An Impending Catastrophe

Art Historical Context

### An Impending Catastrophe (1868) Created by the renowned lithographic firm Currier & Ives with James Merritt Ives among its key figures, *An Impending Catastrophe* a vibrant 1868 hand-colored lithograph that captures the heated drama of the U.S. presidential election. about 8½ by 15⅜ inches, this print features prominent political names like Ulysses S. Grant, Hor Seymour, Schuyler Colfax Jr and others, rendered in a satirical style amid a chaotic train scene. Currier & Ives specialized in affordable, mass-produced prints that brought current events into American homes, blending sharp social commentary with bold imagery. The artwork's tags—men, satire, politics, trains—highlight its role as a partisan jab during Reconstruction-era tensions. Likely pro-Republican, it dramatizes an "impending catastrophe" with a derailing train symbolizing Democratic folly or national peril under figures like Seymour, Grant's opponent. Lithography allowed for intricate details and vivid colors, making such prints powerful tools for swaying public opinion in an age before widespread photography. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department (bequest of Adele S. Colgate, 1962), this piece exemplifies 19th-century political cartooning's cultural punch—entertaining yet incisive, it reminds us how art fueled democracy's debates. (198 words)

About the Artist

Ulysses S. Grant|John Cameron|John Adams Dix|Horatio Seymour|James Merritt Ives|Schulyer Colfax Jr.|Currier & Ives|Francis Preston Blair Jr. (American|American) · 1857 |1822 –1907 |1885

American, active New York, 1857–1907|American, Point Pleasant, Ohio 1822–1885 Mount McGregor, New York