The lithography firm of Currier & Ives produced more than 8,000 images, including pictures of newsworthy events and prints that reflected familiar all-American themes such as farm life, home and children, religion, sports and leisure, and westward expansion. To design their prints, the company used staff artists who are unknown today as well as a group of celebrated American artists. The work of some of these well-known artists will be highlighted in the exhibition Behind the Scenes: The Artists Who Worked for Currier & Ives, on view from June 10, 2008 through January 18, 2009, at the Museum of Fine Arts.

Included will be prints based on the work of A.F. Tait, who did sporting and Western scenes; Frances (Fanny) Flora Palmer, who was responsible for the majority of landscapes produced by the firm; and George Durrie, the New England winter scene painter. Currier & Ives was also inspired by the work of the well-known artists George Inness and Eastman Johnson. The prints in the exhibition are from the museum's Lenore B. and Sidney A. Alpert Currier & Ives collection, one of the largest collections of Currier & Ives prints in the country.