"Samurai, Yokohama" (1866)
Photograph by Felice Beato (Italy, 1825-1903)

Felice Beato was one of the first people to take photographs in East Asia and one of the first war photographers. His travels allowed him to share images of countries, people, and places that were unfamiliar to people in Europe and North America. 

This Japanese Samurai may have been one of the last ever photographed, as the samurai social class was abolished two years later in 1868 as a result of the Meiji Restoration, marking the end of the Edo period in Japan. 

Matte Poster

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Jean Simmons as Ophelia in Laurence Olivier's "Hamlet" (1948)
by Universal Pictures

Black and white promotional photo depicting actress Jean Simmons as "Ophelia" in Laurence Olivier's 1948 film adaptation of the famous Shakespeare play "Hamlet". This print is a beautiful example of 1940s Hollywood glamour.

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Mother Mushroom and her Children (1900)
by Edward Okuń (Poland, 1872-1945)

Edward Okuń was a painter, draughtsman and illustrator, representative of the Symbolist movement in the art of the Young Poland period. He was known to paint fantasy scenes based on places he traveled. Mother Mushroom and her Children is an illustration of a young mother looking wearily at her mushroom children. The illustration was originally published with the title, "Where the Beeches Dawn" in the influential German art magazine Jugend. 

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Human Fragility [L'Umana Fragilità] (1656)
by Salvator Rosa (Italy, 1615-1673)

 Human Fragility was painted during a time of great pestilence. The artist himself had lost many close relatives to disease, including his son, brother, and sister. The painting depicts the artist's mistress, Lucrezia, and their son. The Angel of Death is clenching the young boy's wrist and compelling him to write, "Conceptio Culpa, Nasci Pena, Labor Vita, Necesse Mori", meaning "Conception is a sin, Birth is pain, Life is toil, Death a necessity." The background of the image contains many foreboding objects and memento mori. 

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Boreas (1903)
by John William Waterhouse (England, 1849-1917)

 Boreas is the name of the Greek god of the north wind and depicts a young woman buffeted by the wind. Originally an oil painting in the Pre-Raphaelite style created in 1903, this reproduction poster still maintains the beautiful details of the original.

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The Power of Death (1889-90)
by William Holbrook Beard (United States, 1825-1900)

The figure of Death tightly grips the neck of the thrashing tiger in its arms. Images of Death calmly walking in and taking a life are common, but here Death has the same dynamic pose as the spread-eagle tiger. Death’s foot mounts an elephant, indicating its total victory over the giant beast. We see other large predators slain in the background; Death overcomes even the mightiest in the end.

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Stormy Sea at Lighthouse [Stormigt hav vid fyr] (1858)
by Marcus Larson (Sweden, 1825-1864)

Simeon Marcus Larson was a Swedish landscape painter from Åtvidaberg, Östergötland. He has been recognized as "one of Sweden's foremost 19th-century painters" and labeled as "the most outstanding of the Swedish Düsseldorf painters." His paintings were known for being dramatic and primarily depicted rivers under violent skies as well as shipwrecks in storms.

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The Nightmare (1781)
by Henry Fuseli (Switzerland, 1741-1825)

The Nightmare is a 1781 oil painting by Swiss artist Henry Fuseli. It shows a woman in deep sleep with her arms thrown below her, and with a demonic and apelike incubus crouched on her chest.

The painting's dreamlike and haunting erotic evocation of infatuation and obsession was a huge popular success.

For contemporary viewers, The Nightmare invoked the relationship of the incubus and the horse (mare) to nightmares. The work was likely inspired by the waking dreams experienced by Fuseli and his contemporaries, who found that these experiences related to folkloric beliefs like the Germanic tales about demons and witches that possessed people who slept alone. In these stories, men were visited by horses or hags, giving rise to the terms "hag-riding" and "mare-riding", and women were believed to engage in sex with the devil. The etymology of the word "nightmare", however, does not relate to horses. Rather, the word is derived from mara, a Scandinavian mythological term referring to a spirit sent to torment or suffocate sleepers. The early meaning of "nightmare" included the sleeper's experience of weight on the chest combined with sleep paralysis, dyspnea, or a feeling of dread. The painting incorporates a variety of imagery associated with these ideas, depicting a mare's head and a demon crouched atop the woman.

Fuseli may have added the horse as an afterthought, since a preliminary chalk sketch did not include it. Its presence in the painting has been viewed as a visual pun on the word "nightmare" and a self-conscious reference to folklore—the horse destabilizes the painting's conceit and contributes to its Gothic tone.

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Still Life with a Skull and a Writing Quill (1628)
by Pieter Claesz (Belgium, 1597-1661)

In this still life, close observation and realistic detail operate in tension with explicit symbolism. The toppled glass, gap-toothed skull, and guttering wick of an oil lamp all serve as stark symbols of life’s brevity. Working with a limited palette of grays and browns, Claesz carefully describes the surfaces of these unsettling objects. By arranging them on a pitted stone ledge, the artist connects the picture’s space to our own, making the message all the more compelling.

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"The Vampire Queen" [Marie Schleinzer in Bat Costume] (1896)
Photograph by Atelier Adele Studio (Austria, 1862-1905)

Austrian stage actress Marie Schleinzer in costume for the ballet “Around Vienna” ("Rund um Wien"). In it, Schleinzer plays the allegorical force of evil. This is one of a series of photographs published in the Austrian photographic journal Photographische Correspondenz. 

The photography studio was owned by Adele Perlmutter-Heilperin and her two brothers, Max and William Perlmutter, who founded Atelier Adele in 1862. Adele was the first and only female "k.u.k. Hofphotograph" of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy in Vienna and was famous for her ability to photograph women.

Matte Poster

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Trochilidae [Hummingbirds] (1904)
plate 99 from Kunstformen der Natur by Ernst Haeckel

Ernst Haeckel (1934-1919) was a German zoologist and naturalist who described and named thousands of new species and created many terms used today in biology. His work of over one hundred illustrations of animals and sea creatures, Kunstformen der Natur ("Art forms in Nature"), would go on to influence the Art Nouveau artistic movement. 

This plate Trochilidae depicts many species of Hummingbirds, including the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird, Horned Sungem, Crimson Topaz, Red-tailed Comet, Tufted Coquette, Sword-billed Hummingbird, Buff-tailed Sicklebill, Dot-eared Coquette, White-vented Violetear, Hooded Visorbearer, Juan Fernandez Firecrown, and the Booted Racket-tail. 

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Matte Poster

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• Printed with Dye/Pigment Reactive Ink
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• Heavy weight (230 gsm), thick base (9.5 mil), and an instant-dry coating that resists fingerprints and smudging.

Witches' Flight (Vuelo de Brujas) (1798)
Painting by Francisco Goya (Spain, 1746-1828)

At center point are three semi-nude witches wearing penitential coroza bearing aloft a writhing nude figure, their mouths close to their victim, as if to devour him or suck his blood. Below, two figures in peasants' garb recoil from the spectacle: one has thrown himself to the ground covering his ears, the other attempts to escape by covering himself with a blanket, making the fig hand gesture to ward off the evil eye. Finally, a donkey emerges on the right, seemingly oblivious to the rest of the scene.

The general scholarly consensus is that the painting represents a rationalist critique of superstition and ignorance, particularly in religious matters: the witches' corozas are not only emblematic of the violence of the Spanish Inquisition (the upward flames indicate that they have been condemned as unrepentant heretics and will be burned at the stake), but are also reminiscent of episcopal mitres, bearing the characteristic double points. The accusations of religious tribunals are thus reflected back on themselves, whose actions are implicitly equated with superstition and ritualized sacrifice. The bystanders can then be understood either as appalled but unable to do anything or willfully ignorant and unwilling to intervene.

The donkey, finally, is the traditional symbol of ignorance.

Matte Poster

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Plate XV from British Butterflies, Figures and Descriptions of Every Native Species
by William Stephen Coleman (1897)

This beautiful illustration from the rare Victorian book British Butterflies depicts six common butterfly species native to England: Scarce Swallow-tail, Apollo, Arran Brown, Weaver's Fritillary, Purple-edged Copper, and Tailed-Blue. William Stephen Coleman (1829-1904) was an English painter and illustrator.  

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The Satyr Family (1505)
Engraving by Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471-1528)

Dürer’s interest in mythological imagery stemmed from his familiarity with the Italian Renaissance. In this ambiguous engraving, Dürer depicted a satyr - a hybrid woodland creature typically associated with lust - in the role of father and family man. Instead of carousing in the forest, he plays music to his newborn child. Dürer’s play on the mother and child theme and the satyr’s unconventional fatherly behavior draws attention to a primal and simplified way of life. In contrast though, the group rests within an inhospitable dense forest where tops of trees are splintered and branches are dead, implying that the figures’ relaxed instinctual approach toward procreation and sexuality remains outside the bounds of Christian virtue.

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The Lady of Shalott (1888)
Painting by John William Waterhouse (English, 1849-1917)

The Lady of Shalott is a poem by Alfred Tennyson, written 50 years before Waterhouse painted this picture. The Lady of Shalott is cursed and forced to stay in a tower. She is only allowed to look at the world through a reflection in the mirror. One day, she sees a knight, Sir Lancelot, and falls in love with him. She ignores the curse and leaves the tower to find him, which results in her death. Lady of Shalott’s story can be read as a warning about female desire. Victorian society had strict rules and expectations for women that defined ‘acceptable’ behavior.

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Skeletons, also known as Allegory of Death and Fame (1518)
by Agostino Veneziano (Italian, 1490-1540)

Although for centuries scholars have attempted to understand the allegorical meaning of this print, 16th-century artist and author Giorgio Vasari described it simply as “an anatomy of desiccated nudes and of bones of the dead.” A central figure of winged Death stands over an interred skeleton, surrounded by a variety of skeletal and living human figures who appear to debate the fate of the soul. At far left is a “marasmic” man, a type of sun-dried body used by anatomists to study the muscles without removing the skin. Rosso Fiorentino, who designed the composition of this print to be engraved by Agostino Veneziano, was a Florentine contemporary of Michelangelo who planned a book on anatomy that was never published.

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Woman Seen from the Back (1860s)
Photograph by Vicomte Onesipe Aguado de las Marismas (French, 1830-1893)

The portrait, Woman Seen from the Back, a salted paper print from glass negative, suggests the wit and playfulness of its photographer. The image is devoid of depth, possibly an extension of the artists' work on foreshortening, making the sitter appear two dimensional and merely a silhouette.

Matte Poster

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The Four Horsemen, from The Apocalypse (1498)
Engraving by Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471-1528)

In 1498 Dürer published a book illustrating the Revelation of John or the Apocalypse of John, the last book of the New Testament. The images were unique in their large scale, breadth of concept, and unity of design. The first book to be both published and illustrated by the artist, it comprised a title page and 15 full-sheet woodcuts featuring text on the verso of all the sheets except the last one. Often visible through the paper, the text mars the image on the recto of the sheet. The finest impressions were most often printed without text, like this one of The Four Horsemen. Here, Dürer suggested the vigorous momentum of the horsemen through the windblown clothing of the riders, the windswept clouds, and the figures trampled beneath the hooves of the approaching horses.

Matte Poster

Printed with Dye/Pigment Reactive Ink On archival matte paper Shipped in heavy duty poster tube Heavy weight (230 gsm), thick base (9.5 mil), and an instant-dry coating that resists fingerprints and smudging.

• Printed with Dye/Pigment Reactive Ink
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Bellona Leading the Armies of the Emperor against the Turks (1600)
by Jan Muller (Dutch, 1571-1628)

The central, striding figure, Bellona (the Roman goddess of war), is said to be either the sister or the wife of Mars, god of war. The double-headed eagle of the Hapsburgs appears on the flag behind her. Born in Amsterdam, Jan Muller probably learned engraving from his father, Harman Muller, a printmaker and publisher. He traveled to Italy in the 1590s and presumably stopped in Prague along the way. There he made prints based on designs by artists employed at the Hapsburg court, including Bartholomeaus Spranger (1546–1611).

Matte Poster

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"Chiroptera - Vampyrus" [Vampire Bats] (1904)
plate 67 from Kunstformen der Natur by Ernst Haeckel

Ernst Haeckel (1934-1919) was a German zoologist and naturalist who described and named thousands of new species and created many terms used today in biology. His work of over one hundred illustrations of animals and sea creatures, Kunstformen der Natur ("Art forms in Nature"), would go on to influence the Art Nouveau artistic movement. 

This plate Chiroptera depicts the unique facial structures of various species of vampire bats. 

Matte Poster

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Mesmerism; Mind Reading. Magnetic Healing & Personal Magnetism
Book published in the 1930s by Johnson Smith & Company of Detroit Michigan

Artwork inspired by the cover of a vintage book called, "HYPNOTISM and SPIRITUALISM: How to Hypnotize". 

Matte Poster

Printed with Dye/Pigment Reactive Ink On archival matte paper Shipped in heavy duty poster tube Heavy weight (230 gsm), thick base (9.5 mil), and an instant-dry coating that resists fingerprints and smudging.

• Printed with Dye/Pigment Reactive Ink
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• Heavy weight (230 gsm), thick base (9.5 mil), and an instant-dry coating that resists fingerprints and smudging.

The Witch (Night Piece) (1626)
by Jan van de Velde (Dutch, 1620-1662)

This nocturnal scene depicts a bare-breasted sorceress concocting her evil brew in the company of bizarre beasts. She stands within a "magic circle" scratched into the ground, the supernaturally consecrated space for witchcraft-a likely inspiration for the circular forms of Rosa's paintings. She overturns a horn into her cauldron engulfed in billowing flames; mixing with the powder are two streams of ash that spew forth from pipes held in the anus of a somersaulting demon at left. The swirling, decorative composition and the variety of grotesque creatures making knowing and silly faces at the viewer add elements of whimsy and farce to the ostensibly serious, occult subject.

Matte Poster

Printed with Dye/Pigment Reactive Ink On archival matte paper Shipped in heavy duty poster tube Heavy weight (230 gsm), thick base (9.5 mil), and an instant-dry coating that resists fingerprints and smudging.

• Printed with Dye/Pigment Reactive Ink
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• Heavy weight (230 gsm), thick base (9.5 mil), and an instant-dry coating that resists fingerprints and smudging.

The Green Masque (1921)
Painting by Sir Oswald Birley (English, 1880-1952)

If you were a person of consequence in the 1920s, 1930s or 1940s, or wanted to choose a suitable portrait painter for a commission of an important member of society, then it is very likely that the artist you would place at the top of your wish list was Sir Oswald Birley (1880–1952).

A frequent subject of his paintings was his wife, Rhoda. Widely regarded as a beauty, she married Birley at the age of 20 when he was 41. The exhibition features a particularly beautiful portrait made by Birley soon after their marriage in 1921. Entitled The Green Masque, it depicts Rhoda in Venetian carnival attire, her alabaster face glowing against a dark background, her eyelashes demurely lowered.

Matte Poster

Printed with Dye/Pigment Reactive Ink On archival matte paper Shipped in heavy duty poster tube Heavy weight (230 gsm), thick base (9.5 mil), and an instant-dry coating that resists fingerprints and smudging.

• Printed with Dye/Pigment Reactive Ink
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• Shipped in heavy duty poster tube
• Heavy weight (230 gsm), thick base (9.5 mil), and an instant-dry coating that resists fingerprints and smudging.