Currier & Ives Publishers Paintings

Currier & Ives were not individual artists, but rather the name of a successful American printmaking firm headed by Nathaniel Currier (1813-1888) and James Merritt Ives (1824-1895). The firm, based in New York City, was famous for creating and distributing hand-colored lithographs that depicted a variety of scenes, including landscapes, historical events, and daily life in America during the 19th century.

Nathaniel Currier started his own lithography business after working as an apprentice in the trade. In 1835, he created his first big success with a lithograph of a disastrous fire in New York's business district. The business became known as N. Currier, Lithographer until 1857 when James Merritt Ives, who had been working as the company's bookkeeper and accountant, was made a partner. The new firm was rebranded as Currier & Ives and went on to become the most prolific and successful lithography company of its time.

Currier & Ives prints were popular because they were affordable, accessible, and appealing to a broad audience. The firm's lithographs were hand-drawn onto a lithographic stone and then printed; after printing, each image was hand-colored. Although neither Currier nor Ives were artists themselves, they employed or contracted many talented artists and lithographers to produce designs for them.

The subject matter of Currier & Ives prints ranged widely. They produced prints of domestic scenes, idealized images of American life, portrayals of important events such as the Civil War battles, westward expansion, and industrial progress, as well as political cartoons. They also made prints of landscapes and maritime scenes, which remain among their most collected works today.

After the deaths of both founders, the firm continued to operate until 1907, when it was liquidated. The prints of Currier & Ives have since become valuable collectors' items, seen as iconic representations of 19th-century American culture and history. The firm's legacy has endured through the preservation and study of their works, which continue to be exhibited in museums and cherished by collectors.