In August of 1909 Ralph Pearson was at the home of Bertha Jaques. Pearson, Jaques, Otto J. Schneider and Earl H. Reed had a long, pleasant conversation which culminated in the idea to form the “Needle Club” to promote the art, artists and appreciation of etching. This idea quickly morphed into the Chicago Society of Etchers – the first of many etching societies in the United States that brought about the revival of etching as a respected and sought-after art form. But for Pearson this was just the first step in a 45-year Odyssey across the art world and the United States that would lead him to his many careers as etcher, businessman, adventurer, modernist and author.
Ralph Mosher Pearson was born in Angus, Iowa on May 27, 1883. However, he lived in Chicago for most of his early years. As we shall see, Pearson was an enterprising soul and he started at an early age. At first, he was a newspaper boy and lamp lighter but this soon grew into ownership of a newsstand which developed to the point that while he was still in high school he was making $300 a month. The business continued to prosper and within a few years he owned 4 stationery and news stores, had 30 employees and was grossing over $60,000 per year. But business was not enough – Pearson enjoyed creating art.
So on his own initiative he enrolled in classes at the Chicago Art Institute. Because of his business commitments he was only able to take classes at night and on Saturday. But he was a quick learner and had the opportunity to study with the likes of C. F. Browne and John Vanderpoel. One morning he opened the Chicago paper and saw two of his prints reproduced from an Art Institute exhibit. He was hooked. Somehow he would fulfill his passion for art.
But before we move on into his art exploits, there is one more story that needs to be told about his youth. While still in his teens he built his own cruising power boat – The Catherine M. With his mother as his companion (one can tell where he got his sense of adventure) he made the trip down the Mississippi, around the Gulf and the Atlantic coasts to New York, thence to the Hudson River, Erie Canal and the Great Lakes back to Chicago. Many say that he was the first to accomplish this trip.
The renowned American etcher, Joseph Pennell (the most ardent supporter of James Whistler) had a profound effect on many etchers in the United States in the early 1900’s. Pennell was a good friend of Bertha Jaques and a frequent visitor in Chicago. Pearson quickly adopted his style and many of his early works reflect the Pennell influence. Pearson’s “Toilers of the City” is probably his best known series from his early Chicago years. “The Asphalters, Chicago” is the best known work from this series.
He also went on to create a “Lincoln” series with images of different parts of Lincoln’s life. The etching below is of Lincoln’s home in Springfield, Illinois.
Another very popular series of etchings for Pearson were the “Chicago Landmarks.” This etching depicts the Art Institute of Chicago.
Ralph Pearson was a rising star in the etching world of Chicago. His etchings were selling well. He was represented by several of the leading galleries. He should have been a happy man. But Pearson never seemed to be happy standing still. When he saw the “Armory Show” of 1913 at the Art Institute his life changed dramatically.
The Armory Show was the American introduction to European modern art. As soon as it opened, the Chicago art world was in an uproar. This wasn’t art. These modern art pieces by Picasso, Cezanne, Duchamp and others were “obscene.” Marcel Duchamp’s Nude Descending a Staircase was described as “an explosion in a shingle factory.” Students at the Art Institute protested. The Director of the Art Institute was pretty sure that the exhibit would receive a negative reaction – so much so that he arranged to be on vacation out of the country during the exhibit.
But to Pearson the Armory Show was an eye-opener. His “representational style” was not where he wanted to be with his art. To him the Europeans were on the cutting edge of creativity and that is where he wanted to be as well. So in typical Pearson fashion he got into his old car and drove to New York to learn how to create “modern” art himself. Chicago was in his rear-view mirror and he was never to return.
In New York Pearson “found the first school of modern art in this country” led by Hugo Robus. In his words he “inaugurated a painful unlearning and relearning process of some eight years’ duration which was a cheap enough price to pay for a basic reorientation.” He married Margaret Hale (the daughter of the renowned astronomer George Ellery Hale. Hale was also one of the original Professors at the University of Chicago.) in June of 1916. They had a daughter they named “Pavli.” But even New York could not quench Pearson’s wanderlust and one day around 1919 he was in that old car of his with his young family on the way to a new adventure in New Mexico.
He settled in the foothills of the Taos mountains. Shortly thereafter he started an unlikely combination business venture featuring hogs and greeting cards. After World War I making a living creating etchings was very difficult. So Pearson decided to diversify and raise pigs to sell and supplement his income. Apparently, he was better at etching than pig farming and soon the etching sales were paying for the pigs upkeep.
By 1920 he had given up on the pig adventure and concentrated on his greeting card business which was doing quite well. He bought a “big new press” (a Sturges that was later purchased by Gene Kloss) and enlarged his studio. By 1921 he had forty different vendors selling his cards in cities throughout the country.
This card is an example of one of the more popular designs of Pearson’s greeting card company. It reflects his more modern, non-representational style.
But Pearson was also a businessman and knew that many customers preferred Christmas cards with a more traditional theme as we see here.
By the end of 1921 Pearson’s greeting card business was running out of steam. Enter Joseph O’Kane Foster a former Hearst newspaper reporter from Chicago. Foster had moved to Taos and soon was adding his artistic and literary skills to the enterprise. By 1923 Pearson decided to leave his wife and Foster in charge of the company and he moved to California. The company name was changed to Vancil Foster Greeting Cards. Pearson and Hale divorced. Foster married Hale. They closed the business in 1928.
In California Pearson continued his etching and was represented by the Stendahl Gallery in Los Angeles. His best know work from this period was his “Cypress Grove” of Monterey. For Pearson this was his final break from the representational style of his youth.
By 1928 he had remarried and returned to New York to start another career as an educator, art critic and author. He taught for 10 years at the New School for Social Research in New York. He also founded the Design Workshop, an independent school, with summer and winter classes, in painting, drawing and critical appreciation. These classes, planned as condensed courses, gradually evolved into teaching the same subjects by mail. He also taught one-year stints at Utah State and at the University of Texas in Austin.
Most importantly, he focused his attention on writing with seven books to his credit as well as over 250 magazine articles. Some of his publications include Fifty Prints of the Year (1925), How to See Modern Pictures (1925), The New Art Education (1952) and The Modern Renaissance in American Art. I own a copy of this last book and it does a marvelous job of “presenting the work and philosophy of 54 distinguished artist” including Max Weber, John Marin, Adolf Dehn, Doris Lee, Stuart Davis, Alexander Calder and Max Ernst.
Ralph M. Pearson died in South Nyack, New York on April 27, 1958.
I thoroughly enjoyed the article on Ralph Pearson. His book, The New Art Education, is a classic in the field of art education. It was on my shelf throughout my academic career as an art educator. When I retired, an art education collection was started in my name at the University of North Texas Library & the book now resides as a part of that collection in The Special Colllections & Rare Book Room at the UNT Libraries.
I am glad you enjoyed the article. It is really interesting to know that his book on art education is so highly regarded. But it is not surprising, since he did so many things well – from creating his own art, to writing and to teaching. Many thanks for the input.
Ralph Mcdonald Pearson was a fascinating person and your article was interesting. I was fortunate to own the entire papers from Pearson’s early life until he left Taos. I found most interesting the energy he put into the selling of his etchings. He would donate prints to various museums then put together a show in the cities that accepted his donations. I donated several thousand pieces of Pearson’s papers to the Harwood Museum in Taos. Another group of papers concerning the beginnings of the University of Chicago was donated to the Regensteiner Library. Margaret Hales father did not begin the University but was one of the initial professors hired. Her brother Swineburne Hale was the attorney for the Wobblies and married an early English suffragette. Another brother was an accomplished artist. Fascinating stuff.
Thanks for your excellent comments and additional information. Do you know if the Pearson papers you donated to the Harwood Museum included anything about his time spent in Chicago? I would like to learn more about the etching community in Chicago during this period and his involvement in the start of the Chicago Society of Etchers.
I am not surprised that Pearson was very active in the marketing and sales of his etchings. Most successful etchers of this era had the same passion. They not only donated pieces to influential organizations, they participated in shows, etching societies, demonstrations and any other means they could think of to enhance their reputation. Selling art was and is a challenge. I find learning about how artists did it during this period is almost as interesting as the art they created.
Thanks for the additional information about Margaret Hales’ father. I used several sources for the information in the post. However, your clarification is most helpful.
How did you obtain the papers? Are you related or did you buy them from the estate? It is indeed a small world.
I was told about a large cache of papers about Pearson in a barn about to be destroyed in Taos. They had been collected and saved by Pearson’s ex wife. They included papers about Margaret Hales siblings and father. It was an extensive collection and I was very happy to obtain the material. I had some Chicago information on Pearson from his time with the Chicago society of Etchers but not a lot. I recently purchased a modernist print by him probably from his New York period.
Given Pearson’s penchant for moving on to new adventures, it is not surprising that he left his papers in Taos. I am so glad you were able to “save” them. They could be very helpful if someone decides to write a more comprehensive Pearson biography or put together a catalogue raisonne of his work. Thanks for sharing this information.
Hello!
Dear Mr. Rosenthal,
Do you have any information about Ralph Pearson’s work and time spent while he was at Elverhoj – a very little known artist’s colony in New York; Milton-on-Hudson? The colony was active from 1908 to the mid 1930s, so this would have been early in Pearson’s career.
A group of researchers (myself included) is now exploring this artist’s colony and the artists who were associated with it. Pearson was an early member. Any light you could shine upon Pearson in particular, would be of great help.
Elverhoj is Danish for “hill of elves (or fairies)” and was started by two artist/craftsmen originally from Racine Wisconsin; Anders Anderson and John (Johannes) Morton.
I do not have any information about Pearson’s involvement with this group. However, this sounds like a perfect fit for his adventuresome spirit and personality. Your comment has already added to the Pearson post. I would be very interested in learning more about this period in his life. I hope you will share what you find in your continuing research.
Dear Mr. Rosenthal,
Thank you for your kind response to my question about Ralph Pearson and the Elverhoj colony. I will be happy to share our research as it becomes available!
My best to you.
Leslie
Leslie
Thanks for the offer. We will gladly include any information you are able to find on Ralph Pearson and the Elverhoj colony. I think it would add significantly to the story of this multi-talented and interesting man.
Thanks so much for this article, Jim! I am Ralph’s biological grandson, and have been fascinated by his complex history and the various ways it has paralleled my own. Your article added lots of new information; on my server is a tract he published in 1914 on the subject of the gyroscopic forces resulting from rotary aircraft engines. I still don’t know how, in the midst of his other activities, he ventured into that topic… but somehow it is not surprising.
I also have one of his etchings (Winter in Jackson Park).
Thank you for the follow-up comment. For some reason the “gyroscopic action a menace to aviation” article did not come through above. Thus my reply does not make very much sense. Suffice it to say that Pearson’s article is very detailed and scholarly. How he got into “aviation” in 1914 is anyone’s guess. But those were the days of airplanes made of wood and fabric. This is just one more example of Pearson’s belief that he could do anything. I would not be surprised if we find out other dimensions of his talents and interests as time goes on. Thanks for adding to the article with your input.
I don’t think the Harwood in Taos has Pearson’s papers. They seem to be at the New Mexico History Museum. See description at https://rmoa.unm.edu/docviewer.php?docId=nmsm1ac380.xml.
I am researching Swinburne Hale and his first wife Beatrice Forbes-Robertson Hale. Your blog post is helpful and well-written.
The Harwood may have additional papers. Thank you for the link to the New Mexico History Museum Pearson archives. They have done a wonderful job of compiling and summarizing the papers. Looks like a really good resource on the Hale’s. Glad you liked the blog post.
This is another fascinating dimension of Ralph Pearson’s life. Who knew that he was also an avid aviation theorist. Considering the fact that the article was written in 1912 – in the early years of airplanes – it is probably safe to say that Pearson’s theory that “gyroscopic action is a menace to aviation” has not been supported by the millions of safe flights since then. I think I agree with the rebuttal letter. No matter. It is a well written, brilliantly argued thesis. Thanks for sharing it.
Interesting article on Ralph Pearson’s boat trip from Chicago, down the Mississippi, through the Caribbean and the Atlantic, up the St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes back to Chicago. One of the first people to make this voyage.