Printable Vintage Illustration: The Three Judges, 1896

We need very strong ears to hear ourselves judged frankly, and because there are few who can endure frank criticism without being stung by it, those who venture to criticize us perform a remarkable act of friendship, for to undertake to wound or offend a man for his own good is to have a healthy love for him.
― Michel de Montaigne

That's why I'm talking to you. You are one of the rare people who can separate your observation from your preconception. You see what is, where most people see what they expect.
― John Steinbeck, East of Eden

1896 illustration of three sombre-looking Victorian ladies in business-like attire. You can download the high-res illustration as a 4” x 4” @ 300 ppi JPEG here. Larger image size available for licensing. Please inquire.


For personal use only. Not for resale. All digitized work by The Real Victorian is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Please cite RealVictorian.com as your source when sharing or publishing.

Printable Vintage Art: Polished Bright by Carl Feiertag

Polished Bright, c1935
by Carl Feiertag (1874–1949)

Look beyond the present circumstances, imagine a brighter future.
― Lailah Gifty Akita, The Alphabets of Success: Passion Driven Life

I've learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our disposition and not on our circumstances.
― Martha Washington

Sources:
[1] Original image from Wikimedia.
[2] The Real Victorian's digitally enhanced version of the painting (seen above), downloadable as a 15" x 12.5" @ 300 ppi JPEG.


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain paintings are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Free Vintage Clipart for Collage, Scrapbooking or Papercrafts: Spring Sunshine

Like a favorite song, old dreams keep on playing in my mind
They've waited for so long, for their time to finally arrive
I do believe now's the time,
I've gone years and years without really living
Minding squeaky wheels just giving and giving
And dreaming,
Like wildflowers growing through sidewalk cracks
The weight of the world makes 'em change their tracks
To find, the sun, and shine
Now, now, now's the time.
― Marie Helen Abramyan

Antique illustration from c1897 of a Victorian lady pulling a curtain aside to enjoy a spot of spring sunshine. High-res 8.5" x 11" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.


For personal use only. Not for resale. All digitized work by The Real Victorian is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Please cite RealVictorian.com as your source when sharing or publishing.

Printable Vintage Art: Girls in a Landscape by Winslow Homer

Girls in a Landscape, 1873
by Winslow Homer (1836–1910)

I think if I've learned anything about friendship, it's to hang in, stay connected, fight for them, and let them fight for you. Don't walk away, don't be distracted, don't be too busy or tired, don't take them for granted. Friends are part of the glue that holds life and faith together. Powerful stuff.
― Jon Katz

Words are easy, like the wind; faithful friends are hard to find.
― William Shakespeare, The Passionate Pilgrim

Sources:
[1] Original image from Wikimedia.
[2] The Real Victorian's digitally enhanced version of the painting (seen above), downloadable as a 15" x 11" @ 300 ppi JPEG.


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain paintings are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Free Vintage Clipart for Collage, Scrapbooking or Papercrafts: Family Ride with a Horse and Carriage

So much of what is best in us is bound up in our love of family, that it remains the measure of our stability because it measures our sense of loyalty.
― Haniel Long

When we are children we seldom think of the future. This innocence leaves us free to enjoy ourselves as few adults can. The day we fret about the future is the day we leave our childhood behind.
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

Antique illustration from 1881 of a Victorian family out for a horse and carriage ride. High-res 11" x 8" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.


For personal use only. Not for resale. All digitized work by The Real Victorian is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Please cite RealVictorian.com as your source when sharing or publishing.

Printable Vintage Art: Mrs. James Guthrie by Sir Frederic Leighton

Mrs. James Guthrie, c1864
by Sir Frederic Leighton (1830–1896)
I don't want to be looked at and grab attention, that's exhibitionism.. I would rather be seen more for my intelligence, for my elegance, for not being just another girl seeking attention. I don't want to catch someone's eyes because those kind of attention spans are short and easily shifted to the next exhibitionist, I would rather stay in the memory as someone who refused to be a performer yet made an impact.
― Simmal Khan

About the painting:
Frederic Leighton trained in Frankfurt, Paris, and Rome, only settling in London in 1859, where he helped introduce Continental ideas about aestheticism and "art for art’s sake." He became president of the Royal Academy in 1878. Leighton was selective about painting portraits but was sympathetic to Ellinor Guthrie (1838–1911), the daughter of James Stirling, the first governor of Western Australia. Born in Perth but raised partly in England, Ellinor married the Scottish merchant banker James Alexander Guthrie in 1856. The Guthries lived in the fashionable and affluent Portland Place in London, and, between 1857 and 1868, they had nine children. Sittings for this portrait took place after Ellinor had recovered from the birth of her fifth daughter in October 1864. In April 1865 she went into mourning when her father died, which may explain her somber, though luxurious, black dress. [Source: Google Arts & Culture]

You can download The Real Victorian's digitally enhanced version of the painting (seen above) as a 4" x 6" @ 300 ppi JPEG here.


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain paintings are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Free Vintage Clipart for Altered Art, Junk Journaling, Papercrafts or Scrapbooking: From Winter Into Spring

Sorrow prepares you for joy. It violently sweeps everything out of your house, so that new joy can find space to enter. It shakes the yellow leaves from the bough of your heart, so that fresh, green leaves can grow in their place. It pulls up the rotten roots, so that new roots hidden beneath have room to grow. Whatever sorrow shakes from your heart, far better things will take their place.
― Rumi

Late 19th century illustration showing a Victorian lady in a transforming landscape, from winter into spring. You can download the watercolour drawing as a high-res 10" x 8" @ 300 ppi JPEG here.


For personal use only. Not for resale. All digitized work by The Real Victorian is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Please cite RealVictorian.com as your source when sharing or publishing.

Printable Vintage Art: Girl Reading Under an Oak Tree by Winslow Homer

Girl Reading Under an Oak Tree, 1879
by Winslow Homer (1836–1910)

To the loner, loneliness is a treasure that cannot be traded, even for the nicest of companies.
― Michael Bassey Johnson

I spent my life folded between the pages of books.
In the absence of human relationships I formed bonds with paper characters. I lived love and loss through stories threaded in history; I experienced adolescence by association. My world is one interwoven web of words, stringing limb to limb, bone to sinew, thoughts and images all together. I am a being comprised of letters, a character created by sentences, a figment of imagination formed through fiction.
― Tahereh Mafi

Sources:
[1] Original image from Wikimedia.
[2] The Real Victorian's digitally enhanced version of the painting (seen above), downloadable as a 6" x 4" @ 300 ppi JPEG.


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain paintings are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Printable Vintage Art: Brussels in the Rain by Gustave Den Duyts

Brussels in the Rain, late 19th century
by Gustave Den Duyts (1850–1897)

Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby.
― Langston Hughes

You expected to be sad in the fall. Part of you died each year when the leaves fell from the trees and their branches were bare against the wind and the cold, wintery light. But you knew there would always be the spring, as you knew the river would flow again after it was frozen. When the cold rains kept on and killed the spring, it was as though a young person died for no reason.
― Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

Sources:
[1] Original image from Wikimedia.
[2] The Real Victorian's digitally enhanced version of the painting (seen above), downloadable as a 12" x 9" @ 300 ppi JPEG.


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain paintings are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Printable Vintage Art: The Old China Shop by Ralph Hedley

The Old China Shop, 1877
by Ralph Hedley (1848–1913)

Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says, “I'll try again tomorrow.”
― Mary Anne Radmacher

Defeat is only defeat if we accept it as defeat. Victory often comes after defeat, because one was too stubborn to allow it to be their reality. In the trail of any great conflict you will see the scuff marks, where the one was beaten down, but they could not be taught to stay that way.
― Tom Althouse

Sources:
[1] Original image from Wikimedia.
[2] The Real Victorian's digitally enhanced version of the painting (seen above), downloadable as a 8" x 10" @ 300 ppi JPEG.


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain paintings are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Free Vintage Clipart for Collage, Scrapbooking or Papercrafts: Pansies for Thought

Just in case you ever foolishly forget, I'm never not thinking of you.
― Virginia Woolf

Knowledge holds the power
But It's Memory that possesses it.
― Ritu Negi
Antique illustration from 1897 of a Victorian lady dressed in Elizabethan costume playing a lute on a terrace. The image is decorated in the foreground with a clump of pansies with a caption stating "Pansies foe Thought." You can download the engraving as a high-res 8.5" x 11" @ 300 ppi JPEG here.


For personal use only. Not for resale. All digitized work by The Real Victorian is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Please cite RealVictorian.com as your source when sharing or publishing.

Printable Vintage Art: The Fierce Friend

The Fierce Friend, c1893
by Évariste Carpentier (1845–1922)

...she doesn't have to choose between being gentle or being fierce. Both exist in nature and both exist in her. That's ok. She'll know to nourish them both and when applicable, use each unapologetically.
― Steve Maraboli

Do not be afraid to bare your teeth - you were not brought into this world covered in blood to become a gentle, tamed thing.
― Nichole McElhaney

Sources:
[1] Original image from Wikimedia.
[2] The Real Victorian's digitally enhanced version of the painting (seen above), downloadable as a 4" x 3" @ 300 ppi JPEG.


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain paintings are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Printable Vintage Fashion Illustration: Gilded Age Hairstyles 1875

Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say,
and not giving a damn.
― Orson Welles

1875 fashion history illustration of Gilded Age hairstyles by Mr. W.J. Barker of 1271 Broadway, New York. You can download the high-res illustration as an 8" x 9" @ 300 ppi JPEG here.


For personal use only. Not for resale. All digitized work by The Real Victorian is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Please cite RealVictorian.com as your source when sharing or publishing.

Printable Vintage Illustration: Searching for Clues, 1875

The truth must be quite plain, if one could just clear away the litter.
― Agatha Christie

She remembered what her old priest had said: a half-truth masquerading as a whole truth was nothing but an untruth. But half-truths were horseplay in Miranda, where big lies came quick and easy. And they were about to come a lot easier.
― Chad Boudreaux, Homecoming Queen

1875 illustration of a Victorian lady in a ball gown; she seems to be looking around for someone/something. You can download the high-res illustration as a 6" x 8" @ 300 ppi JPEG here. Larger image size available for licensing. Please inquire.


For personal use only. Not for resale. All digitized work by The Real Victorian is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Please cite RealVictorian.com as your source when sharing or publishing.

Printable Vintage Art: Girl Eating Soup by Albert Anker

Girl Eating Soup, 1898
by Albert Anker (1831–1910)

Nourishing yourself in a way that helps you blossom in the direction you want to go is attainable, and you are worth the effort.
― Deborah Day

Nothing is more simple than greatness; indeed, to be simple is to be great.
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sources:
[1] Original image from Wikimedia.
[2] The Real Victorian's digitally enhanced version of the painting (seen above), downloadable as a 11" x 8.5" @ 300 ppi JPEG.


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain paintings are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Printable Vintage Art: A Mother Looking at Her Child by Silvestro Lega

A Mother Looking at Her Child, 1884
by Silvestro Lega (1826–1895)

Do not ask your children
to strive for extraordinary lives.
Such striving may seem admirable,
but it is the way of foolishness.
Help them instead to find the wonder
and the marvel of an ordinary life.
Show them the joy of tasting
tomatoes, apples and pears.
Show them how to cry
when pets and people die.
Show them the infinite pleasure
in the touch of a hand.
And make the ordinary come alive for them.
The extraordinary will take care of itself.
― William Martin, The Parent's Tao Te Ching: Ancient Advice for Modern Parents

Sources:
[1] Original image from Wikimedia.
[2] The Real Victorian's digitally enhanced version of the painting (seen above), downloadable as a 8" x 12" @ 300 ppi JPEG.


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain paintings are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Printable Vintage Art: Winter Afternoon, Riverside Park by George Wesley Bellows

Winter Afternoon, Riverside Park, 1909
by George Wesley Bellows (1882–1925)
They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
― Benjamin Franklin

Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does. It is up to you to give life a meaning.
― Jean-Paul Sartre

We were the people who were not in the papers. We lived in the blank white spaces at the edges of print. It gave us more freedom. We lived in the gaps between the stories.
― Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale

Sources:
[1] Original image from Wikimedia.
[2] The Real Victorian's digitally enhanced version of the painting (seen above), downloadable as a 5" x 4" @ 300 ppi JPEG.


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain paintings are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Printable Vintage Illustrations: Victorian Lady with Flowers in her Hair, 1868

whatever you do
be gentle with yourself.
you don’t just live
in this world
or your home
or your skin.
you also live
in someone’s eyes.
― Sanober Khan

Nothing is so strong as gentleness.
Nothing is so gentle as real strength.
― Ralph W. Sockman

1868 engravings of a Victorian lady with flowers in her hair (front and back views). You can download the high-res illustrations in one 7" x 5" @ 300 ppi JPEG here. Larger image size available for licensing. Please inquire.


For personal use only. Not for resale. All digitized work by The Real Victorian is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Please cite RealVictorian.com as your source when sharing or publishing.

Printable Vintage Art: Embroidery Woman by Georg Friedrich Kersting

Embroider Woman, 1817
by Georg Friedrich Kersting (1785–1847)

Have love for your inner Self and everything else is done for you.
― Amit Ray, Peace Bliss Beauty and Truth: Living with Positivity

Instead of focusing on how much you can accomplish, focus on how much you can absolutely love what you’re doing.
― Leo Babauta

Sources:
[1] Original image from Wikimedia.
[2] The Real Victorian's digitally enhanced version of the painting (seen above), downloadable as a 9" x 12" @ 300 ppi JPEG.


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain paintings are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Printable Vintage Fashion Illustrations: Ladies with Muff and Stole, 1904

Be so warm that people mistake you for the sun; so bright that people mistake you for the stars; and so accommodating that people mistake you for the universe.
― Matshona Dhliwayo

If you cannot find a good companion to walk with, walk alone, like an elephant roaming the jungle. It is better to be alone than to be with those who will hinder your progress.
― Gautama Buddha, The Dhammapada

Antique illustrations of two Edwardian ladies in a muff and a stole, 1904. From my own collection. 8" x 8" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here. Larger size image available for licensing. Please inquire.


For personal use only. Not for resale. All digitized work by The Real Victorian is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Please cite RealVictorian.com as your source when sharing or publishing.

Printable Vintage Art: Flower Still Life by Gustave Max Stevens

Flower Still Life, c1914
by Gustave Max Stevens (1871–1946)

She cast her fragrance and her radiance over me. I ought never to have run away from her... I ought to have guessed all the affection that lay behind her poor little stratagems. Flowers are so inconsistent! But I was too young to know how to love her...
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

Beauty is no quality in things themselves: It exists merely in the mind which contemplates them; and each mind perceives a different beauty.
― David Hume, Of the Standard of Taste and Other Essays

Sources:
[1] Original image from Wikimedia.
[2] The Real Victorian's digitally enhanced version of the painting (seen above), downloadable as a 10" x 8" @ 300 ppi JPEG.


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain paintings are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Printable Vintage Art: After Sunset by Kitty Lange Kielland

After Sunset, 1886
by Kitty Lange Kielland (1843–1914)

Dusk is just an illusion because the sun is either above the horizon or below it. And that means that day and night are linked in a way that few things are there cannot be one without the other yet they cannot exist at the same time. How would it feel I remember wondering to be always together yet forever apart?
― Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook

The pale stars were sliding into their places. The whispering of the leaves was almost hushed. All about them it was still and shadowy and sweet. It was that wonderful moment when, for lack of a visible horizon, the not yet darkened world seems infinitely greater—a moment when anything can happen, anything be believed in.
― Olivia Howard Dunbar, The Shell of Sense

Sources:
[1] Original image from Wikimedia.
[2] The Real Victorian's digitally enhanced version of the painting (seen above), downloadable as a 11.5" x 8" @ 300 ppi JPEG.


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain paintings are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Printable Vintage Illustration: Escaping the Wildfire, 1883

It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.
― e.e. cummings

Heroes are ordinary people who make themselves extraordinary.
― Gerard Way

We all have heard about ordinary people who find themselves in extraordinary situations. They act courageously or responsibly, and their efforts are described as if they opted to act that way on the spur of the moment... I believe many people in those situations actually have made descisions years before.
― Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters

Antique illustration of four children escaping from a raging wildfire, 1883. From my own collection. 5" x 7" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here. Larger size image available for licensing. Please inquire.


For personal use only. Not for resale. All digitized work by The Real Victorian is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Please cite RealVictorian.com as your source when sharing or publishing.

Vintage Art Appreciation: Donkey with Cart by Hanns Bolz

Donkey with Cart, 1903
by Hanns Bolz (1885-1918)

Being faithful in the smallest things is the way to gain, maintain, and demonstrate the strength needed to accomplish something great.
― Alex Harris

We have to recognise that there cannot be relationships unless there is commitment, unless there is loyalty, unless there is love, patience, persistence.
― Cornel West, Breaking Bread: Insurgent Black Intellectual Life

The road must be trod, but it will be very hard. And neither strength nor wisdom will carry us far upon it. This quest may be attempted by the weak with as much hope as the strong. Yet it is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: Small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere.
― J.R.R. Tolkien


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain paintings are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Printable Vintage Art: Interior from Paris by Harriet Backer

Interior from Paris, 1886
by Harriet Backer (1845–1932)

It is the still, yellow kind of afternoon when one is apt to get stuck in a dream if one sits very quiet.
― Dodie Smith

I spent my life folded between the pages of books. In the absence of human relationships I formed bonds with paper characters. I lived love and loss through stories threaded in history; I experienced adolescence by association. My world is one interwoven web of words, stringing limb to limb, bone to sinew, thoughts and images all together. I am a being comprised of letters, a character created by sentences, a figment of imagination formed through fiction.
― Tahereh Mafi, Shatter Me

Sources:
[1] Original image from Wikimedia.
[2] The Real Victorian's digitally enhanced version of the painting (seen above), downloadable as a 8" x 10" @ 300 ppi JPEG.


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain paintings are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.