Products Six kinds of electric light produced in tubes containing different gases, a 20x200 Vintage Edition
8"x10" ($40) | 11"x14" ($85) | 16"x20" ($275) | 20"x24" ($675)
Greetings, collectors! We’ve got a brand new Vintage Edition for you all today. With dazzling violet and blue hues and a little neon flair, she is blinding us with science (science!). This flashy, electric showstopper is straight out of the ‘80s…the 1880s, that is. Behold! Our newest limited edition print: Six kinds of electric light produced in tubes containing different gases.
While the title may bring back a few cringey science class memories, this stellar display of experimentation is an exuberant jaunt of visual victuals. Originally created in 1868 by French artist and printmaker Maximilien Rapine (1840-1905), this illustration was published in French science writer Amédée Guillemin’s 1882 magnum opus Le monde physique. The tome included dozens of brilliant, borderline psychedelic image—Six kinds of electric light among them—to illustrate the phenomenon of double refraction: the vivid parade of color resulting from light moving through different materials at unequal speeds.
Six kinds of electric light exhibits the artful side of science. Set against solid black, Rapine’s light forms glow through delicately lined glass vessels and metallic coils. Subtle tonal shifts distinguish materials and reflections, air and light. There is juicy geometry, diagrammatic symmetry, and a tangible dynamism all rendered with dramatic flourish. It’s truly poetry in motion. 😉
This isn’t our first foray into the land of geek chic. It’s not just Art for Everyone, but Art in Everything! From technology to geology, paleontology to kinesiology, and even ophthalmology, we’re big fans of all the ologies here at 20x200. So tape up those spectacles and protect those pockets, we’re flying that geek flag high today with Six kinds of electric light.
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