The collection contains two (2) original artworks by Alfred Russell Art Editor and cartoonist for the St. Louis Globe-Democrat. He was a self-taught artist, cartoonist, illustrator, and painter. Much of his work appeared on the cover of the Globe-Democrat’s Sunday Magazine as well as calendars and advertisements for the Western Ammunition Company (aka Western Cartridge Company). He was a member of the St. Louis Art Guild and the St. Louis Art League.
Russell was born in Germany in 1868 and came to St. Louis at the age of 12. While training to be a newspaper artist, Russell was taught the trick of the art trade by Hungary native and etcher Nicole Staits. Russell, who became Staits’ closest friend, often worked Staits into his illustrations that appeared in the Globe-Democrat.
Russell was best known for his humorous character sketches which appeared in the Sunday Magazine of the Globe-Democrat. His more serious works consisted of nature and the outdoor world of sport. Russell liked drawing in pen-and-ink but also worked in oils and pastels. His colored drawings were used for more than 25 years for the Sunday Magazine. His drawings of nature, especially autumn paintings printed on the Globe Sunday Magazine covers, are well remembered among St. Louisans. Many fans used Russell’s art to decorate their homes.
Russell was hired to be part of the Globe-Democrat’s art department around the age of 18. Russell had to leave the Globe-Democrat after 30 years as Art Director after a stroke caused paralysis in April 1926. He continued to paint what he could during his last year of life, with many of the artworks being landscapes. Russell later died in 1927 in St. Louis.
Russell worked at the Globe-Democrat when photography was just beginning to be used as illustrations. Artists were often rushed to a scene of an event to make sketches which were later completed back in the art studio on a chalk plate. Russell’s first work of this kind was covering the 1896 cyclone which left devastation in its wake in the St. Louis area. Almost twenty years later, Russell illustrated the city’s 1917 race riots since photographers had their cameras smashed by the mob. In November 1918, St. Louisans immediately became fond of Russell’s pen drawing of an olive branch aloft over a war-torn world that graced the newspaper issue announcing the end to World War I.
