Great Falls of the Potomac / drawn by G. Beck, Philadelphia ; engraved by J. Cartwright, London. – Vintage Wall Art
(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)
Description
Few images capture their era like this historic print of Great Falls of the Potomac / drawn by G. Beck, Philadelphia ; engraved by J. Cartwright, London.. It comes from the collections of the Library of Congress, scanned from the original and carefully restored.
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Great Falls of the Potomac / drawn by G. Beck, Philadelphia ; engraved by J. Cartwright, London.
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The Great Falls of the Potomac, where the river drops through rocky ledges on the boundary between Maryland and Virginia, is the subject here, shown in a hand-colored aquatint published in London in 1802. The drawing was made by G. Beck of Philadelphia and engraved by J. Cartwright, so the view traveled across the Atlantic before reaching print, a common path for American scenery in the early 1800s. Such views were popular with European audiences curious about the new republic's landscape, and the falls, close to the young capital of Washington and the port town of Georgetown, drew visitors who wanted to see its wild water for themselves. The soft tonal wash of aquatint suits the churning rapids and wooded banks.
| Created / published | London : Published by Atkins & Nightingale, 1802. |
|---|---|
| Medium | 1 print : aquatint, hand-colored. |
| Genre | Landscape prints 1800-1810.Aquatints Hand-colored 1800-1810. |
| Notes | Title from item. Exhibited: The view from here : images of early Georgetown, Dumbarton House, 2002. |
| Subjects | Waterfalls--Virginia--1800-1810. Waterfalls--Maryland--1800-1810. Great Falls of the Potomac (Md. and Va.)--1800-1810. |
| Source | Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division |
| Original scan | 2,143 × 1,712 px · prints to 7 × 6 in at 300 dpi |
| Reference | AMZ-SOTP-HPA-215870 |
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