top of page
A Long Lost Sketchbook from the 1890s
Victorian Ink
Sketchbook in hand, a 23-year-old man named Frederick Cornwall scouted the banks of the Mississippi River, looking for scenes to draw.​
​
​​ ​
​
​An Archive in Ink​
His artwork shows a keen eye for detail, and (it's hard not to notice) an almost schoolboyish appreciation for buxom, headstrong women. It's
a fascinating window into America's Guilded Age.
Saint Louis, 1895​
He seemed to prefer candid moments - sunbathers lounging on the docks, boys dispatching their toy ships, women leaning in to share a secret. He also drew from history, the classics and his own imagination.
bottom of page