Ride a Stearns and Be Content

Edward Penfield

1896 · Colour lithograph (poster) · The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Size2:3 ratio

Frame

$59Unframed print · made to order

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Complete the setHangs well with these two

This print

Ride a Stearns and Be Content

Hamlet (Beggarstaffs)

Kassama Corn Flour

3 × $59 at 16 × 24 in, unframed = $177 → $159.30 as a set · 10% included · free shipping

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Giclée-printed to order on heavyweight matte fine-art paper

Free shipping worldwide · arrives in 4–9 business days

Arrives perfect or we reprint it — free

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About this work

Artist: Edward Penfield (1866–1925)
Year: 1896
Medium: Colour lithograph (poster)
Original size: 136.9 × 102.3 cm
Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Movement: Belle Époque

A young woman in a white shirtwaist, a straw boater and a plaid skirt rides a yellow Stearns bicycle across a grey ground, under the lettering "Ride a Stearns and be content". Penfield designed the poster in 1896 for the E. C. Stearns company of Syracuse, New York, makers of the Yellow Fellow bicycle, at the height of the American bicycle craze; the flat colour, the heavy outline and the confident girl are the American poster style he had invented for Harper's. Printed by J. Ottmann, New York. The impression reproduced belongs to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

This exhibition-poster edition shows the whole work beneath original typography set in-house. The original is in the public domain.

Where it works

A cyclist in white and plaid on a yellow bicycle, for a hallway, garage or home office at 12×18 or 16×24 in thin black, no mat. It suits a white or grey wall and pairs with Toulouse-Lautrec's La Chaîne Simpson.

Style, size & framing detail

Style: Exhibition poster of a Belle Époque painting
Era: 19th century (1896)
Orientation: Portrait
Palette: cream & beige
Mood: decorative, sophisticated
Rooms: hallway or entryway, home office, living room, dining room, dorm room
Good gift for: housewarming, art lovers

Size. We'd hang this one at 12×18. Prints at 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×36 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed.

Framing. Exhibition posters sit best in a slim black frame with no mat — the typeset margin is the mat.

Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).

Details & materials

• Exhibition poster — original, drawn in-house • Heavyweight matte fine-art paper, giclée printed at 300 DPI • Sizes: 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in; every size also available framed • Framed option: wood frame in black or dark wood, 12 mm wide and 22 mm deep, with a plexiglass front and no mat; the print is mounted inside and the frame's outside measures the listed size • Made to order; colours may vary slightly from screen

Shipping & returns

Printed after you order at the facility nearest you, then shipped. Standard delivery is free and takes 4–9 business days from order to door in the US, UK and EU (up to 10 elsewhere); Express takes 4–6 business days. Because each print is made to order we don't take change-of-mind returns, but if it arrives damaged or flawed we'll reprint or refund it — no return needed. Full policy →

Is this the whole painting, or a crop?

The whole work, uncropped. The exhibition-poster edition sets the complete image above typography designed in-house.

Is Ride a Stearns and Be Content in the public domain?

Yes. Edward Penfield (1866–1925) died more than 70 years ago and the work was published before 1929, so the painting itself is public domain. This print is a reproduction made from a high-resolution scan of the original, which is held by The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

What is it printed on?

Heavyweight matte fine-art paper with pigment inks, made to order in 12×18, 16×24 and 24×36 inches; every size is also offered framed in black or dark wood, with plexiglass and no mat. Colours are matched to the scan, not brightened.

When was Ride a Stearns and Be Content painted, and in what medium?

Ride a Stearns and Be Content dates from 1896 and was made in colour lithograph (poster); the original measures 136.9 × 102.3 cm.

What size works above a sofa or bed?

Across a three-seat sofa or a queen bed, 24×36 is the size that reads as one statement piece; 16×24 suits a narrower wall or a pair. For Ride a Stearns and Be Content we'd choose 12×18.

About this design

A museum-exhibition poster of Edward Penfield's Ride a Stearns and Be Content — a young woman in a white shirtwaist, a straw boater and a plaid skirt rides a yellow Stearns bicycle across a grey ground, under the lettering "Ride a Stearns and be content" — shown whole and uncropped beneath gallery typography. The American Poster, styled as a blockbuster exhibition print. A gallery-style exhibition poster: a celebrated public-domain artwork shown whole and uncropped beneath original exhibition typography set in-house — printed to order on heavyweight matte fine-art paper. Every size is offered unframed or framed in black or dark wood. Part of the Madten Exhibition Posters Collection. — — — Printed to order and shipped by our production partner, Gelato.

Buy with confidence

The Madten promise

Gallery-grade archival giclée. Rich pigment inks on heavyweight fine-art paper (or gallery-wrapped canvas) — built to last, not a poster-shop print.

Arrives perfect or we reprint it — free. Every piece is made to order; if it shows up damaged or flawed we remake it, no return needed.

Free worldwide shipping. Made & shipped from the facility nearest you — most orders arrive in 4–9 business days.

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