Getting arty with the dear departed. The serious business of 19th century mixed media meddling. Anonymous c. 1880 – 1900.

This art form takes time and planning ahead. Way ahead. Simply take your loved ones to a local photo studio, select your favourite image, have it printed out in sepia. Now cut it out ever so carefully. Now paint your choice of background in oils on a wooden board, glue on your photo and hand colour it to blend it right in. Make their cheeks a little bit rosy and perhaps as a final touch consider adding a little lock of their hair to the final work. Leave for maybe a century or so for the photos to fade and the oil to crackle just right, and “Hey Presto!”, your loved ones are now immortal.

The extraordinarily crafty multi-media memorial portraits of ordinary late 19th C. people with time on their hands.

From the wonderfully ecclectic and ever fruitful archives of Amsterdam’s Rjiksmuseum, the gift that just keeps giving.

If you like these you’ll love these, oh and these.

Portrait of an unknown man, anonymous, 1880 – 1900.
D E T A I L
Portrait of a woman named Marguerite; in memory of her death; with lock of hair, anonymous, c. 1880 – before 1906.
D E T A I L
Portrait of an unknown girl with a hat in her hand, anonymous, 1880 – 1900.
D E T A I L
Portrait of an unknown woman, anonymous, 1880 – 1900.
D E T A I L
New Year’s wish for the year 1910 with portrait of an unknown man, anonymous, 1909.
D E T A I L
Portrait of an unknown woman, anonymous, 1880 – 1900.
D E T A I L
Collage featuring portraits of soldiers, military leaders and civilians of the Ohio area.
AmericanCivil War, 1865-1867, anonymous, c. 1865 – c. 1867.
D E T A I L
Portrait of an unknown man, anonymous, 1880 – 1900.
D E T A I L
Portrait of an unknown boy, anonymous, 1880 – 1900.
D E T A I L
Portrait of an unknown man, anonymous, 1880 – 1900.
D E T A I L

Zeen is a next generation WordPress theme. It’s powerful, beautifully designed and comes with everything you need to engage your visitors and increase conversions.

Subscribe to Lost & Found
The very best things in life come FREE & so are we.