Posters
"Chase & Bachelder's American Museum of Art" Poster The Spirit of Columbia (America) Soars over the Great Plains...
c. 1875, Chase & Bachelder's American Museum of Art Poster, professionally laid on Linen, after the original John Gast's 1872 Painting "American Progress", Stafford & Co. Nottingham, England, Choice Very Fine.
Poster measures about 27.5" x 37" including the margins, mounted on linen to 28.5" x 38" overall. A large colorful woodblock poster announcing Chase & Bachelder's American Museum in England. The lower two-thirds of the poster is comprised of allegorical scene depicting lady liberty herself soaring above a western landscape, building of the railroad, the telegraph, Indians, hunters, gold miners and much more. The spirit of Columbia (America) soars over the Great Plains, stringing electric poles along the locomotive tracks, which are following the settlers along the Oregon Trail in an allegory of Manifest Destiny: a classic All-American image at the cusp of the nation's 100th birthday. But Chase & Bachelder's museum is in England, specializing in American art. A fascinating interpretation of the American Dream as seen from across the pond. The colors are vibrant, some scattered ink from the press seen in the outer right margin.