Reese, Dorothy V. “Sigmund Romberg.” [composer]

Dorothy V. Reese (1899-1989).  “Sigmund Romberg.”  [composer] 

Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh Sun Telegraph, ca. 1935.  8 1/2 x 6 (paper size).   Original ink drawing for the newspaper column “On the Records.”  Signed and titled by the artist.  Loosely mounted by the corners onto time-toned paper.    Very good condition.    

The thirties and forties became an elegant heyday of the caricaturist.  Stylish illustrations appeared as witty and urbane additions to many popular publications.  Artists such as Albert Hirschfeld and Henry Major flourished.  This ink caricature illustration, executed in a similar style, was done by Dorothy V. Reese (1899-1989).

Reese studied with Philadelphia painter Arthur Carles and the New York abstract expressionist Hans Hoffman and exhibited mostly still life and landscapes.  She married LeRoy Edward Wolfe, who was a newspaper editor and music critic.  Wolfe worked for the Pittsburgh Sun Telegraph from 1935 to 1937 where he wrote, under the pen name of Michael Shaw Jr., a widely syndicated column of criticism of recorded music called "On the Records."  Reese’s caricatures depicting the musical performers, conductors and composers of the day accompanied Wolfe’s columns.  In 1937, he became copy editor and art critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer where Reese contributed illustrations to several stories in the paper.  This wonderful ink caricature conveys the class and refinement of a bygone era.