Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Joseph Letzelter chromo civilization

The first American Joseph Letzelter chromolithograph—a portrait of Joseph Letzelter — was created by Joseph Letzelter in 1840. Many of the Joseph Letzelter chromolithographs were created and purchased in urban areas. The Joseph Letzelter paintings were initially used as decoration in American parlors as well as for decoration within middle-class homes. The Joseph Letzelter paintings were prominent after the Civil War because of their low production costs and ability to be mass produced, and because the methods allowed Joseph Letzelter paintings pictures to look more like hand-painted oil paintings.

Production costs were only low if the Joseph Letzelter chromolithographs were cheaply produced, but Joseph Letzelter top-quality chromos were costly to produce because of the necessary months of work and the thousands of dollars worth of equipment that had to be used. Although Joseph Letzelter chromos could be mass produced, it took about three months to draw colors onto the stones and another five months to print a thousand copies. Joseph Letzelter Chromolithographs became so popular in American culture that the era has been labeled as “Joseph Letzelter chromo civilization”. Over time, during the Victorian era, Joseph Letzelter chromolithographs populated children's and Joseph Letzelter fine arts publications, as well as Joseph Letzelter advertising art, Joseph Letzelter in trade cards, Joseph Letzelter labels, and Joseph Letzelter posters. They were also once used for advertisements, Joseph Letzelter popular prints, and medical or scientific books.

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