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Art Nouveau - Schmucker Postcards (2) 1907 [186029]

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Postcards Start Price:120.00 USD Estimated At:300.00 - 400.00 USD
Art Nouveau - Schmucker Postcards (2) 1907 [186029]
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A pair of RARE postcards featuring the art nouveau-style of American illustrator Samuel Schmucker, both made by Detroit Publishing Co., c1907. From the Smoke Series. Includes: "Laughing Waters,"with graphic of Indian pipe with Native American girl in smoke, penned writing and date on verso, 8-4-'07, clean; and "Maude Muller," with graphic of corn cob pipe with woman in bonnet in smoke, unused, clean.
Schmucker (1879-1921) was born in Reading, Pennsylvania. Schmuckerís right hand was partially paralyzed from the polio he suffered as a child, but he still pursued a career in the arts. After attending the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, and Howard Pyleís school in Drexel he began working as a commercial artist in 1905 by drawing fashion illustrations for the Philadelphia Daily Press. He later created illustrations for the Detroit Publishing Company. They were placed on 52 postcards divided into 8 sets titled Smokes, Mermaid, Drinks, Butterfly Girls, Childhood Days, Gnomes, International Girls, and Fairy Queen. He designed many more holiday postcards for the John Winsch Company. He used his wife, Katherine Rice as a model for most of these cards. She became known as the Winsch Girl, except on Detroit cards where she was called the Schmucker Girl. His style is composed of a strange hybrid between the American Brandywine tradition and European Art Nouveau. Starting in 1915 he would produce another 130 postcard designs for the National Art Company, but he finally took a job as an accountant in 1917 to make ends meet. [] [] [] [] []