All is Vanity - Charles Allan Gilbert Art Print
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Tout est Vanité. In English, All Is Vanity. The line belongs to Ecclesiastes, and C. Allan Gilbert carried it straight into a Victorian boudoir.
Step closer. Bone softens into a woman at her mirror, and Charles Allan Gilbert's All Is Vanity has you. A young beauty moves through her evening ritual in a gown of burnt umber, shoulders bare. Glass jars crowd the pleated tablecloth. A flower rides in her reflected hair. She meets her own eyes, unhurried, certain of tomorrow.
Gilbert drew this optical illusion in 1892, a Gilded Age eighteen-year-old at the Art Students League of New York. Look how little he needed. Her upswept hair and its mirrored twin sink into two eye sockets. A row of perfume bottles bites down where teeth belong. The glass itself swells into a cranium of bone-ivory light, ringed by lampblack drapery, heavy stage curtain for a one-woman show.
Life magazine bought the young American illustrator's drawing in 1902, and soon parlors across the country hung death up on purpose. The joke lives in the furniture, since a dressing table answers to the name vanity. This memento mori art print keeps that double image flickering in tobacco sepia, gothic wall art with a punchline.
This vintage illustration print drags the old Dutch vanitas still life into the age of the picture magazine. Hang the visual pun where guests linger. The taper beside the flowers still standing tall... a little time left on the table.
Origin Story
Wall Art Size Guides
Framed Art Prints
1. Vertical
Use the sawtooth hanger at the top middle on the back of the frame and hang it on a single screw or nail.
2. Horizontal
Hang the two sawtooth hangers on two screws or nails at the same heightPut two screws or nails in the wall at the same height, spaced the same distance apart as the two sawtooth hangers, then hang your print on them.
Framed Canvas
1. D-rings (most secure)
Screw a D-ring onto the back of the frame on the left and right, both at the same height. A ruler helps here. Then put two screws in the wall where you want your canvas, level with each other and spaced the same distance apart as the D-rings. A spirit level makes this easier. Finally, hook the D-rings onto the screws.
2. Straight onto screws
Keep it simple: put two screws in the wall at the same height and rest the inner lip at the top of the back of the frame on them.
1. Cost
Free shipping to Continental USA, Canada, UK, EU, AUS, NZ & more: see full list here.
2. Produced on Demand
Printed after you purchase at print labs across the USA, UK, EU & AUS. Produced, quality checked, packed with care and handed to trusted shipping carriers within 72-96 hours on average.
3. Production + Shipping =
USA: 4-9 days • Canada: 5-12 days • UK: 4-9 days • EU: 5-10 days • AUS: 4-9 days • NZ: 5-12 days • Rest of the world: 3-4 weeks
4. Shipped with Love
Every package tracked from A to B to You. Sent carbon neutral at no extra charge. Peace of mind your money's being kind.
30 Day Returns
1. You're welcome to open a return / exchange request within 30 days of your order's delivery. All items for return must be delivered back in their original condition, with their original packaging included.
2. No guarantees your return will be approved if you send items back before the approval of your return request.
3. No returns, refunds or exchanges on discounted or sale items.
Read the step-by-step returns process.
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