Grandpa's earliest known drawing,
circa 1918.
From a young age, my grandfather's natural artistic talents were evident and, although never formally trained, he made a career using his talents in a number diverse ways: theatre poster painting, lettering (sign, truck and businesses), lithography and portrait painting.
Back in the day, the signs advertising a film were hand painted on heavy cardboard and then inserted into the glass display case outside or inside the movie theatre. Below are two film posters my grandfather painted when he was employed by Theatrical Poster Service from 1935-1936.
My Dad, circa 1946, currently hanging in my parent's home.
Grandpa turned 21 years old one month before the beginning of the Great Depression and during that year his occupation was listed as "artist" in the Racine City Directory. With hardships, suffering and unemployment hitting every United States city, Grandpa found work with the Works Projects Administration (WPA) sometime between 1934-1943. The WPA was founded under President Franklin Roosevelt's Administration and employed 3 million Americans at it's peak in 1938 (1). Harry's employment with the WPA brought him to the Milwaukee Public Museum where he worked on the "China Room" (as both my Aunts remember it being called) applying all the gold leaf to the room in what can only be described as a highly ornate and filled with artifacts.
A portrait of my Auntie Marlene, circa 1939, possibly painted as a sample for an advertising campaign for a milk or cookie company.
Portraits of my father above, (circa 1937) and above right (circa 1943).
As I was creating a timeline for Grandpa and researching the WPA, I came across an interesting side note that needs further exploration. The Federal Arts Project (1935-1943) was part of the WPA, and was created to help artists during the depression and one of their projects was painting posters, among many others. It's my hunch that Grandpa's work with the Theatrical Poster Service
No one is sure why this was painted or when. Regardless it's one of my favorites given to me by my Grandpa.
during 1935 and 1936 was part of the Federal Arts Project. The big questions is "Why would the government sponsor a program to paint movie posters?" and the answer is that millions of Americans attended movies each week in an effort to escape the realism of the Great Depression. Using the Milwaukee City Directory for 1937, I counted 66 movie theaters. That's a lot of poster painting! Furthermore, as well, I believe during 1937-1938 is when he completed the work in the "China Room" under the Federal Arts Project. I certainly will keep you all posted with any further research developments.
By the start of World War II, Harry was working for a lithography company printing war maps for the troops. It's unclear if this was the same company, E. F. Schmidt, that he worked for from the early 1939 until he retired or a different company altogether but my best guess is that it's one and the same. After the war, E. F. Schmidt was known for making calendars and as one of a small group specialized sheet-fed lithographers in Milwaukee (2). They eventually merged with a larger corporation but are still in business today.
Absolutely beautiful painting of the resurrection of Jesus. Grandpa painted this in 1926 at age 18.
Captain Felix Struck
One of the family's favorite paintings is that of Captain Struck, the last man on Jones Island. Not only is his life story fascinating but he was important part of Milwaukee history. I won't elaborate here, however I have included several links below regarding the Captain. My Dad remembers going to the island with his Dad and playing with the fishing nets while the Captain sat for his portrait. I'm not sure how my Grandpa convinced Captain Struck into sitting for him but it took significant convincing. As you can see, the painting is realistically stunning; I can imagine exactly what the inside of Captain Struck's tavern looked like when I contemplate this painting. Grandpa won a Blue Ribbon at the Wisconsin State Fair with this entry.
Newspaper article mentioning a portrait (shown) painted by Harry.
I will carry forward my research in tracking down one other known painting my Dad remembers, one with a circus scene, and will keep you posted.
Portrait of my Auntie Marlene painted by her father Harry Atwell, circa 1936-37.
References and Additional Information
1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Works_Progress_Administration
2 http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/arandell-corporation-history/