Amazing Whimsical Collages

I just couldn't help myself - I've created some great whimsical collages composed of old master paintings, antique ephemera from my books and cards, and lots of great lettering. The result is a beautiful collection of amazing women. I have more to follow!

Gemini Gothic Whimsical Collage Butterfly Women Poster by antiqueart
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Vintage Taurus Fantasy Gothic Whimsical Collage Poster by antiqueart
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Vintage Mermaid Aquarius Gothic Whimsical Woman Poster by antiqueart
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Vintage Botanical Amaryllis Drawing

Amaryllis Botanical Vintage Garden Print by antiqueart
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Amaryllis is a flowering plant, growing from a large bulb, commonly sold in the winter months because they have bright fresh flowers that grow indoors. This vintage image of an amaryllis has a bright yellow flower, green leaves, and a white bulb with roots.

The Botanical Magazine, Vol. 9 by William Curtis published 1795

This yellow amaryllis is from The Botanical Magazine published in 1795, showcasing botanical flowers like this beautiful yellow amaryllis. Botanicals like this vintage amaryllis are finding a resurgence in modern homes as accent designs. 

Amaryllis Botanical Vintage Garden Print Wrapping Paper by antiqueart
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Vintage botanical amaryllis flower garden yellow pretty country antique floral

Penny Farthing Bicycle

Penny Farthing High-wheeler bicycle

Mom and I had an antique shop when I was young. We'd go to auctions to buy some of our inventory, and I'd often see a Penny Farthing bicycle sitting in the rafters of the auction house, waiting to come down to be auctioned off to the highest bidder.

Those days, they weren't so rare as today, and you could buy your own for a couple hundred dollars. Now, if you find one of them out in the country auctions, they tend to be in poor condition - ratty seats and unusable tires, and you'd pay 10 times the price.

The penny farthing bicycle, also called a high-wheeler, was a common fashion symbol for highbrow Victorian ladies and gentlemen who loved to show off the new rage in sports gear.

This image of a penny farthing shows the huge front tire and tiny back tire - a dangerous sport that eventually led to its demise.

High Wheeler Victorian Penny Farthing Cycle Biking Poster by antiqueart
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High Wheeler Victorian Penny Farthing Cycle Biking Wood Wall Art by antiqueart
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Alice in Wonderland Collage

Alice and wonderland - the original images

Alice in Wonderland never looked better! The Alice in Wonderland collages include the original John Tenniel illustration of Alice and the Dodo, Alice and the Rabbit, Alice and the Flamingo, Alice and the Cheshire cat, and the Mad Tea Party! There are also lots of vintage Victorian Alice icons.   

The Alice illustration is by Sir John Tenniel for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll published in 1911.

Alice in Wonderland Dodo Vintage Pretty Collage Perfect Poster by antiqueart
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Alice in Wonderland Flamingo Perfect Poster by antiqueart
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This lovely Alice's Adventures in Wonderland includes an original illustration with Alice looking through the curtain, the Mad Hatter, and the White Rabbit. The book was written by Lewis Caroll in 1865, where Alice falls down the rabbit hole and is involved in a wonderland of fantasy. It includes this quote by alice, "If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense."

Alice in Wonderland Hatter and Rabbit Canvas Print by antiqueart
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Paris in Spring

Vintage Eiffel Tower Paris France Collage

Great antique ephemera - bits of antique paper advertisements, chap books, and trash - comes from all over the world. This beautiful Paris collage includes the Eiffel Tower from an old postcard. The lace is a scan of real lace, and the other images are from books and antique cards. It's a glimpse of vintage 1900s Paris, a time of old lace, roses, and vintage sightseeing in the beautiful old-fashioned city of Paris.

Paris is an antique collector's delight - with all kinds of junk shops and artifact stores that could take a lifetime to go through. There are so many antiques and antique art in beautiful Paris that it's overwhelming!

Vintage Eiffel Tower Paris France Travel collage Print

History of Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau and Vienna

 I've been on quite a Youtube kick for a while -- what a great place to go to learn about the history of art. Here's a wonderful video on the history of Art Nouveau -- it gives you a background on some of the famous artists of one of the greatest movements of art. I've been to Vienna to experience the history of all things nouveau, and have found it exuberant. Here, in this great video, you'll see a "klimt barbie"...

History of Art Nouveau

What a wonderful European city - Vienna - that started the Art Nouveau movement. The video is an hour long, but it's a great documentary. Enjoy!

How to paint like Monet

How to paint like Monet: Lessons on Impressionist landscape painting techniques It's always interesting to see a demo showing how famous artists progressed in their panintgs. Here's a tutorial by artist Will Kemp.

Vintage Dragonfly Antique Collage

Dragonflies Vintage Illustration Collage
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About the Dragonfly Collage

This dragonfly collage is based on vintage scientific drawings of dragonflies from books. The top dragonfly is drawn in black and white, with a background of soft colorful dragonflies against antique paper.

Dragonflies in Art

Native Americans associate dragonflies and damselflies with being fast and active and pure, and are often depicted in Native American art, often in pottery and jewelry. Dragonflies are also a recurring image in Art Nouveau design, and can be seen in Art Nouveau jewelry designs, posters, and furnishings. In Japan, the dragonfly is used as a symbol of courage, strength, and happiness; here, they use dragonflies in visual art as well as in haiku.

Animals in Art: Fox Drawings and Designs

The Fox - Vintage Collage
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The Fox in Art History

It's only recently that the Fox was depicted as a nice animal. Most of the images from the Victorian era show the animal with an angry face, as if to say to the children of the time, "beware!" Occasionally, though, the Victorians broke through their bias toward evil foxes and showed them with bright, nice faces in beautiful scenery like the advertising showing the arctic fox below.

Victorian Advertising Showing Arctic Fox

Folklore Fox

In Medieval European folklore, the fox Reynard was a fable about an anthropomorphic, trickster red fox. Renyard persists in today's literature and art images of foxes, and can be seen worldwide in advertising, comics, and current-day fables showing the fox in a man's clothing.

As a symbol, Celtics believed the fox to be wise, and a guide in the spirit world; in Japan, the fox was a rain spirit, and symbolized longevity and protection. Northern Native Americans believed the fox was wise and noble, while Plains tribes thought it was a trickster.

It's a Cats World Illustration

It's a Cat's World Antique Book Illustration
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A Cat's World

This antique cat illustration is based on the cover of an antique book called, "Prang's Natural History Series for Children" first published in 1878. The cat's head is surrounded by all the wonderful cat's world images a happy cat can imagine: a garden, a bird, a squirrel are painted into this illustration.

Antique New York Ephemera Collage

New York Statue of Liberty Collage of Antique Art
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New York, New York

New York City is an amalgam of many different images. The Statue of Liberty welcomes the visitor to New York, while the visit involves much love, architecture, and sweet images of beautiful things. This image is a collage of the New York Love experience - old fashioned lace, roses, and little bits of impressions of the city. This New York Image is composed of antique lace, old postcards, and greeting cards from antique stores - a bit of New York ephemera, so to speak. So, what was once a bunch of lovely old antique images becomes an art piece that is quite new and relevant.

Vintage Flower Bluebell Floral Illumination

Floral Pattern from the 1800s

This delightful floral pattern is from an illuminated manuscript from the 1800s. The art of illumination refers to books that provide decoration that supplements the text. Illumination is most often done with decorated initials, borders, and sometimes miniature illustrations. Gold and silver were the traditional materials used for illumination, and color is sometimes used for impact. Examples of illuminated manuscrips can be found as far back as the 400s, and may still exist from the middle ages. This example is late - from the mid-1800s.

This beautiful vintage floral design was created in the 1873 as an illumination for the book called "The book illuminator to the Queen," Marcus Ward. It shows beautifully drawn blue and pink flowers (it looks like they're bluebells and carnations), and swirls of green and blue leaves and acanthus greenery. The floral pattern is just one small image from a huge work of illuminations and designs by Marcus Ward.

Marcus Ward's design company, Marcus Ward and Company, was based in Belfast in the 1800s. Marcus Ward and Company started out creating stationery, bindery, and printing, and later did color lithography. This florial design was printed in 1873, in a book entitled "A Practical Treatise on the Art of Illuminating" by Marcus Ward.

Vintage Flower Bluebell Floral Decoration

William Morris Wallpaper from the 1800s

Vintage Floral Wallpaper Place Mat

Vintage Floral Wallpaper Designs

William Morris was the father of the Arts and Crafts movement of art that was rampant in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Morris was basically a textile and wallpaper designer, who wanted to return to the artistic sensibilities of the Medieval artist, when there was craft that went into creating art, and the scenes were depictions of earthiness and nature. William Morris designed wallpaper and textiles in the early 1800s, and influenced Tolkien's hobbit and lord of the rings books, and the genre of fantasy and science fiction from that time until today.

William Morris produced this image in 1887 as a wallpaper design that was popular and was shown on Victorian walls. Quite busy for a whole room, but the William Morris floral designs have been reproduced ever since, for wallpaper as well as for gifts and backgrounds.

Antique Art Gifts from Doodlefly's Antique Art

Vintage elephant fisherman fishing pillows

Floral Design Acanthus Vintage William Morris Custom Skateboard

Vintage Cat's Life for Kitty Lovers Photo Cut Outs