Piankhy the Great pl18 (1962)

Dated 1962, "Piankhy the Great pl18" is an artwork by E. Harper Johnson. Illustration, a short history: The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries are often described as a golden age of book and magazine illustration. Printing methods such as woodcut, engraving, lithography, and photomechanical reproduction each shaped how illustrators worked. Historical background, 1962: After 1945 the centre of Western art activity shifted to New York, where Abstract Expressionism was followed by Pop art, Minimalism, and Conceptual art. Photography, film, and print culture became part of the language of art, and artists across the world developed their own responses to modernism. It is listed in the Illustration collection. The image is in portrait orientation.

Buying "Piankhy the Great pl18" means getting a digital file, not a physical print: Digital JPEG + PDF files, 300 DPI, delivered by email once payment is confirmed. A 300 DPI file is intended for printing at home or at a local print shop, where you can choose a matte, satin, or fine-art paper to suit the room. A portrait format suits narrow wall spaces, hallways, and the area beside a door or window. Illustrative graphics are valued for their decorative line work and narrative quality, which makes them a strong fit for gallery walls, kids rooms, studies, and more intimate interiors. A simple frame with a mat often helps an image settle comfortably into a room. Matte and fine-art papers reduce glare in bright rooms, while glossy papers give stronger contrast and deeper blacks. Choosing a standard frame size and printing to fit it often saves the cost of custom framing. Screens and printers render colour differently, so a small test print is a sensible way to check tones before committing to a large size.

American, 1916–2016

If you like the visual language of E. Harper Johnson, explore more works by the same artist in our collection.