Artful’s newest obsession in vintage collecting is silhouettes. My mother has had framed silhouettes of me and my brother up on her walls or fireplace mantel for as long as I can remember. Recently Mom has started to collect other silhouettes. Inspired by Mom’s finds and a recent article in Country Living Magazine on silhouettes, Artful started to acquire some of these little portraits and scenes in black and white. A few of them signed or stamped by the artist, which makes it possible to do some research and gain some insights into the history of the craft and its popularity. Here are some interesting examples.
Audrey Waite worked in Michigan from about 1930 to 1980. She was part of a studio in Clarklake Michigan and also traveled around creating silhouettes at country fairs, art festivals and other events. Her grandniece carries on the silhouette tradition, for more information see her website, Silhouettes by Joyce Redman.
L Pierre Bottemer was an iterant artist that is known for his silhouettes, still life, portraits and costal & seascape paintings. It seems that Bottemer sketched images from the Hauptmann Trial (Lindbergh Kidnapping) for the Sunday editions of the Birmingham News Age-Herald of Birmingham, Alabama. The persistent popularity of silhouettes and Bottemer’s work is evidenced by this newspaper add from the 1970’s.
artful intuition 