New CO Material!

George F. Cram
Map of Colorado
Lithograph
Framed size: 22 3/4” x 18 3/4” Sheet size: 14 1/2” x 10 1/2”
Chicago: Geographical Publishing Co., late 19th c.

George F. Cram was born in 1841 and enjoyed an early career as a soldier serving under the legendary General William Tecumseh Sherman during the Civil War. In 1867 he embarked on a map publishing career with his uncle, Rufus Blanchard. They named their company Blanchard & Cram and based it in Evanston, Illinois. Cram became the sole owner of the business two years later, renaming it the George F. Cram Company and relocating it to Chicago. In 1869, Cram became the first American publisher to produce a world atlas, and his name quickly became synonymous with accuracy and innovation. He released the Unrivalled Family Atlas in 1883, the Illustrated Atlas in 1885, the Unrivalled Atlas in 1887, the American Railway System Atlas in 1891, and the Universal Atlas in 1894.





U.S.P.R.R Exp. & Surveys - 47th & 49th Parallels (General Report)
Chromolithographs (c.1850) of
Railroad surveys in Colorado
Paper size: approximately 11" x 8.5"
Framed size: 16”x14”

Sarony, Major & Knapp: Born in Quebec City, Napoleon Sarony learned lithography from his father and emigrated to New York in 1836. There, he worked as an apprentice for several lithographers, including Nathaniel Currier. In 1846 Sarony opened a lithographic business in partnership with Henry Major. The company went through a number of alterations in names and partnerships. Until 1853, it was called 'Sarony and Major'. From 1853 to 1857, it bore the title which appears on this original lithograph, 'Sarony & Company'. From 1857 to 1864, the company name was expanded to, 'Sarony, Major & Knapp'. Later, the company would assume the title of the 'American Lithographic Company', and became the largest such business in North America.

Sarony and Company printed and published everything from advertising posters and trade cards to fine art prints. Napoleon Sarony left the partnership in 1864 to pursue a new career in photography. Students of early photography will at once recognize his name as he rose to become one of America's most famous pioneers in this field.

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The Two Most Celebrated Artists of Indian Life and the American Frontier: George Catlin and Karl Bodmer

George Catlin and Karl Bodmer were the first artists to journey up the Missouri River and penetrate deep into the American frontier. The superb images they published after their journeys captured the essence of American Indian life and the untamed beauty of the West. The importance of their illustrations is much more than aesthetic, for these two great series of prints are the finest records of the Plains Indians before the epidemics of the mid-19th century decimated their numbers, and before the expansion of the frontier took their lands. When he attempted the perilous journey in 1827, Catlin's goal was to persuade his contemporaries that Native American culture should be honored and preserved. The artist's stunning lithographs range from portraits to depictions of tribal ceremonies, from the anecdotal to the idealized. Catlin appealed to his readers with the thrill of the hunt and the mystery of ritual, and the immediacy of his images is irresistible, drawing viewers into the scenes and portraits with unprecedented intimacy. Karl Bodmer was a Swiss painter chosen by Prince Maximilian of Prussia to accompany his voyage to America, in order to document in pictorial terms the expedition. They traveled among the Plains Indians from 1832 to 1834, when the Plains and the Rockies were still virtually unknown, and before acculturation had begun to change the lives of the Indians. These prints rank with the finest Western art in any medium.

Spring is Here!!!

Walking and driving around Denver lately has been so beautiful with all the trees budding, the grass shining green and especially the abundance of beautiful tulips.

Come stop in the gallery to see our selection of botanical prints this spring!