Since the advent of the printed page, illustrations have been utilized to more effectively tell the story or sell the product. Bibles were illuminated by hand. Steel and copper plate engravings embellished the publications pertaining to natural history, science, history and travel and works of fiction. Early newspapers illustrated their pages with woodcut engravings. These quality historical graphics serve well in their new roles today as decor and conversation pieces in the home.
From about 1880 until the 1940's, commercial artists were employed to provide the illustrations used in advertising. Their original designs were used on posters and billboards and adorned the covers of magazines and presented visually the advertisements within those publications. Well known artists such as Toulouse Lautrec, Jules Cheret, Norman Rockwell, JC Leyendecker, Leonetto Cappiello, and AM Cassandre were regular contributors to this bold, colorful and innovative genre.
Our goal at Great Graphics is to provide the famous images as well as the more esoteric and seldom seen ones as high quality reproductions at reasonable prices. The default sizes (you may choose either size) we offer through our online store, greatvintagegraphics.net, are 17x22 for magazine cover size and 20 x 27 for poster art printed on acid free paper with archival inks and sells for $25 each, shipping to Continental US included. Upon request, many of them are available in custom sizes. A variety of sizes are available in our retail stores, where the originals can often be found as well.
