词汇提示

1.lithography 平板印刷

2.decorative 装饰的

3.contemporary 当代

4.occupations 职业

5.whaling 捕鲸

6.buggy rides 驾马车

7.sleigh rides 滑雪橇

原文

Currier and Ives

Before the widespread use of photography there was a large market for artistic depictions of scenes and events.

A process for making prints called lithography became popular in North America during the early nineteenth century.

One young artist who mastered this technique was Nathaniel Currier (1813-1888).

Currier opened his own shop in 1834.

Currier's success came when he issued prints of newsworthy events.

His "Ruins of the Merchant's Exchange" followed a great fire in New York, December 1834.

One of Currier's prints of a disastrous fire on a steamboat was published in the New York Sun in 1840.

There was also a large market for decorative prints.

People who couldn't afford oil paintings would buy color prints to put on their walls.

Some of these prints were copies of paintings.

Sometimes, Currier mentioned his source and sometimes not.

In 1852, James Merritt Ives (1824-1895) joined Currier's firm.

In 1857, he became Currier's partner.

After that, the firm was known as Currier and lves.

Altogether the firm produced about 7,000 different subjects.

Small prints sold for about 25 cents, and large color prints for about three dollars.

Travelling salesmen went from house to house selling them.

Currier and lves sometimes hired the original painters to make the print.

More often, someone from his or her own studio either composed an original subject or copied an existing painting or drawing.

Contemporary news remained popular.

Currier and lves prints included "The First Appearance of Jenny Lind in America" (1850), "The Fall of Richmond, Virginia" (1865), and "The Great Fire at Chicago" (1871).

A common subject was a patriotic scene from American history.

Interesting occupations such as whaling, bird hunting, trapping, fur trading and deep-sea fishing were portrayed.

Pioneer and Indian topics were in demand.

However, the most popular of all scenes were winter and holiday prints of ordinary people enjoying life.

Farm scenes, buggy rides, sleigh rides, market scenes, black smith's shops, and town scenes sold well.

Favorite prints included "American Forest Scene: Maple Sugaring" (1860), "Home to Thanksgiving"(1863), "Winter in the Country" (1862),"Life in the Country: The Morning Ride"(1859) and "American Winter Sports" (1856).

These scenes are still popular.

Even today you can buy Christmas cards with Currier and Ives winter scenes.

This collection of prints gives a remarkable picture of America between 1834 and 1907.

Although the prints are sometimes more romantic than reality, they give a lotof information about everyday life.

They depict styles of clothing, trains and boats buildings and bridges and popular activities.

They also tell us what sorts of scenes people at that time liked, and what their artistic tastes were.

Eventually, advances in photography made this kind of printmaking obsolete.

In 1906, the firm of Currier and Ives closed its doors.

For a while, these prints were not considered very valuable.

Nowadays, however, there are many collectors,and Currier and Ives prints once again can be found decorating North American homes.

翻译

库里和艾夫斯

在摄影被广泛使用之前，对场景和事件的艺术描绘有很大的市场。
19世纪初，一种叫做平版印刷的印刷工艺在北美流行起来。
掌握这一技术的一位年轻艺术家是纳撒尼尔·库里尔（Nathaniel Currier，1813-1888）。
库里在1834年开了自己的店。
库里的成功来自于他发布了有新闻价值的事件的印刷品。
1834年12月，他的《商人交易所的废墟》在纽约发生大火之后出版。
1840年，柯里尔在《纽约太阳报》上发表了一幅关于蒸汽船上灾难性火灾的版画。
装饰印刷品也有很大的市场。
买不起油画的人会买彩色印刷品贴在墙上。
其中一些版画是绘画的复制品。
有时，库里提到了他的消息来源，有时没有。
1852年，詹姆斯·梅里特·艾夫斯（1824-1895）加入了库里的公司。
1857年，他成为库里的合伙人。
此后，该公司被称为Currier and lves。
该公司总共制作了大约7000个不同的主题。
小版画售价约25美分，大彩色版画售价约3美元。
旅行推销员挨家挨户推销。
柯里尔和艾夫斯有时会聘请原画家来制作版画。
更常见的情况是，他或她自己工作室的人要么创作了一个原创主题，要么复制了现有的绘画或绘图。
当代新闻仍然很受欢迎。
柯里尔和艾夫斯的作品包括《珍妮·林德在美国的首次亮相》（1850年）、《弗吉尼亚州里士满的陷落》（1865年）和《芝加哥大火》（1871年）。
一个共同的主题是美国历史上的爱国主义场景。
有趣的职业，如捕鲸、猎鸟、诱捕、毛皮交易和深海捕鱼都被描绘出来。
先锋和印度主题很受欢迎。
然而，所有场景中最受欢迎的是普通人享受生活的冬季和假日版画。
农场场景、马车、雪橇、集市场景、铁匠铺和城镇场景卖得很好。
最受欢迎的版画包括《美国森林场景：枫糖》（1860）、《感恩节之家》（1863）、《乡村的冬天》（1862）、《乡间生活：早晨的骑行》（1859）和《美国冬季运动》（1856）。
这些场景仍然很受欢迎。
即使在今天，你也可以买到带有库里和艾夫斯冬季场景的圣诞卡。
这组版画展示了1834年至1907年间美国的非凡图景。
虽然这些照片有时比现实更浪漫，但它们提供了很多日常生活的信息。
它们描绘了服装、火车、船只、建筑、桥梁和流行活动的风格。
他们还告诉我们当时人们喜欢什么样的场景，以及他们的艺术品味。
最终，摄影技术的进步使这种版画过时了。
1906年，库里尔和艾夫斯公司关门。
有一段时间，这些照片被认为不太值钱。
然而，如今，有很多收藏家，在北美的家中再次可以找到柯里尔和艾夫斯的版画。