▪︎ Salome (from the L’Estampe moderne folio).

Date: 1897

Artist: Alphonse Mucha

Medium: Color Lithograph

[icecreamwithjackdaniels]

Salvador Dalí, "Spider of the Evening" (detail), 1940

[allthedesiredusernamesaretaken]

The Seasons: Summer (1896)

- Alphonse Mucha

Mucha portrays Summer as a sensual and sultry brunette with red poppies in her hair. A serene mood of repose and contentment pervades the scene as the woman leans against a grapevine with her feet bathing in the shallow water below. Mucha captures the summer light in the delicate blue sky beyond.

[skf-fineart]

Richard Avedon (1923 -2004)

"George Harrison", 1967

Lithograph, 79.1 x 57.2 cm

[sassafrasmoonshine]

Gustave Klimt (Austrian, ) • Poster for the First Art Exhibition of the Secession Art Movement • 1898

[kobzars]

Color lithograph "Radiant Sunflower" by renowned Ukrainian artist Vasyl Polevoy. This vibrant painting of a sunflower in full bloom, rendered in rich shades of yellow and green, brings warmth and life to any space

[the-first-man-is-a-cat]

Ben Shahn, ...and Know the Gestures with which the Little Flowers open in the Morning, from the Rilke Portfolio, "For the Sake of a Single Verse", 1968

[arthistoryanimalia]

Today is both #WorldRhinoDay & #ElephantAppreciationDay! 🦏 🐘

Alexander Calder (USA, 1898-1976)

The #Elephant and the #Rhinoceros, 1966

lithograph on vellum, 38 x 28 cm