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Frederic Rodrigo Gruger

Sweat and Iron

Maker

Frederic Rodrigo Gruger (American, 1871-1953)

Title

Sweat and Iron
, for “White Lines,” by Hershell S. Hall, *Saturday Evening Post*, December 13, 1924

Year

1924

Medium

  • crayon,
  • wash,
  • graphite with touches of white gouache on illustration board

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

  • crayon,
  • wash,
  • graphite with touches of white gouache on illustration board

Materials

wash technique, gouache, graphite

Supports

  • illustration board

Dimensions

27.3 x 47 cm (10 3/4 x 18 1/2 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Signed in Charcoal in LR:F. R. Gruger

Marks: Crayon, wash, graphite with touches of white gouache on illustration ("Gruger") board

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of F. R. Gruger, Jr.

Object Number

1989.021.3

Type

  • Drawings and Watercolors

Exhibition History

Draw Me a Story
Illustration from the Permanent Collection
Apr 14, 2006 – Jul 23, 2006

Label copy

Frederic Gruger attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, where he studied with Thomas Anshutz. In 1898, he began his 45-year career as an illustrator for the Saturday Evening Post, producing over 2,700 illustrations, while working simultaneously as a book illustrator. Gruger developed a distinctive drawing technique known as the Wolff-carbon-pencil technique, which would become quite influential. He sketched his composition, and then applied watercolor washes in order to add tone. He finished by building his forms and details with a Wolff pencil. Using an eraser to rub the drawing, he blended the marks into a rich, velvety texture. He used a relatively inexpensive illustration board that later became a mainstay of illustrators and was named “Gruger Board.”

Early Modernism in America
Feb 24, 1995 – Apr 16, 1995

Image use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use.

In copyright This object is in copyright

Tombstone

Frederic Rodrigo Gruger (American, 1871-1953)
Sweat and Iron; , for “White Lines,” by Hershell S. Hall, *Saturday Evening Post*, December 13, 1924, 1924
Crayon, wash, graphite with touches of white gouache on illustration board
27.3 x 47 cm (10 3/4 x 18 1/2 inches)
Gift of F. R. Gruger, Jr. 1989.021.3

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

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