The Nearest Way in Summertime
After a painting by Thomas Creswick British
Lithographed and published by Currier & Ives American
Not on view
This rural scene shows a young man on horseback guiding other horses across a stream. The last pulls a cart laden with two tree trunks ridden by a woman and child, and the group heads towards a small house on the opposite bank.
The New York firm of Currier & Ives grew from a printing business established by Nathaniel Currier (1813–1888) in 1835. Expansion led, in 1857, to a partnership with brother-in-law James Merritt Ives (1824–1895). The firm operated until 1907, lithographing over 4,000 subjects for distribution across America and Europe with popular categories including landscape, marines, natural history, genre, caricatures, portraits, history and foreign views. Until the 1880s, images were printed in monochrome, then hand-colored by women who worked for the company at home.
