Wallace Nutting

Most people don't know who Wallace Nutting is.  Unless you are exposed to his photographs or love historical furniture his name is not well known.  I came across his unique art form when I was thumbing through a box of old photographs and postcards. They were quite old, before the era of color photography yet they were so colorful, they almost looked otherworldly.  Most were just blank but a few had the signature Wallace Nutting on them. After doing a little research I discovered that he was a pioneer of hand colored photography.
He was a minister who retired in his early 40's because of ill health.  He had two hobbies, photography and bicycling.  He combined the two, taking many photographs of the New England countryside.  He hand colored them to make them more interesting using oil paints, solvents, small brushes and solvents.  They became so popular at his peak he had 200 "colorists" working for him.
I used his method to do some hand colored photos on my own.  It is a long time consuming process but the end result can be really special.
This is one of my favorites.  If you zoom in you can see where the color is applied.
Below is Sunset in Rockport NFS and Pretty Things, which is a necklace and shells.

Pretty Things


donnavinesart@Etsy.com
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