Paul Albert Plaschke

Paul Plaschke (1880-1954)
was the cartoonist
who did those pages of
charactures of Chicago artists from the 1940's
shown in the last post




Sleepy Sid




And he was listed as an artist member
of the Palette and Chisel
for its 1916 exhibit at the Art Institute.







Suffragette, 1913


But so far as I can tell,
he never lived in Chicago.



Born in Berlin, Germany,
his family moved to Hoboken, New Jersey in 1884.
He studied engineering at the Stevens Institute,
then drawing at the Cooper Union Art School.







At the Art Students League,
he studied with the painter and cartoonist, George B. Luks,
who drew the pioneer comic strip, “The Yellow Kid.”



In 1898 he moved to Louisville,
married a local girl,
set up house in New Albany, Indiana
(across the river from Louisville)
and worked as a cartoonist for the
Louisville Commercial and the Evening Post.
















He began painting landscapes in 1905,
and hung out with the Brown County painters,
many of whom were members of
the Palette and Chisel Club



detail




He won awards at
the Richmond, Indiana, Art Association show of 1917;
the Nashville. Tennessee. Art Association show of 1925;
the Hoosier Salon of 1929 and 1934;
the Louisville Art Association of 1932;
and the Southern States Art League in 1936.







detail









He was cartoonist for Louisville’s Evening Post,
Louisville Times,
Chicago Herald Examiner,
and the Sunday Courier Journal
from 1913 to 1949,
working as well for the Herald Examiner
and other Hearst newspapers


He illustrated books, including
"Kentuckians as we see them" (1905)
and "Club men of Louisville in caricature and verse" (1912)


One of his pieces was collected by
the Vanderpoel Art Association.




He was a member of the Association of Chicago Painters and Sculptors,
the Society of Arts and Sciences in New York,
the Hoosier Salon Society,
and the Southern States Art League.

He also served on the Board of Governors
for the J.B. Speed Art Museum
and as a director of the Louisville Art Academy.

(this was back in the day
when artists, not just rich people
served on the boards of art museums)








Above is the cover of a catalog
that accompanied a 2008
exhibit of his works
at the Howard Steamboat museum