The Fountain, from the series, Views in Central Park, New York, Part 3
Medium
Color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 4 in. × 2 3/8 in. (10.2 × 6.1 cm)
Classification
Prints|Ephemera
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, Gift of Jefferson R. Burdick, 1947
Accession Number
47.91.25(46)
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the idyllic heart of 19th-century New York *The Fountain*, a delicate color lithograph from Louis Prang & Co.'s series *Views in Central, New York, Part 3* (1864). This petite print (just 4 × 2⅜ inches) captures a bustling yet peaceful scene at one of Central Park's iconic fountains, surrounded by men and women leisurely strolling amid lush greenery. Opened in 1858, the park was then a bold new experiment in urban green space, offering city dwellers an escape from the growing metropolis. Produced by Louis Prang & Co., pioneers in chromolithography—a revolutionary printing technique ...
About the Artist
Louis Prang & Co. · 1800–1950
Louis Prang & Co. was the Boston printing firm that introduced the Christmas card to the American public and elevated chromolithography to the level of a serious art form. Its founder, Louis Prang (1824–1909), was born in Breslau, Prussia (now Wrocław, Poland), where he trained as a cloth printer and dyer. After participating in revolutionary activity against the Prussian government, he fled first...