W. Ware

W. Ware left behind a quiet pile of prints that feel like overheard gossip in 18th-century London. These small, sharp etchings of shop signs, dogs, and market stalls were so popular that printers kept printing them long after the artist vanished. A friend once pointed out the way Ware sketched a stray cat mid-stride on a cobblestone, no bigger than a postage stamp, but you can feel the damp pavement.

If you’re hunting for something that feels like a postcard from the past, look up Ware’s H Beard Print Collection, it’s a whole city street in one crowded sheet.