Museum of Fine Arts Features the Artists who Designed Currier & Ives Prints

Written by Timothy Runge Friday, 18 November 2011 23:19

SPRINGFIELD, MA – The lithography firm of Currier & Ives produced more than 8,000 images, including pictures of newsworthy events and prints that reflected familiar all-American themes such as farm life, home and children, religion, sports and leisure, and westward expansion. To design their prints, the company used staff artists who are unknown today as well as a group of celebrated American artists. The work of some of these well-known artists will be highlighted in the exhibition Behind the Scenes: The Artists Who Worked for Currier & Ives, on view from June 10, 2008 through January 18, 2009, at the Museum of Fine Arts. 
Included will be prints based on the work of A.F. Tait, who did sporting and Western scenes; Frances (Fanny) Flora Palmer, who was responsible for the majority of landscapes produced by the firm; and George Durrie, the New England winter scene painter. Currier & Ives was also inspired by the work of the well-known artists George Durrie, and Eastman Johnson.

The prints in the exhibition are from the museum’s Lenore B. and Sidney A. Alpert Currier & Ives collection, one of the largest collections of Currier & Ives prints in the country.

The Museum of Fine Arts is located on the Quadrangle at 21 Edwards Street in downtown Springfield, Massachusetts. Free parking is available in the Edwards Street parking lots. Hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.  Admission is $10 for adults, $7 for seniors and college students, $5 for children 3-17, and free for children under three and museum members. Springfield residents are free with proof of address. The fee provides admission to all four Springfield Museums and the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden.  
For information, call 413-263-6800 or visit  www.springfieldmuseums.org .

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