Can you please help me identify this drawing?
February 21, 2015 12:08 PM
I'd love to know more about this drawing. It seems to be an original ink drawing, but I can't identify it or find out more about the artist.
This was picked from a doctor's office, along with several other turn of the century (1900s) illustrations. No one had any information about it. I can't really make out the artist's name but have spent hours googling variations of it. Is it Wesher? Wesmer? It's one of those wonderful optical illusion drawings with a skull in it. I have never seen one like this. This is in a really old frame with decaying, ripped paper backing. Close up of sig. The whole piece. Thanks so much for any help.
This was picked from a doctor's office, along with several other turn of the century (1900s) illustrations. No one had any information about it. I can't really make out the artist's name but have spent hours googling variations of it. Is it Wesher? Wesmer? It's one of those wonderful optical illusion drawings with a skull in it. I have never seen one like this. This is in a really old frame with decaying, ripped paper backing. Close up of sig. The whole piece. Thanks so much for any help.
It looks like "L. A. Wesner", and googling around for those names, it looks like it may have something to do with it:
Similia : the 1910 yearbook of the Hahnemann Medical College (1910) (.txt file here)
Editor-in-Chief
Louis A. Wesner
And this is a Flickr collection with the images from the book - "Similia : the 1910 yearbook of the Hahnemann Medical College" . Browse around and see if it's in there. There are other drawings featuring skulls.
posted by bitteschoen at 12:23 PM on February 21, 2015
Similia : the 1910 yearbook of the Hahnemann Medical College (1910) (.txt file here)
Editor-in-Chief
Louis A. Wesner
And this is a Flickr collection with the images from the book - "Similia : the 1910 yearbook of the Hahnemann Medical College" . Browse around and see if it's in there. There are other drawings featuring skulls.
posted by bitteschoen at 12:23 PM on February 21, 2015
bitteschoen, you rock. Thank you so much! Scram, how did you know it was a print? I'm clueless.
posted by the webmistress at 12:36 PM on February 21, 2015
posted by the webmistress at 12:36 PM on February 21, 2015
I think Scram and bitteschoen are right. Here's some more info on Dr. Louis Wesner. He was a really interesting guy. I envy you this art of his, it's amazing.
posted by Beethoven's Sith at 12:37 PM on February 21, 2015
posted by Beethoven's Sith at 12:37 PM on February 21, 2015
Hahnneman Medical College eventually became part of Drexel University, I think. You could try contacting Drexel's archives and special collections people to see if they know anything about this: http://archives.drexelmed.edu/collect/scope.php
I bet they'd be interested to see it!
posted by carter at 1:18 PM on February 21, 2015
I bet they'd be interested to see it!
posted by carter at 1:18 PM on February 21, 2015
how did you know it was a print?
It looks like (most likely a reproduction of) a lithograph, which is a kind of print made by drawing with greasy crayon and ink on a stone. The crayon tends to show the grain of the stone and has a pretty distinctive appearance.
But also, somewhat unrelatedly: if someone said "19th-century illustration" to me, I would assume it was a print—an engraving—because that was how artwork was reproduced into books and magazines, once upon a time. That's actually what I was expecting to see before I clicked through.
posted by the_blizz at 3:52 PM on February 21, 2015
It looks like (most likely a reproduction of) a lithograph, which is a kind of print made by drawing with greasy crayon and ink on a stone. The crayon tends to show the grain of the stone and has a pretty distinctive appearance.
But also, somewhat unrelatedly: if someone said "19th-century illustration" to me, I would assume it was a print—an engraving—because that was how artwork was reproduced into books and magazines, once upon a time. That's actually what I was expecting to see before I clicked through.
posted by the_blizz at 3:52 PM on February 21, 2015
I can't tell from the photos if it is a drawing or a print, but I was wondering, if it is a drawing, if it may be original artwork for a Hahnemann publication of the time, maybe kept by Wesner.
posted by carter at 4:04 PM on February 21, 2015
posted by carter at 4:04 PM on February 21, 2015
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posted by Scram at 12:15 PM on February 21, 2015