From The Dauer Collection Circa 1937 Etching on Paper 19.25"x15.5" framed, 9.5"x8" unframed Entitled Off the Lakeshore Drive, Chicago, this circa 1937 etching on paper lake and cityscape scene is signed and titled by the artist Leon Rene Pescheret at the bottom. Excellent vintage condition. Framed in a restored vintage wood frame with a painted gold finish using 8-ply archival matting behind conservation clear glass. About the Artist An illustrator, watercolorist, etcher, and architect, Leon Rene Pescheret (1892-1971) was born in Chiswick, England in 1892. He began his studies at the Royal College of Engraving in Kensington under Malcolm Osborne, and the Battersea Polytechnic in London. He moved to the United States in the 1920s, attending the Art Institute of Chicago under Albert Fleury, and eventually opening a studio in Whitewater, Wisconsin. Pescheret also spent some time studying abroad, learning the art of one-plate color etching under the tutelage of Roger Hebbelnic in Belgium before returning to the States. At that time he was believed to be the only etcher in the United States using that method. Pescheret authored several books including "An Introduction to Color Etching" and "Principle and Practice of Interior Decorating". He also illustrated "The Spirit of Vienna" and "Chicago Welcomes You," as well as contributing works to American Artist and Arizona Highways magazines. Due to his extensive travels that took him from Europe to the continental U.S. to Hawaii, Pescheret's subject matter was broad, encompassing not only land and cityscapes but nautical scenes, as well. His studies in architecture and design helped garner commissions as an interior designer and decorative artist for such places as the Drake Hotel in Chicago, The University of Wisconsin, the Peoria Country Club, and the Memorial Union Building in Chicago. His works are held in numerous private and public collections throughout the United States and the U.K., including the British Museum; the Cabinet du Roi and the Cabinet des Estampesin Brussels; the National Collection of Fine Arts in Washington, D.C., the Library of Congress; and many more. He died in Arizona in 1971. About the Collector John A. Dauer (1933-2017) was a collector of many things, the vast majority of which convey stories of hard work, craftsmanship, industry, unsung histories, and associations with those he loved and respected. Born and raised on Staten Island, New York in 1933, John grew up among a close-knit family of entrepreneurial bakers, wood carvers, and leather merchants. He graduated in 1954 from Columbia College with a bachelor’s degree in anthropology. He went on to work with his father John Sr., at the New York City-based John A. Dauer Leather Company. During and after his undergraduate studies, John enrolled in painting, print making, and sculpture classes at Columbia, the New School for Social Research, and Greenwich House. Many of his teachers (including Margot Kempe and Peppino Mangravite) were recent European emigres and WPA artists, sympathetic to the themes of social realism and late modernism. Although he made his living and supported his family as a leather salesman, John consistently maintained an interest in, and passion for, the creative work of artists and craft people throughout his life. The subjects and scale of his collecting varied over the years (from large 18th century cupboards to hand carved fishing lures), but let’s just say his houses and barns often resembled mini-Mercer Museums. During his last 2 decades, John focused his collecting efforts on the work of print makers and painters who reminded him or were directly associated with those who influenced him during his New York youth. Images and the stories of sailors, stevedores, factory workers, craftsmen, pushcart vendors, musicians, stoop sitters, and artists abound.
