William Harring Von Ammon

William Harring Von Ammon
William Harring Von Ammon
	Chromist,Painter,Naturalist,Lithography,Chromolithography
Born	1811; Prussian Germany
💀Died	1894; United States of America1894
🏳️ Nationality	American
💼 Occupation

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Early life[edit]

William Harring von Ammon , Prussian German-American 1811-1894 Simply known as William Harring was a noted Oleographer, Chromolithographer, Chromographer ,Chromist colour Separator ,Painter and Naturalist know as the " Father of lithography " in the United States . Harring was born 5 september 1811 in Kloster Vessra a municipality in the district of Hildburghausen in thuringia Prussia Germany (Harring was often refered to as either Prussian or German ) . He studied art in Berlin , Munich, Vienna and Paris where he soon attained remarkable skill in the combination of colours and colour seperation greater perhaps than any other printer of his day .He resided in Kloster Vessra for thirty years before setting out to travel throughout europe . He was also an excellent shot and later a member of the American society of sharpshooters.

Father of Lithography in United States[edit]

In 1846 Harring established the largest Lithographing firm in the Prussian capital of Berlin and began to lithograph and reproduce many of his own compositions . He later sold the business for a paltry sum so he could travel to London .from 1850 on harring had devoted himself almost exclusively to Chromolithography . while in london he became a professor and circa the late 1850's he began a series of sketches and paintings of every animal in the famous Zoological garden in perfect form and color by special permission from the authorities at the london Zoological gardens .each animal was lithographed separately hand-colored and made in to a collection which was published circa 1860 and quickly garnered wide acclaim for harring throughout Europe for the series .In 1897 a set of sixty original watercolor paintings of birds and animals from the original Zoological series by prof.Harring were donated by J.L.Bardwell to the golden gate park museum , SanFranciso ,CA. after gaining a wide reputation in europe for his chromolithograph skills .Harring was brought over to the united states in 1864 by the well known printer Louis Prang to work at his printing company L.Prang & co 1860-1897 in boston ,MA Though the forst American chromolithograph had already been printed by that time a portrait of "Reverend F.W.P.Greenwood" created by William sharp in 1840 according to various accounts harring was credited with introducing Oleography Chromolithography to the United States on a more mass-produced level while working for Louis Prang & Co and became known as the Father of lithography.

William Harring Contribution to Louis Prang & Co[edit]

" The Reason Prang decided to take on the challenge of producing chromolithographs despite criticisms was because he felt quality art should not be limited to the elite . for many years L.Prang & co was known to have had a monopoly on the more artistic reproductions in chromolithography and harring was the key to thier early fame as one of america's best printers which bought them great wealth and prominence .Though there was no real secret to the genius of Harring's colour process prang even went as far as telling his competitors that it was a secret art process and he guarded harring's room with the vigilance of a time-lock.at the time chromolithography was a very tedious and time consuming process ,sometimes taking months of preparation ,color separation and final printing with as many as 20-30 different litho stones being used to produce one print before a regular run could be completed but what a magnificient result it was Louis Prang & co were considered one of the best printers and publishers of fine art prints form 1860 through 1897 when they then became Taber Prang Art Co 1897-1938 who continued the tradition with high quality printing through the early part of the 20th century .By all accounts Harring was the key to establishing Prang's early reputation and worldwide sucesss with his series of chromolithographs called " Prang's American Chromos The democracy of Art after the paintings well known American artists and later expanded to include works by European artists.

" From one of Prangs ads in a publication from december 1869 they describe the chromos PRANG'S AMERICAN CHROMOS are reproductions of paintings by the marvelous process of chromo-lithography . The paintings chosen for that purpose are mostly the works of distinguished American Artists and every one is a gem of its class .Our Chromo prints are absolutely facsimiles of the originals in color drawing and spirit and their price is so low that every home may enjoy the luxury of possessing a copy of works of art which hitherto adorned only the parlors of the rich" .

Prang did more to create the market for chromolithographs in the United States than any other publisher and his work greatly influenced other publishers around the country .Harring's chromolithographs were of the highest quality known and are sought by collectors today .Harring even made chromolithographs after his own paintings while working for prang and many of prang's chromolithogarphic reproductions bear Harring's printed signature in a few different variations to include W.Harring Chr , W.Harring Von Annon , W.Harring V.An, W.Harring V.A , W.Harring de An.Harring retired from L.Prang & co with quite a fortune himself by 1874 and became a naturalized citizen on september 25th of that same year.

Later Life[edit]

Soon after retiring from prang ,Harring decided to move to london around october of 1874 to invest his fortune in a new business enterprise as a Fancy box manufacturer .he became associated with three men in that business as a co-partner in the firm with charles William Julius Claudius ,Frederick George Chant, Horatio William Shephard (business collectively known as Claudius,Chant & Shepherd ) who later cheated him out of every cent he had invested in to the company .The firm eventually went bankrupt and was forced to liquidate in 1876. Harring then returned to the united states around 1877 and sold some real estate that he had previously acquired in boston and moved out to San Franciso, CA, residing with his wife for most of that time at their home located at 1604 stockton street near Washington square park. From that time he worked as an oleographer /chromolithographer at the Bosqui printing company ,Inc until his death in 1894. Harring quickly became widely known for the series of beautiful high quality oleographs of california graphes while working for Bosqui.The early series of 10 oleographs "Grapes and Grape vines of California " were published in 1877 under the auspices of the california state vinicultural Association from the original water color drawings miss hannah millard San Franciso .The color plates included The Mission grape vine, the johannisberg Riesling , the rose chasselas, the white muscat of Alexandria , the black Hamburgh , the flametokay the Zinfandel the Sultana the Catawaba and the Emperor .The San Francisco Daily Alta California newspaper from December 9,1877 heralded the forthcoming publications of grapes and grape vines as " A Rare Work of Art" and the production of the "ampelographie"(Greek for vine) a the study of the determination and description of varieties and their scientific classification lived up to its advance billing .it was one of the most ambitious publication projects undertaken in nineteenth century California and was inspired by european works of a similar nature .one of the plates . The "Johannisbrrg Riesling " alone used 28 litho stones to create just one print and it was later shown at the Paris Exposition in 1878 along with the others to great acclaim .Bosqui hoped to demonstrate the beauty ,variety and superiority of the fruit of california's burgeoning vineyards. The series of oleographs were also exhibited in 1884 at the "Loan book Exhibition" held at the university of california Berkeley CA.Speculation has been made that a little as 200 sets were printed and that most of them along with the original illustrations were destroyed in three seperate fires in Bosqui's studios, and that roughly only eleven copies remain .Experts surmise that if even one set of these rare prints were to come up at auction it may fetch anywhere from $50,000-1000,000 or more and are considered even rarer than some of the original Audubon sets of "Birds of America" which some sets have brought hundreds of thousands at auction .Bosqui's Grapes is one of the most important folios ever published and represents several firsts in the history of printing in California .it was the first california imprint illustrated by a women . the first imprint illustrated with chromolithographic plates and the first depiction of the california grapes in color .Atrue masterpiece in the history of printing in the late 19th century. As a person Harring was considered a genial man and he was fond of mankind and art .His friends often spoke of him with admiration and great affection .for about eight years before his death harring turned to painting portraits in watercolors which were also considered exceptional .In addition he was known to have been an active naturalist and amongst his other estate effects .he left behind a rare collection of butterfly specimens and a complete collection of his Zoological hand-colored lithographs to his widow at the time of his death on January 19,1894.

Exhibitions[edit]

Select Exhibitions included Paris Exposition 1878 The San Francisco Art Association 1880-1883.The Mechanics Institute ,San Francisco 1880 & 1890 , The california State Fair 1881 and at the "Loan Book Exhibition" University of California ,Berkeley Ca 1884.

External links[edit]

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William Harring Von Ammon
William Harring.jpg Chromist,Painter,Naturalist,Lithography,Chromolithography
Born	1811 Prussian Germany
💀Died	1894 United States of America1894

🏳️ Nationality	American


💼 Occupation