Eddy Walcher
| Ferdinand Edward Walcher | |
| Biographical information | |
| Born: | November 7, 1895 |
|---|---|
| Died: | November 24, 1955 |
| Nationality: |  American
|
| Occupation: | Letterer |
| Website: | |
Life and career
Ferdinand Edward "Eddy" Walcher was born in St. Louis, Missouri on November 7, 1895. His father was Andrew "Andy" Walcher and his mother was Christiane (Christine) Walcher (nee Appel) [1]. He had an older brother Hans Andrew (b. 1883, married Rose L Miller) and a younger sister Margareth (b. 1899, married Ado F Klute).
He graduated from Yeatman High School in 1914 and received his artistic training at the Washington University, St. Louis School of Fine Arts. When he in June 1917 went into the United States Army he was working as a commercial artist [2]. After serving in World War I he worked as an artist at an advertising company in St. Louis [3]. In 1919 the Exposition Committee of the Art League invited St. Louis artists to submitt posters showing the importance of artistic design in American industrial products. Among forty-eight artists Hartland Horne Frazer was awarded the $200 prize, but the poster by Eddy Walcher was one of the seventeen posters which was "windows exhibited" several times[4].
Eddy Walcher attended the Chicago Art Institute in 1921 where he took classes by day, and classes in commercial art by night. He then attended the Art Students League in New York, where he studied with Frank DuMond and John Singer Sargent. In the late 20s he also spent close to two years in Europe: France, Germany and Switzerland. In the 1930s and 40s, he traveled and painted in New York, Buffalo, Milwaukee and St. Louis [5].
In St. Louis there was an exibition & sale March 5-23, 1991 "Ferdinand Edward Walcher (1895-1955) A Recent Discovery in Amerikan Art" at Jack Parker Fine Art and Antiques [6].
Lettering
Although it is mentioned[7] in a notice for his funeral services in 1955 that he had drew the lettering in the Mandrake the Magician cartoon for about 20 years it looks like he started lettering the Mandrake strips early 1938. According to Eddy Walcher [8] he worked in his studio at his home in 3441 Magnolia avenue and he: "gets a week's run at the time and usually finished his job in a day".
February 15, 1938
To my friend Eddy Walcher
(from Herritage Auctions)
Funeral Services Tuesday for Edward F. Walcher
References
- ↑ 1900 United States Federal Census, St. Louis Independent City, Missouri
- ↑ U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918
- ↑ 1920 United States Federal Census, St. Louis Independent City, Missouri
- ↑ "Posters to be Displayed in Downtown Window", St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, Missouri), 24 August 1919, p 12
- ↑ askART: Ferdinand Walcher
- ↑ Advertisement St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, Missouri) 20 March 1991, p 209
- ↑ "Funeral Services Tuesday for Edward F. Walcher", St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, Missouri), 27 November 1955, p 63
- ↑ Wagner, Ted P. "Work, not magic creates Mandrake" St. Louis Post-Dispatch - Pictures (St. Louis, Missouri) 25 July 1954, p 7