Artist Signed Postcards

07/16/2023

On Monday, July 17, 2023, I will be giving a free zoom presentation on the skeleton in Raphael Tuck’s family closet. For more information: www.wnypostcardclub.com

07/10/2023

Our private group Vintage Artist-Signed Postcards is celebrating National Kitten Day today by sharing the story of Chessie the Sleeping Railroad Kitten. The learn more about Chessie and her postcard, Click on the link and agree to the group rules to join in the fun
www.Facebook.com/groups/1169164457265159

04/30/2023

Have you ever wondered why postcard publisher Raphael Tuck had four sons but only three of them appear in company publications? My latest research has uncovered the answer. To read more about what happened to Hugo Tuck, click on this link to my blog

A Postcard Publishing Mystery By Anne Ross Hugo Tuck (ca 1864-1919) RAPHAEL TUCK’S FAMILY SKELETON During the Victorian and Edwardian eras, postcard publisher Raphael Tuck & Sons struggle…

04/29/2023

I now have a private FB group so I will only post news about my Wordpress blog here. The private FB group is called vintage artist-signed postcards. Click on the link and answer all questions to join my new group. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1169164457265159

Send a message to learn more

02/01/2023

I have a new blog - and a new private group so I will only be posting news about my blog here. Click on the link to see my WordPress blog.
Hope to see you there - Anne Ross

The name of my private FB Group is vintage artist-signed postcards, it has the same picture in the header

Postcards. Art. History.

08/09/2022

This article of mine first appeared in Postcard History magazine.
So far, I have been unable to trace the artist. If anyone knows, please contact me!

DON'T MONKEY WITH THAT TELEPHONE!
Some of the most entertaining postcards in my collection are those showing animals getting into human predicaments. This postcard (copyright 1906), captioned “Don’t Monkey,” features a painting of three monkeys apeing human behaviors as they play with a telephone. The painting is by an unknown artist in the manner of British artist Sir Edwin Landseer (1802-1873). On the simplest level, it’s an early twentieth-century equivalent of our silly pet videos on YouTube. On a deeper level, it’s a parody of society’s reaction to early telephones-- with a moral message attached.

Collectors often classify this postcard as an anthropomorphic card since it shows animals acting like people. Another term for it is “singerie”- the French term for “monkey trick.” Singeries first became popular in Dutch art during the sixteenth century. The most common singeries show monkeys dressed in human clothes mimicking human behavior- as if they desperately want to become human. The picture reproduced on this postcard, which was probably painted during the Victorian era, continues the tradition of singeries.

The Victorians enjoyed monkeys' attempts to imitate humans. It was believed that monkeys couldn't think rationally or comprehend their own actions. Therefore, primates were seen as lesser beings. Although they’re our relatives, they’re still not quite human! So, it was socially acceptable to use monkeys to make fun of human behavior in singers. At their cruelest, singeries satirized our obsession with the latest trends-- like the telephone.

The singerie on this postcard can also be classified as a narrative painting because it tells a story. It's up to you to figure out what's going on! The monkey on the right is mimicking a human speaking into the telephone. He’s dropped a pair of eyeglasses and a feathered cap. Has the ringing telephone interrupted his attempt to dress in human clothes? The monkey on the left holds the receiver, listening but is unsure what to do. He’s sitting on a book. Is this monkey chewing on its pages in frustration after a failed attempt to read? The monkey in the center unwittingly plays saboteur, nibbling on the phone cord. He doesn’t understand that his actions are dangerous and may result in electric shock. Today, the monkeys’ antics make us laugh. But in 1906, this image was meant to poke fun at people’s awkward attempts to use early telephones- and their reactions to the new technology.

For many years after its invention in 1876 by Alexander Graham Bell, the telephone was seen as a dangerous tool used only by the foolhardy. This explains the postcard’s title “Don’t Monkey.” People who rushed out to buy the first telephones were seen as foolish. How useful is a telephone when the only other person you know who has one is the operator?

The caption of the postcard also hints at fears that kept many people from monkeying around with the phone long after it first appeared. Don’t monkey with that gadget or you might get spied on through the party line! Don’t monkey around with that gizmo; listening to voices on it might make you sick or mentally ill! Perhaps most of all, people feared lightning strikes or electric shock while talking on the phone. Early phone company advertisements went to great lengths to subtly reassure the public, while also promoting the magical convenience of this new apparatus. They conveyed the message that the telephone wasn’t a silly fad; it was here to stay.

The telephone isn’t the only object on this postcard that’s significant. Take a closer look and you’ll see an animal skull in the
background. In still-life paintings, this type of symbolic motif is called a “memento mori”. Memento mori commonly appear in a genre of still life art known as “Vanitas” paintings. Objects such as skulls, flowers, pocket watches, burnt-out candles, upended hourglasses, or empty oil lamps symbolize the fleeting nature of time. These details remind us of our mortality. The skull warns us “life is short, so act wisely”. (Misuse this newfangled contraption called a telephone and you might end up dead!)

The painting reproduced on this postcard is a social satire. At the deepest level, it asks us to look at ourselves. If we blindly go out and buy the latest iPhone or other technological gadgets as soon as they appear, have we regressed to the monkeys’ cognitive level? Is there really such a big difference between us and the three monkeys shown here?

Perhaps the monkeys are also warning us that going outside proper social norms can be dangerous. If the “lower orders” attempt to ape their betters, the result can be disastrous. This was something that was of great concern to the Victorians. Trying to be something you’re not can get you into trouble, so don’t meddle with things you don’t understand. Want to get a newfangled technological gadget to monkey around with? Be careful what you wish for!
Copyright 2021 Anne Ross

07/11/2022

POSTCARD ARTIST FRANK FELLER AND MUSCULAR CHRISTIANITY

As a young man, Swiss-born painter Frank Feller (1848-1908) studied art in Geneva, Munich, and Paris. By 1871 he had moved abroad to continue his studies in London. Ten years later, Feller’s first book illustrations appeared. In 1882, Frank Feller married after becoming a naturalized British citizen. He and his wife Christine Heuser had eight children. Although he was primarily known as a military artist, Feller also produced postcard series for Raphael Tuck and Sons and Hildesheimer and Faulkner. Frank Feller’s art celebrated the principles of “Muscular Christianity” which were first popularized by Thomas Hughes’ 1857 novel Tom Brown’s School Days.

At this time, England’s Christians were concerned that “Puritan influences” had caused a decline in masculinity among British men. Muscular Christianity viewed men’s bodies as gifts from God. As such, they should be employed wisely and with great purpose. First, men must condition their bodies to be physically fit. Participating in sports was believed to subdue men’s “baser instincts”. Once they were fit, young men were to use their strength to protect the weak (especially against bullies). They were to spend their lives advancing righteous causes like the Christian religion. Finally, these manly men must do their part to “subdue the earth” -especially by joining the military to promote British Imperialism. During his career, whether consciously or unconsciously, Frank Feller focused on the intersection of military art and muscular Christianity.

Prior to the golden age of postcards, Feller’s “manly” art appeared in fiction for young boys and in sporting magazines such as The Badminton Magazine and The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News. More mainstream publications such as The Strand and the Idler also published his art. In The Boy’s Own Paper, Frank Feller’s artwork subtly promoted Muscular Christianity among public school youth. These publications featured stories of manly men overcoming danger and engaging in chivalrous behavior while traveling in foreign lands or participating in mountaineering, pig-sticking, and other exotic sports.

Frank Feller produced postcard series for Raphael Tuck and Sons titled “Life in Russia”, “Life in Switzerland”, “Life in Spain”, “Life in China”, and “In the Tyrol”. He also produced watercolors for three Tuck postcard series titled “Soldiers”, “Cowboys & Indians”, and “Angling”.

The pinnacle of Frank Feller’s career came when he had three paintings accepted for exhibitions at the Royal Academy between 1883 and 1895. In 1908, Feller died of a heart attack in his home at 8 Wetherby Terrace, a posh neighborhood in the Earls Court section of London. His obituary can be found in The Sphere (March 21, 1908 issue) and in The Boy’s Own Paper.

07/09/2022

POSTCARD ARTIST'S PROFILE: FRITZ SCHOENPFLUG (1873-1951)
Friedrich “Fritz” Schoenpflug was an Austrian caricaturist, illustrator, and poster artist. He was born in Vienna on June 15, 1873, to Heinrich Ludwig Franz Schoenpflug (B. 1845), a lawyer, and his wife, Pauline Mottl (b. 1846). After graduating from high school, Fritz studied art in Munich. As a young man, Schoenpflug married Leopoldine Fischer (b. 1847). In 1905, his career as a graphic artist was secured when he co-founded the men’s humor magazine Die Muskete (“The Rifle”). Fritz was known for his satirical images of Viennese military and civilian life, which appeared in magazines and on postcards published by Kohn Brothers (B.K.W.I) of Vienna.

Schoenpflug’s work featured predominantly in Die Muskete, as he was both its co-founder and artistic director. The Viennese caricaturist’s work also appeared in to other satirical humor magazines, including Figaro, Fliegende Blaetter (“Flying Leaves”), and London’s weekly publication The Sketch.
In 1906, the Viennese caricaturist became a member of the Wiener Kunstlerhaus (Vienna Artists’ House). In 1949, he was granted the title of Professor. The Kunstlerhaus was built in 1865-68 as a venue for art exhibitions and a meeting place for artists. It houses the Vienna Artists’ Society, which still exists today.

During WWI, Fritz served in Italy as an officer on the front line. When he returned to Vienna after the War, Schoenpflug continued working as a freelance commercial graphic artist. His work grew darker and more antisemitic following his service in the Army.

As a postcard artist, Fritz created templates for about 1000 postcards for Vienna’s leading publishers, Kohn Brothers (B.K.W.I. ) Schoepflug’s series of postcards of Viennese life and sport are still sought after today. His postcards and illustrations show a deep understanding and sympathy for the plight of urban and military horses. But there is also a cruel side to Schonpflug’s work. Fritz’s Wiener Typen (“Vienna Types”) series included Jewish stereotypes disguised as caricatures for “light entertainment.” Jewish residents of Vienna were represented with a subtle antisemitism that is repugnant today. Ironically, his postcards were produced by a publishing company owned by 3 Jewish brothers: Salomon, Adolf and Alfred Kohn.

Fritz Schoenpflug died at age 78 in Vienna, Austria on Feb 17, 1951. He is buried in Vienna’s Baumgartner cemetery, the final resting place for many of Vienna’s leading citizens.

07/06/2022

ARTIST PROFILE: TOM BROWNE (1870-1910)
British graphic artist Thomas Arthur Browne was born December 8, 1870 in Nottingham. He began his working life as an errand boy for a milliner. When his life ended at age 31 in 1910, Tom had risen to fame as one of England’s most popular graphic artists.

After being an errand boy, Tom worked as a lithographer’s apprentice and a freelance cartoonist. His first strip-style cartoon was published in the magazine Scraps. By 1890, the Nottingham artist was creating comic strips for Comic Cuts magazine, which became popular immediately. In 1892 Tom married lace maker Lucy Pares. The couple moved to London, where Tom opened a studio in Wollaton House, Westcombe Park.

Tom Browne was an extremely prolific artist, capable of a wide variety of styles. At the start of his professional career, he was producing 6 full-page comics each week as well as illustrations for various magazines. Browne’s cartoons were purchased by Punch and The Tatler, two of the leading humor magazines. By 1898 he had achieved membership in the prestigious Royal British Society of Artists. Two years later, the cartoonist became a member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours. He then added the requisite initials “R.I.” after his name.

Tom Browne’s greatest contribution to his fellow graphic artists was his role in founding the prestigious London Sketch Club. Other founding members included Cecil Aldin and Phil May. The Club became very popular with extremely successful artists; including Edmund Dulac and W. Heath Robinson. In 1900, the Club was divided into two schools: The Fairy School and The Poster School. The Fairy School included members such as Edmund Dulac, who illustrated fairy tale books. The Poster School included those members whose work included poster art.
In 1904, Browne and the London Sketch Club masterminded an exhibition at the Royal Aquarium that popularized poster art. The London Sketch Club helped to promote British commercial graphic arts. It also worked to counteract the prejudice against “illustrators” as “lesser talented” artists. The London Sketch Club still exists today.

Tom Browne quickly recognized the wisdom behind developing an extra income stream by having his comic art produced in postcard form. During the golden age of postcards, many of Browne’s comic illustrations were produced in series by the publishers W. Davidson and Davison Brothers, London. Browne’s postcards must have stood out on racks in shops as they were printed in bright colors.

In 1908, Browne created the mascot for Johnnie Walker Scotch Whisky, “a strutting, monacled character” in breeches, a red coat and a top hat. Of all his artwork, this image is perhaps the one that has remained in the public eye the longest. It appeared in countless magazine and newspaper ads for many years after Browne’s death.

Sadly, Browne developed cancer and died in 1910 following surgery at his home Wollaton House on Hardy Road in Westcombe Park, Kent. He provided well for his wife Lucy and their three children Dorothy, Noel and Elsie, leaving them the equivalent of 2 million British pounds.

This post first appeared in Bob Teevan's group People and Places behind Vintage Postcards.