1920\'s Art Nouveau Hand Tinted & Gold Leaf Lithograph Signed: Lee Mero
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1920\'s Art Nouveau Hand Tinted & Gold Leaf Lithograph Signed: Lee Mero:
$24.00
This beautiful and illustrious 1920\'s lithograph is one of many that the artist Lee Mero was commissioned to create andprint for grade schools around the country by President Elect Woodrow Wilson during the Art Nouveau period (1890-1914)in Art history. Lee Mero (1855-1977) opened his first lithograph company in 1907 and it closed its doors in 1929. He then began working for the Buzza Company here in Minneapolis, MN upon graduating from the Minneapolis Art School also in Minneapolis, MN now called The Minneapolis School of Art & Design. He became a Christmas card designer at Buzza. Mr. Mero produced lithographs like this one until the late 1920\'s. Woodrow Wilson bent onimproving education for all Americans commissioned Mero to create these marvelous lithographs to teach young students a moral lesson. In this case (pictured # 2 ) a boy who sitslike a \'bump-on-a-log\' goes nowhere especially to school where he belongs not sleeping on a log. The young boy is sleeping against a tree with his dog and the sentiment, which tells a moral, isto the left of him written in a Art Nouveau styled font.
His lithographs were hand tinted,and embellished with gold leaf backgrounds makinghis lithographsone of a kind (zoom-in pictured #3). For twenty two years he worked on this progressive educational endeavor. He also produced other lithographs for other occasions like Mother\'s Day, Christmas, etc.,and other national holidays during this time.
This is an extremely rare lithograph found at a local estate sale. Lee Mero\'s signature is hand written on the lower left hand side of the lithograph (zoom-in pictured #5). It appears the backing has been replaced (pictured #4). The frame is done in paintedgold-tone wood and gesso. it measures 7 1/2\" long X 61/2\" wide and is in \'near mint\' as there is a tiny flea bite in the far right hand corner of the wood frame muchtoo tiny to picture.
1920\'s Art Nouveau Hand Tinted & Gold Leaf Lithograph Signed: Lee Mero:
$24.00