Exploring Early 20th C. Prints…
Pastels - Royce Photographs - O’Klein Dogs & Cats
by Michael Ivankovich

A Follow-Up on Pastels

   Our last column on William Henry Chandler pastels generated a larger response than any of our other columns to date. And immediately after that column appeared we heard about a new book which had just been released on the subject of turn-of-the-century pastel art -- and of course, we obtained a copy. This book not only contained some additional information on William Henry Chandler, but on other pastel artists as well.
   The Power of Pastels by June Rhode is hot off the presses. Self-published by the House of Rhode Publishing Company, this 152 page book features colored photographs of 125+ beautiful late 19th and early 20th century pastels by a variety of artists including William Henry Chandler, Francis Glatthaar, Andrew Gunderson, Harry Linder, and a general section featuring pastels by a variety of other artists.
   This book is not “complete” in the sense that it includes only a very limited amount of information on only a few early 20th c. pastel artists, while there are hundreds of others not included here. But to author June Rhode I say “Thank You” for starting the job of researching this broad field of early 20th c. pastel art. The hard part about researching this area is not necessarily in finding pastel art to photograph and document, but rather in locating the background information on these all-too-often obscure artists. We would hope that this book represents the first...and not the last...study into this relatively unexplored area.
   Our biggest concern with the book falls in the area of valuation and pricing. Most listed values fall in the range of $500-$1200 per picture...which is significantly higher than we have generally been able to obtain at either the auction or the retail level. Maybe prices are lower on the East Coast but when we specifically asked the author where her pricing came from, she assured us that most listed prices are actual retail prices obtained either by herself, or by others known to her, in the Midwestern portion of the country.
    In our opinion, good quality turn-of-the-century pastel art is quite undervalued today. Repeatedly while attending       auctions in our area we see blemished popular early 20th c. prints such a Bessie Pease Gutmann, Maxfield Parrish, R. Atkinson Fox, and damaged Wallace Nutting and Nutting-Like hand-colored photographs bringing far more than signed original pastel art in beautiful and undamaged condition. Why? Because so little is known about the pastel artists. But as more information emerges in this area, and as more people begin to understand and appreciate the beauty of original pastel art, prices will undoubtedly increase.
   To order The Power of Pastels you can contact June Rhode directly at House of Rhode Publishing, 6655 County Trunk G, Egg Harbor, WI 54209. Or you can visit her web site at www.doorpi.net/~jwhitney. The price is $28.15 ppd. WI residents add 5.5% sales tax.
   If you have any background or biographical information on any other pastel artists that you would like to share with readers of this column, you can send it to me at P.O. Box 1536, Doylestown, PA 18901 or via e-mail at: ivankovich@wnutting.com.

Royce Hand-Colored Photographs

   Although a great deal has come to light about the major early 20th c. hand-colored photographers such as Wallace Nutting, David Davidson, Charles Sawyer, and Fred Thompson in recent years, relatively little is known about the hundreds of “Lesser-Known” photographers who were also creating and selling their own hand-colored photographs during the same period. Many of these photographers created images on a par with the major photographers and as each year goes by, we are learning a little more about them. The information we will share with you here on E.H. Royce was submitted by his grandson Edmund R. Gruff,
   Edmund Homer Royce, affectionately known as “Bug” to his friends, was born at 55 Bank Street in St. Albans, Vermont on April 8, 1883. He died in the same house some 80 years later. Royce spent many of his early years dabbling as a part-time photographer after he had “earned” his first camera at the age of 10 by selling magazine subscriptions to local friends and family. He continued his love of photography for more than 55 years.
   Photography remained a hobby in Royce’s earlier years while his true profession was that of stationary shop keeper where he operated a store in St. Albans Vermont between 1909-1930. He retired from the business in 1930 and began to pursue his first love...photography. Just as Wallace Nutting felt it his calling to preserve the unblemished yet rapidly changing New England countryside for future generations, Royce found a calling of his own...recording one of Vermont’s rapidly vanishing treasures...its covered bridges. Vermont once had nearly 600 covered bridges around the state until the great flood of 1927 destroyed all but 200 of them. With nearly 400 beautiful and historic covered bridges gone so quickly, Royce decided that it would be his calling to photograph all of Vermont’s remaining covered bridges for future generations.
   So starting in 1930 Royce went on to document nearly 185 of Vermont’s remaining covered bridges.  He traveled literally thousands of miles across Vermont in search of covered bridges while also managing to photograph thousands of images of Vermont’s beautiful Green Mountains and its beautiful landscapes along the way.
   Once Royce had nearly all of Vermont’s covered bridges preserved in his photographic file he published “The Covered Bridge”  in collaboration with Herbert Wheatley Congdon which included 100 of his best covered bridge images. The book’s popularity lead to two re-printings.
   In 1951 Royce was given the rare honor of being awarded a 1-man photographic show at the Eastman-Kodak Exhibition in Grand Central Station, New York. Titled “The Vermont Scene”, this exhibition featured 48 of Royce’s best covered bridge and landscape scenes. His work also appeared in U.S. Camera magazine, a national photographic magazine, and in an illustrated article on Vermont’s covered bridges that appeared in “Kodakery”, a Kodak trade publication.
   A 4th generation Vermonter, Royce’s grandfather, Homer Royce, had been a U.S Congressman and later the Chief Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court while another relative, Steven Royce, had served as Vermont’s Governor during the mid 19th century. Along the way Royce married his wife, June. He was active in local community affairs where he had served as President of the St. Albans Chamber of Commerce, President of the local Owl Club, and was a board member of the Congregational Church.
   Edmund Homer Royce died on March 26, 1967. And now hopefully the next time that you see a “Royce” hand-colored photograph, you’ll recognize it as one of Vermont’s finest.
 

O’Klein’s Naughty Dogs and Cats

   One of the most unusual forms of early 20th c. prints that we have encountered would certainly fall within the area of “O’Klein” hand-colored etchings. Frankly we know fairly little about the artist who signed the name “O’Klein”. Our guess is that O’Klein was a man, and our guess is that the name “O’Klein” was most likely an alias. Chances are that many readers have seen O’Klein’s “Naughty Dog” prints in their travels but, because the signature is usually illegible, most people fail to recognize the artist by name. We have been unable to locate any specific information on the Internet or anywhere else, and we don’t have a whole lot of information on this artist in our file but here is what we do know.
   O’Klein produced a series of caricature scenes which typically featured Dogs and/or Cats, with the typical theme being tame sexual friction between Male and Female Dogs, or Cats humorously tormenting Dogs who are trying to relieve themselves. In once scene a smirking cat sits high on a wall after having “fenced in” the local Dogs’ favorite watering tree while a series of Dogs grimace in frustration. In another scene a Cat high on a wall torments a series of Dogs of different breeds as they relieve themselves against a wall while standing on their hind legs. In all we have seen somewhere between 24-36 different variations of these Dog vs. Cat or Male Dog vs. Female Dog themes.
   More humorous than offensive to most people, O’Klein Dog and Cat prints may not necessarily be considered  “Living Room” art by most people and most collectors we have spoken to agreed that they usually hang these prints in their primary or guest bathrooms. Some people love them...other people hate them...but when displayed in our booth in Brimfield they probably draw more attention than anything else. We have in our collection a series of three very tame prints that we’re certain are early O’Klein’s. Our guess is that they date from the 20's and represented some of O’Klein’s earliest work prior to perfecting his later, more popular naughtier works.
   The most collectible O’Klein’s are original hand-colored etchings which seem to date circa the 1930's. Although some were imported for sale within the U.S., many seem to have been brought back from Europe by visiting American tourists. Usually O’Klein prints are pencil-signed lower right in an illegible signature, and pencil-signed lower left in French. Sometimes a pre-printed copyright marking will appear as well.
   Beware that some of these prints were machine-reproduced in the 1970’s and are relatively difficult for the untrained-eye to differentiate from the original hand-colored etchings. A 10x loop is your best defense against the reproductions which will be evidenced by a series of tiny symmetrical dots. The original hand-colored etchings will show the colored brush strokes added to the black-lined etching print.
   Based upon our experience O’Klein prints seem to be selling in the $75-$200 range with the most humorous pictures in the best condition bringing the highest prices. Reproductions or damaged/stained original prints will bring proportionally less. And frankly, that’s all we know about O’Klein hand-colored etchings. If we have missed anything...or if your have any additional information that you would like to share with our readers...we would like to hear from you.
 

REPRESENTATIVE AUCTION PRICES

   To help you to better stay in touch with current Auction Prices in the early 20th c. Hand-Colored Photography and Print Market, here is a representative sampling of some actual Auction Prices realized in our March 9th-10th Auction which was held in Ft. Washington, PA. After receiving numerous requests for this service we will try to include such prices in most future column. All prices include the 10% Buyer’s Premium.

Bessie Pease Gutmann - Lorelei - $550
William Henry Chandler - Original Landscape Pastel - $275;
David Davidson - Grandmother’s Garden - $198
Currier & Ives - American Homestead Spring - $88
 Fred Thompson - A Fair Patriot - $176
F. Jay Haynes - Great Falls, Yellowstone - $44
Harris - Charlotte St, St. Augustine - $77
Harrison Fisher - Under the Rose - $71
Maxfield Parrish - Collier’s Cover (7/3/09) - $231
Wallace Nutting - Stepping Heavenward - $1815
Wallace Nutting Furniture - #916 Chest of Drawers - $5610

About the Author: Michael Ivankovich is a collector, author, dealer and auctioneer specializing in early 20th century hand-colored photography and prints. His Auction Company conducts 3-4 Live Catalog Auctions per year in this field. E-Mail questions or inquiries can be directed to Michael at: ivankovich@wnutting.com or you can write to: P.O.  Box 1536, Doylestown, PA 18901. If you would like a reply, you must include a self-address-stamped- envelope. You can learn about his next live Catalog Auction at: www.wnutting.com/upcoming.htm