Lift off.

Theodor Severin Kittelsen (1857 – 1914) Norwegian

Decorative Sunday

In 1990, Sebastian Carter (b. 1941), the producer of many exquisite fine-press publications at his Rampant Lions Press in Cambridge, England, printed this simple little pamphlet of Eight Buildings: Architectural Drawings, for Letterheadings et cetera in an edition of 175 copies with no explanatory text. No particular reason, just eight minimalist, decorative renderings of well-known and not so well-known buildings. It should be noted that Carter did study architecture and the fine arts at King's College, Cambridge.

Rampant Lions Press was established as a commercial press in 1949 by Sebastian's father Will Carter (1912–2001), although Will was printing under that imprint since he was 12. Sebastian Carter joined his father in the business in 1966, becoming a partner in 1971, and taking over the business in 1991. He closed the press in 2008 on his retirement. This small book, a gift from our late friend Jerry Buff (1931-2025), is a testament to the simple pleasure Sebastian Carter found in printing books.

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Last Supper, 1863, Nikolai Ge

Medium: oil,canvas

Artists have long experimented with how to capture light and shadow. Some were so skilled at portraying light that they showcased their technical mastery by painting scenes set at dusk, evening, or in the dead of night. Here are a few of our favorite nighttime paintings from our collection.

“Rocky Seashore,” 1876, by Ivan Konstantinovisch Aivasovsky 

“Bivouac before Waterloo,” c. 1827, by Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps 

“Untitled (Dark Seascape),” c. 1975, by Paul Thek