Artist · 3 prints
John La Farge Prints
About John La Farge
John La Farge was an American painter, muralist and stained-glass designer, born in New York City in 1835. He studied law before turning to art, went to Europe in 1856 and studied briefly in Paris with Thomas Couture, then trained with William Morris Hunt in Newport, Rhode Island. He was among the first American painters to draw on Japanese prints, which he collected. He died in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1910.
La Farge worked across many forms. In 1876 he began decorating the interior of Trinity Church in Boston, and his Ascension (1887) mural is in the Church of the Ascension in New York. He invented opalescent glass, patented in 1880, which helped revive stained glass in America; his Peonies Blown in the Wind (1880) is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. With the historian Henry Adams he travelled to Japan in 1886 and to the South Seas in 1890 and 1891, painting watercolours of Samoa, Tahiti and Fiji.
John La Farge prints: reproductions of paintings and illustrations by the American painter and stained-glass designer John La Farge, made between 1885 and 1897. The collection includes Nocturne (1885), The Great Statue of Amida Buddha at Kamakura (1887) and The Strange Thing Little Kiosai Saw in the River (1897).
This selection reflects La Farge's interest in Japan. The Great Statue of Amida Buddha at Kamakura records his 1886 trip there with Henry Adams. The Strange Thing Little Kiosai Saw in the River illustrates a Japanese ghost story told to children. Nocturne is a dim night scene. The palette across the set is subdued, with dark greens, blues and greys.
The muted tones suit studies, libraries, bedrooms and meditation or reading spaces, and the Buddha painting works well in a calm living room. All prints are museum-quality reproductions, available unframed or framed with low-glare acrylic glazing, with free shipping and import duties covered.
