James Merritt Ives of Currier & Ives

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Merritt_Ives

James Merritt Ives (5 March 1824 – 3 January 1895) was a U.S. lithographer with Nathaniel Currier.

After going to work for Currier's firm as bookkeeper in 1850, Ives' skills in business and marketing contributed significantly to the growth of the company. In 1857 he was made a full partner, and the company became known as Currier & Ives. The firm was known for its popular art prints of subjects such as winter scenes, landscapes, sporting events, ships, and icons of 19th century life. These prints are widely sought after by collectors today.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Currier_and_Ives

Currier and Ives was an American printmaking firm headed by Nathaniel Currier (1813–1888) and James Merritt Ives (1824–1895) and based in New York City.

Currier worked as a printmaker first in the firm of Stodart & Currier, and then later as "N. Currier" (1835–1856). Newspapers lacked photographs; but the public was interested in some source of pictures of recent news stories. In 1835, Currier produced the print "Ruins of the Planter's Hotel, New Orleans, which fell at two O’clock on the Morning of the 15th of May 1835, burying 50 persons, 40 of whom Escaped with their Lives", which was moderately successful.

Awful Conflagration of the Steam Boat LEXINGTON in Long Island Sound on Monday Eveg, Jany 13th,(1840)

In 1840, he produced "Awful Conflagration of the Steam Boat Lexington", which was very successful. Currier soon had a weekly insert in the New York Sun.

In 1852, Currier hired his famous counterpart, James Ives, to be his accountant. Ives showed his value by modernizing the company's bookkeeping, reorganizing inventory and streamlining the print process. Currier quickly made Ives a full partner forming the famous firm, Currier & Ives.

Currier and Ives described itself as "Publishers of Cheap and Popular Pictures". Their pictures were indeed hugely popular; in 1835–1907, Currier and Ives produced more than a million prints by hand-colored lithography. A staff of artists produced the lithographs. The colors were applied by an assembly line, typically German immigrant girls, each of whom added a single color to the print.

The prints depicted a variety of images of American life, including winter scenes; horse-racing images; portraits of people; and pictures of ships, sporting events, and ferocious battles of the American Civil War.

Currier died in 1888. Ives remained active in the firm until his death in 1895. Because of improvements in offset printing and photoengraving, the public demand for lithographs gradually diminished. Currier and Ives closed in 1907.

Today, original Currier and Ives prints are much sought by collectors, and modern reproductions of them are popular decorations. Especially popular are the winter scenes, which are commonly used on American Christmas cards.

Mitchell Parish's lyrics to Leroy Anderson's orchestra piece "Sleigh Ride" mention the company by name, stating that a merry indoor scene at a farm during the winter will "nearly be like a picture print by Currier and Ives".

In the Sigmund Romberg musical "Up in Central Park" there was a song in the original score (but not in the film version) entitled "Currier and Ives".

In the M.G.M. film The Belle of New York starring Fred Astaire & Vera Ellen there is a musical number where they are engaged, and they go to Currier & Ives for their portrait to be painted against an autumn background scene. The musical number then fades and dissolves and continues through the rest of the seasons.

Birth: Mar. 5, 1824 Great Barrington Berkshire County Massachusetts, USA Death: Jan. 3, 1895 Rye Westchester County New York, USA

Lithographer. He partnered with Nathaniel Currier to found the "Currier and Ives" printmaking firm, which from 1835 to 1907 produced over a million lithographs, which were extremely popular in 19th century American life.

Family links:

Parents:

 Chauncey Ives (1795 - 1879)

 Hannah Augusta Storer Ives (1797 - 1868)

Spouse:

 Caroline Clark Ives (1825 - 1898)

Children:

 Chauncey Ives (1847 - 1933)*

 Augusta B. Ives (1849 - 1919)*

 James Merritt Ives (1851 - 1853)*

 Caroline Clark Ives (1853 - 1930)*

 Elizabeth Mary Ives (1857 - 1899)*

 Jennie Strong Ives Ellis (1859 - 1936)*

 Frederick Dana Ives (1862 - ____)*

Siblings:

 Elizabeth Mary Ives (1822 - 1899)*

 James Merritt Ives (1824 - 1895)

 George Henry Ives (1830 - 1871)*

*Calculated relationship

Cause of death: Enlargement of the heart

Burial: Green-Wood Cemetery Brooklyn Kings County (Brooklyn) New York, USA Plot: Section 53, Lot 6801 GPS (lat/lon): 40.65143, -73.99122

Maintained by: Find A Grave Record added: Jan 01, 2001 Find A Grave Memorial# 2669