Life and Works of Loui Prang

This essay discusses the life and work of 19th century chromolithographer Louis Prang, hailed as the greatest of American chromolithograph publishers. In it, I shall firstly introduce Louis Prang. Then I shall describe the graphic form which became known as chromolithography, after which I will have a look at Louis Prang's setting; his competitors and associates. After this I will focus on some examples of his work and the methods he used to produce them. Lastly I will summarize his contribution to the world of art and graphic design in particular.

Louis Prang was born in Germany in Breslau (present day Poland) in 1824. He learnt the fundamentals of printing in his father's fabric printing shop. In 1850, when Prang was twenty- six years old he immigrated to America and settled in Boston. He formed a chromolithographic firm with Julius Mayer in 1856 in which, initially, Julius Mayer printed the stones produced by Prang. Prang's colourful work was very popular and the firm grew rapidly. In 1860 Prang bought Mayer's share