Sir William Newman Prior Nicholson (1872-1949) is amongst my favorite "Edwardian Era" artists. He was born in Newark-on-Trent, an "inland port town" about 125 miles north of London. He studied art from a young age and trained briefly in Paris as a young man. Although he was an excellent painter, he is best remembered for his signature prints—often woodcut block prints reproduced with the (somewhat modern) lithographic process. Understandably, these affordable works enjoyed a much wider distribution than his paintings were able to achieve.
Shown above, a portrait of American author Mark Twain. This print was published in 1902 as part of a portfolio of a dozen images of illustrious personages, titled Twelve Portraits—Second Series.
Mark Twain was probably America's most popular writer in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries. As such, his portrait sat respectably alongside other prominent artists, writers and politicians including Teddy Roosevelt, Thomas Edison, Henrik Ibsen, Lord Herbert Kitchener and The Right Honorable Joseph Chamberlain.
This portrait is handsomely framed in a period oak frame, about the same age as the print itself. Click on the photo above to learn more about it.
Though our Greenwich Village store is now permanently closed, LEO Design is still alive and well! Please visit our on-line store where we continue to sell Handsome Gifts (www.LEOdesignNYC.com).
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