John Held Jr. (1889-1958, American), "May I Save You" & "Hell's Angels", 1952, pen and ink illustration, sight: 10 x 12", frame: 16 x 18"

A cartoonist, illustrator and comic-strip artist much associated with the 'Roaring Twenties Jazz Age', John Held Jr. had a perspective and sense of humor that both reflected and shaped a generation. John Held Jr. was born in 1889 in Salt Lake City, Utah. He studied art only briefly in his teens with sculptor Mahonri Young, Brigham Young's famous grandson. In 1912, Held went to New York and had a career as a commercial artist. He then began experimenting with linocuts, doing satirical spoofs of melodramatic theater posters of the 19th century. In 1918, he was recruited by U.S. Naval Intelligence to accompany a pair of archeologists on an expedition to Central America. Purportedly sent to study Mayan art forms, Held's real job was to sketch the coastline and scout for sites for military operations. He spent most of the time developing his cartooning skills and honing a sophisticated edge on his humor. As the 1920s approached, Held began to develop the characteristic stiff, stylized figures that were to become a symbol of the era.
He painted throughout his life and his book, The Most of John Held Jr., contains many of his urban and rural watercolors. At the peak of his popularity, John Held Jr. was spectacularly successful. In 1937, he did the sets for 'Hellzapoppin', a very successful Broadway show. He turned to sculpture and became the artist in residence at Harvard in 1940, and at the University of Georgia in 1941.

Provenance: The Estate of Mrs. Burton-Grossman (San Antonio, Texas)

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