Miss Träumerei (Primary Title)
Ethel Reed, American, 1874 - after 1900 (Artist)
Despite her short career, the Boston-based illustrator Ethel Reed was the most acclaimed female poster artist of the 19th century. Her most lauded design, this poster advertises the newly published novel by Albert Morris Bagby, Miss Träumerei: A Weimar Idyl. Reed depicts the main character, Miss Muriel Homes, at her piano, which she plays throughout the book. The diagonal sprig of yellow chrysanthemums across the foreground and the flat color blocking of the figure is reminiscent of Japanese printmaking, from which Reed took inspiration.
Signed at lower right: "ETHEL REED"
Arthur and Margaret Glasgow Fund and Sydney and Frances Lewis Endowment Fund
Frederick Brandt, Designed to Sell: Turn of the Century American Posters, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 1994
Image released via Creative Commons CC-BY-NC
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