Niagara Falls
Niagara has a rich history. The celebration of the 1812 Bi-Centenary has brought a great surge of interest in early depictions of the Niagara area, and particularly of that natural wonder, 'the Falls of Niagara". Drawings by on-the-spot visitors (from as early as 270 years ago) were in great demand by European (and later U.S. and Canadian) publishers to produce coloured illustrations for travel books and journals or sets of engravings. A main feature of lithographs is that they were hand-coloured, until the development of reliable colour printing. There are 5 prints on view here.
FEATURED ARTISTS (4)
Augustus Kollner
Here is an excellent Niagara print from the 54-piece set of “Views of American Cities”, 1848-1851, produced by Europeans Augustus Kollner and Isidore Deroy. All of these quality engravings were done from original watercolours by Kollner, drawn ‘from nature’ or ‘en plein’ in each case. Some featured additional hand-colouring by Deroy. A few art historians attribute the series to Deroy, ‘after Kollner’, but it was Kollner, an established artist-lithographer, who supervised production of the whole project. There were eight Niagara scenes in the series. It was by commissioned by Goupil, Vibert & Co. and published in New York and Paris over the three years.
F.W. Lock
Frederick William Lock was a British-born artist who immigrated to Canada as a young man of about 25 in the late 1840's. He lived and worked mainly in Quebec and eastern Ontario. Lock's living was from commissioned works, and his established reputation is as a Canadian portrait painter. But he also provided publishers with original landscapes from time to time, for reproduction as frameable, colour prints from which he earned royalties.
His pair of illustrations of Niagara -- one in winter and one of a moonlit, summer night -- were published in Toronto and England in late 1856. Publishers had realized that there was a healthy market for matching pairs of large landscape prints, and Niagara scenes were among the most sought after. When he was living in eastern Ontario, Lock continued with such commissions, doing daylight/moonlight scenes of the Thousand Islands, and two views of the town of Brockville.
In Lock's 'winter' view of the Horsehoe Falls, he appears to have included a depiction of himself. In the right foreground, an artist with brush in hand stands to the left of an easel. (Notably, there was no overhang at the top of the rock wall, as the major part of Table Rock had broken off in 1850.)
The 'summer' view may have been done with 'artistic licence' as Lock's known visits were in the winters of 1856 and 1857. He returned to England in the late 1860's.
Maj. Henry Davis
Here is a spectacular view of the Horseshoe Falls as seen from Terrapin Point, on Goat Island at the top of the cataract. In 1846, British officer Maj. Henry Davis did four paintings of the Falls which were reproduced as lithographs. He is credited with having been among the artists who best captured the power and grandeur of the Falls.
The boardwalk shown here opened in about 1825, and the Terrapin Tower observation post was opened several years later. Both were paid-admission tourist attractions. The 'Sunset' print is an excellent early example of chromolithography, as the technique for producing colour prints had only been introduced about 10 years earlier.
Maj. Davis must have visited Niagara while serving as an officer in the 52nd Light Infantry. The regiment was in Atlantic Canada and Quebec from 1842 to 1845. He did the paintings after returning to England.
W.J. Bennett
William James Bennett (1787-1844) was a British-born artist and engraver who immigrated to the United States in 1826. In the 1830's and early 1840's, he produced a series of topographical views, which were reproduced as prints, sometimes engraved by himself, according to Wikipedia. His work included a series of four vivid Niagara scenes which were published as aquatints in 1830. The print called 'View of the British Fall from Goat Island' is one of those. As well as being the artist, Bennett was also the engraver for this piece.
In 'View of the British Fall from Goat Island', the Terrapin Point walkway from the island to the brink of the Horsehoe Falls can been seen. Within several years, a stone observation tower was built at the end of the walkway and stood until the mid-1870's. Visitors paid admission to go to the end of the walkway, and a further fee to climb up the tower. There was also a toll to cross to Goat Island from the Niagara Falls, N.Y., mainland.
Bennett depicted a pair of domesticated goats, lying next to the picnickers, perhaps in recognition of the name of the island. An original settler to the area had established herd of goats on the island, but all except one died in the harsh winter of 1780.
Niagara Falls
Niagara has a rich history. The celebration of the 1812 Bi-Centenary has brought a great surge of interest in early depictions of the Niagara area, and particularly of that natural wonder, 'the Falls of Niagara". Drawings by on-the-spot visitors (from as early as 270 years ago) were in great demand by European (and later U.S. and Canadian) publishers to produce coloured illustrations for travel books and journals or sets of engravings. A main feature of lithographs is that they were hand-coloured, until the development of reliable colour printing. There are 5 prints on view here.
FEATURED ARTISTS (4)
Augustus Kollner
Here is an excellent Niagara print from the 54-piece set of “Views of American Cities”, 1848-1851, produced by Europeans Augustus Kollner and Isidore Deroy. All of these quality engravings were done from original watercolours by Kollner, drawn ‘from nature’ or ‘en plein’ in each case. Some featured additional hand-colouring by Deroy. A few art historians attribute the series to Deroy, ‘after Kollner’, but it was Kollner, an established artist-lithographer, who supervised production of the whole project. There were eight Niagara scenes in the series. It was by commissioned by Goupil, Vibert & Co. and published in New York and Paris over the three years.
F.W. Lock
Frederick William Lock was a British-born artist who immigrated to Canada as a young man of about 25 in the late 1840's. He lived and worked mainly in Quebec and eastern Ontario. Lock's living was from commissioned works, and his established reputation is as a Canadian portrait painter. But he also provided publishers with original landscapes from time to time, for reproduction as frameable, colour prints from which he earned royalties.
His pair of illustrations of Niagara -- one in winter and one of a moonlit, summer night -- were published in Toronto and England in late 1856. Publishers had realized that there was a healthy market for matching pairs of large landscape prints, and Niagara scenes were among the most sought after. When he was living in eastern Ontario, Lock continued with such commissions, doing daylight/moonlight scenes of the Thousand Islands, and two views of the town of Brockville.
In Lock's 'winter' view of the Horsehoe Falls, he appears to have included a depiction of himself. In the right foreground, an artist with brush in hand stands to the left of an easel. (Notably, there was no overhang at the top of the rock wall, as the major part of Table Rock had broken off in 1850.)
The 'summer' view may have been done with 'artistic licence' as Lock's known visits were in the winters of 1856 and 1857. He returned to England in the late 1860's.
Maj. Henry Davis
Here is a spectacular view of the Horseshoe Falls as seen from Terrapin Point, on Goat Island at the top of the cataract. In 1846, British officer Maj. Henry Davis did four paintings of the Falls which were reproduced as lithographs. He is credited with having been among the artists who best captured the power and grandeur of the Falls.
The boardwalk shown here opened in about 1825, and the Terrapin Tower observation post was opened several years later. Both were paid-admission tourist attractions. The 'Sunset' print is an excellent early example of chromolithography, as the technique for producing colour prints had only been introduced about 10 years earlier.
Maj. Davis must have visited Niagara while serving as an officer in the 52nd Light Infantry. The regiment was in Atlantic Canada and Quebec from 1842 to 1845. He did the paintings after returning to England.
W.J. Bennett
William James Bennett (1787-1844) was a British-born artist and engraver who immigrated to the United States in 1826. In the 1830's and early 1840's, he produced a series of topographical views, which were reproduced as prints, sometimes engraved by himself, according to Wikipedia. His work included a series of four vivid Niagara scenes which were published as aquatints in 1830. The print called 'View of the British Fall from Goat Island' is one of those. As well as being the artist, Bennett was also the engraver for this piece.
In 'View of the British Fall from Goat Island', the Terrapin Point walkway from the island to the brink of the Horsehoe Falls can been seen. Within several years, a stone observation tower was built at the end of the walkway and stood until the mid-1870's. Visitors paid admission to go to the end of the walkway, and a further fee to climb up the tower. There was also a toll to cross to Goat Island from the Niagara Falls, N.Y., mainland.
Bennett depicted a pair of domesticated goats, lying next to the picnickers, perhaps in recognition of the name of the island. An original settler to the area had established herd of goats on the island, but all except one died in the harsh winter of 1780.
