The Art of Fireworks

Hand colored etching of “A VIEW of the FIRE-WORKES and ILLUMINATIONS at his GRACE the Duke of RICHMOND’S at WHITEHALL and on the River Thames on Monday 15 May 1749.” (1749) (via Wikipedia)

Giovanni Paolo Panini, “Preparation Of The Fireworks” (18th C.) (via superstock.com)

India, Rajasthan, Kishangarh, South Asia, “Krishna and Radha Enjoying a Feast and Fireworks” (early 19th century) (via lacma.org)

Henri Pierre Léon Pharamond Blanchard, “Fireworks /Feuerwerk” (1856)

Utagawa Hiroshige (Ando), “Fireworks at Ryogoku (Ryogoku Hanabi), No. 98” from One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (1858) (via brooklynmuseum.org)

Unknown American Artist, “Fireworks Over Castel St. Angelo, Rome” (nd) (via BrooklynMuseum.org)

Winslow Homer, “Sailboat and Fourth of July Fireworks” (1880) (via thecityreview.com)

James Ensor, “Fireworks” (1887) (via moma.org)

Félix Vallotton, “Fireworks” (1901) (via moma.org)

David Bueno de Mesquita, “Vuurwerk op de Amstel – Fireworks over the river Amstel, on the occasion of the silver jubilee of Queen Wilhelmina” (1923) (via christies.com)

Sam Francis, “Firework” (1963) (via moma.org)

Cai Guo-Qiang’s “Fireworks From Heaven” at the Charles J. Colton School during Prospect.1 in New Orleans, 2008.

Another project in lower Manhattan by Cai Guo-Qiang, “Transient Rainbow” (2002), was created for the opening of MoMA QNS. It featured a rainbow of fireworks. This was done again in 2009 above Tian’anmen Square and billed as the world’s largest “firework paintings.” (image via asianartnewspaper.com)

Rosemarie Fiore’s “Firework Drawing #7” (2009) (via rosemariefiore.com)