A way to get inexpensive original works of art by a famous artist

Bathers at the Beach by Winslow Homer

In the 1800s, popular American magazines such as Harper’s Weekly and Leslie’s Illustrated had their pictures printed from original hand etched printing blocks. This was before modern 20th century reproduction technology, so all the prints in publications were made ‘by hand,’ the same way an original Picasso or Rembrandt was made. One of the artists/printmakers for Harper’s Weekly was Winslow Homer, who later became a world famous painter. Today, he is commonly ranked as the greatest American painter of the 19th century. As Harper’s Weekly was a popular nationally distributed magazine, original copies are plentiful and relatively inexpensive, but a Winslow picture inside or on the cover is consider an original artwork by him.

Rare 1800s ‘Cloth Tintype’ Photograph

Pictured is an extremely rare mid-1800s photograph on a swatch of cloth.  It is similar to the commonly found tintype (on iron) and ambrotype (on glass), but on cloth.  In the nineteenth century, photographs could technically be made on cloth and wood, but examples are rarely seen today.

Early 1900s Portraits by George Grantham Bain

George Grantham Bain was a famed American news photographer based in New York City.   He first worked for United Press before starting his own photo service, named Bain News Service.  Bain’s original photos are usually small, postcard or snapshot size, and  easily identified by his name or ‘Bain New Service’ rubber stamped on back, often with the date.  As shown in several of the below images, he often wrote on the negatives with the writing appearing on the photos.

dancer Ruth St. Dennis

Bantom boxing champion Johnny Coulon

Princess Marie of Romania

American baseball star Harry Hooper

Brooklyn Dodgers baseball player Casey Stengel