Most of the prints in the exhibit "Beauty, Virtue and Vice: Images of Women in Nineteenth-Century American Prints" were designed simply to please the eye, but they are also useful to historians who would like to understand how nineteenth-century Americans thought about the world in which they lived. Although prints are often works of imagination (even when they are grounded in fact), they still have much to tell us about the time and place in which they were created. [more inside]
posted by netbros on Sep 30, 2011 - 10 comments

Vintage Printable provides vintage images in the public domain for download or printing.
posted by lalex on Jul 5, 2011 - 15 comments

"In November 1855, the Great Ansei Earthquake struck the city of Edo (now Tokyo), claiming 7,000 lives and inflicting widespread damage. Within days, a new type of color woodblock print known as namazu-e (lit. "catfish pictures") became popular among the residents of the shaken city. These prints featured depictions of mythical giant catfish (namazu) who, according to popular legend, caused earthquakes by thrashing about in their underground lairs. In addition to providing humor and social commentary, many prints claimed to offer protection from future earthquakes."
posted by madamjujujive on Apr 8, 2011 - 19 comments

Peter Milton's etching and engraving work takes on the detailed nuance of fine B&W silver prints. Peter is colour blind.
posted by arse_hat on Apr 7, 2011 - 5 comments

Do you like Superheroes? Do you like dinosaurs? Yeah? Well, today is your lucky day, captain! Check out Superhero Dinosaurs!
posted by SkylitDrawl on Dec 23, 2010 - 14 comments

The yearly show on contemporary printmaking, Originals 10, is currently on in London. Some of the artists and work include: Anthony Dyson’s etching The Voyeur; John Bryce’s wood engraving Thames Arachnid; Morna Rhys’s Taf Estuary; Leila Pedersen’s etching Gloria gets Dizzy; Cordelia Cembrowicz’s etching Avon Amazons; Eileen Cooper’s woodcut Skipper; Hilary Paynter’s amazing wood engravings (site requires popups); Giulia Zaniol’s My City; Emiko Aida’s aquatint Reverie in the Rain; Paula Cox’s aquatint Magnolia Tree; Jessie Brennan’s Six Boys; and Graham Smith’s linocut Tattooed Lady. The gallery site has a brief summary of the exhibition and a link to the press release mentioning the work of Barton Hargreaves and Ralph Steadman.
posted by paduasoy on Mar 28, 2010 - 5 comments

The Wriston Art Center Galleries Digital Collection at Lawrence University has over 1500 images of various artworks, focusing especially on prints & printmaking and ancient coins. All can be viewed in extremely high resolution (click "export image" above the artwork). Here are a few I particularly like: Beginning of Winter (Japanese woodcut), Rising Sun (Paul Klee painting), From Distant Lands (watercolor), Three Kings (Jacques Villon engraving), Untitled I (netting) and Noble Lady and Prince (Japanese woodcut).
posted by Kattullus on Apr 14, 2009 - 4 comments

VADS is a resource for visual art, a huge range of things from students' work to collections of historical art and design. [more inside]
posted by paduasoy on Jan 4, 2008 - 6 comments

Kathe Kollwitz, printmaker and sculptor, on The Peasants War (historical background, prints), war and death, mothers and children, herself and the death of her son Peter in WWI.
posted by Brandon Blatcher on Jan 2, 2008 - 11 comments

James Fenton writes in the Guardian that the entire "flat" collection of the British Museum is going into a searchable online index. Currently there are about 265,000 objects in the database with about 100,00 images. The article says that high quality images, suitable for print reproduction, and free to academic users, are coming soon. The search page is here. [more inside]
posted by shothotbot on Nov 18, 2007 - 12 comments

David Gildersleeve is hell of artist, but it's his wordless "boy prints" that really stand out, despite the not so good web interface. [more inside]
posted by Brandon Blatcher on Oct 9, 2007 - 12 comments

Modern shunga by Bob Kessel. What's shunga? Previously. NSFW.
posted by nthdegx on Jul 26, 2007 - 16 comments

Linking to someone's store usually isn't kosher, but Etsy user elloh's work is pretty unique. Featuring prints of her watercolor work for fairly low prices, her paintings focus on pop culture. There are moments from Office Space, Little Miss Sunshine, and Bob Ross immortalized in her art. But the cream of the crop is her series of portraits from The Office. Kevin, Creed, and Stanley are my faves and she even includes the UK version players as well.
posted by mathowie on Apr 9, 2007 - 15 comments

Japanese Medical Prints. Part of the Clendening History of Medicine Library, at the Kansas University Medical Center, and donated by Dr. Matthew Pickard. The digital collections at the Clendening Library also include Florence Nightingale's letters, old school Chinese public health posters, and images from old medical and natural history texts.
posted by monju_bosatsu on Jan 4, 2007 - 5 comments

Cigar Box Labels are among the finest works of commercial art ever produced. Package designs proliferated during the 1800s, thanks to the development of the stone lithography technique. "Each label could involve a dozen highly skilled specialists,, take a month to create, and cost upwards of $6000.00 (in 1900 dollars) to produce." Images range from racy to rustic to romantic to racist, offering a glimpse into the changing popular fascinations of the 19th and 20th centuries.
posted by Miko on Sep 21, 2006 - 15 comments

We Heart Prints is "a compilation of beautiful, affordable art prints." Your own mileage on beautiful and affordable may vary. {via artdorks, of course}
posted by dobbs on Jul 26, 2006 - 24 comments

The mystery of Stefan Mart and the 'Tales of the Nations'. "The Tales of Nations" was not an ordinary book that you could buy in a book store, and it's mysterious narrator/illustrator disappeared into the darkness of Hitler's Germany, seemingly without a trace. Learn the background, read the stories, and view all 150 fabulous colour illustrations — "small in size, but strong in expression, each a microcosm packed with action, each a feast for the eyes like a beautifully set jewel".
posted by taz on Jan 9, 2005 - 20 comments

Prints, and paintings by Dan McCarthy. My faves: 1 2 3 4 5 6.
posted by dobbs on Sep 30, 2004 - 12 comments

Delightful magical realism by artist Rob Gonsalves. If you enjoy these, then also be sure to check out the wonderful works of Curt Frankenstein. This post made possible by AskMe, and the kind and lovely MeFites Orb and Faze.
posted by taz on Sep 13, 2004 - 5 comments

Red-Haired Barbarians: The Dutch and Othe Foreigners in Nagasaki and Yokohama 1800-1865
posted by hama7 on Mar 30, 2003 - 9 comments

What is a Print? is perhaps the coolest bit of informative interactive Flash work I have seen. Well explained, meaningful interaction (not just click and watch), clean, and the transitions aren't too slow. Nice. (Props to xplane for the link.)
posted by jplummer on Apr 24, 2001 - 15 comments