John Held, Jr. (1889-1958) was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, was a cartoonist whose work epitomised the “jazz age” of the 1920s in the United States. At the age of 16 he was drawing sports and political cartoons for the Salt Lake Tribune, and at 19 he sold his first cartoon to a national magazine. Shortly afterward he moved to New York City, where he worked in the art department of a newspaper.
After service in the U.S. Navy during World War I, Held returned to New York City, where he gained fame and wealth for his drawings in the popular humour magazines Life, Judge, and College Humour. These drawings conveyed a spirit of the era comparable to that in the writings of F. Scott Fitzgerald. In particular, Held created such immortal characters as the short-skirted, short-haired “flapper,” who rolled her stockings and used a long cigarette holder, and her escort, who wore a raccoon coat, had patent-leather hair parted in the middle, smoked a pipe, and carried a hip flask. Held’s ability to point up the foibles of the time without sentimentality or bitterness made his cartoons notable. Also during the 1920s, he drew two comic strips: “Merely Margie, an Awfully Sweet Girl” and “Rah, Rah, Rosalie,” both of which ended with the Depression.
During the 1930s Held wrote novels and short stories and did sculpture and woodcuts. His woodcuts, often evoking the “Gay Nineties,” appeared in The New Yorker magazine. During World War II he served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps and was stationed in Belmar, N.J., where he made his home after the war. Held’s Angels (1952), illustrated by Held, with text by Frank Bunker Gilbreth Jr., was a word and picture evocation of the 1920s.
For more information on John Held Jr. see part 1, and for earlier works see parts 1 - 4 also.
This is part 5 of a 6-part series on the works of John Held Jr:
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1931 Ginning the Bar
ink on paper 20.3 x 17.1 cm |
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| 1931 Gosh She's Got a Hotline |
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| 1931 Dumb Bunny |
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| 1931 Five Minutes More |
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| 1931 Flying High Liberty |
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| 1931 How Many Carbons Sir? |
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| 1931 In the Air for Hours |
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1932 New York New Haven and Hartford railway
"Speaking of Food" |
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1931 The Works of John Held Jr
published by Ives Washburn |
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1931 The Shaving of the Neck
The New Yorker
wood engraving |
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1931 The Flesh is Weak
pen and ink |
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| 1931 Meet Me at the Corner |
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1931 Liberty magazine December 12
Civilization's Progress |
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1931 Lac St Jean
watercolour |
1932-36 Manhatten Skyline watercolours:
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1930s Manhattan Skyline
watercolour |
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1934 Manhattan Skyline
watercolour |
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1934 Manhattan Skyline
watercolour |
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1934 Manhatten Skyline
watercolour |
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1934 Midtown Manhattan, Winter Morning
watercolour on board 33 x 49.5 cm |
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c1934 Manhattan Skyline
watercolour 35.4 x 50.6 cm
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, CA |
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1936 Manhattan Skyline
watercolour |
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1936 Midtown Morning
watercolour |
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1936 Manhattan Skyline
watercolour |
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1936 Manhattan Skyline
watercolour |
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1936 Manhattan Skyline
watercolour |
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R.C.A. Building in Silhouette
gouache on paper 58.4 x 25.4 cm |
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c1932 High Ball Glass
"Down the Hatch"
16.5 cm high |
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c1932 High Ball Glasses
"Sweet Music, High-di-High!, Ally-Oop!"
16.5 cm high |
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| 1933 Life Savers advertisement |
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| 1933 Life Savers advetisement |
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1933 The Zenith of Refined Elegance
The Moustache Cup
wood engraving |
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1933 When Fashion was Fraught with Romance
The Horrible Skirt
wood engraving |
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c1934 The Enchanted Isle
The New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Co.
poster |
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1935 Ye Old Mixer-Upper
Olde Wood-cur Recipes by John Held Jr
published by Hillcrest Distilling Company, Inc. |
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1936 Boy Meets Girl
Theatre Poster |
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1938 Schoolhouse on the Lot
Theatre poster |
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1938 Schoolhouse on the Lot
Theatre poster |
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| 1938 The Sunset |
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1938 Room Service
Theatre Poster |
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| 1940 Magnolia |
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| 1940 Old Schuyler Farm |
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| 1941 Day Lilies |
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1944 Life magazine
August 23 |
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1947 Life magazine March 3 issue
The Petting Green |
Note: Dates were not found for the remainder of this series on the works of John Held Jr.
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| A few remarks on the staging of a Revue |
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A Receipt for Love
ink and watercolour on board 224.8 x 24.2 cm |
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A Scene from the Sentimental Past
wood engraving |
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Actors on a Movie Set
McClure's magazine illustration
ink on paper 25.4 x 36.8 cm |
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Along the Line
ink on paper 23.5 x 30.5 cm |
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| An Outline of Love |
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| Beauty Contest |
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Best wishes for a Merry Christmas
woodcut or linocut |
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Branding Iron
ink and watercolour over graphite on off-white Bristol board 25.4 x 27.9 cm |
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Buy H.O.
advertisement
ink on paper 21.6 x 30.5 cm |
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Christmas Greetings
woodcut or linocut |
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Conversation between a seated man and woman
ink on board 20.3 x 34.3 cm |
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Cop
watercolour and ink on board 20.3 x 15.2 cm |
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| Drummer |
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Dude Ranch
ink, graphite and red and black watercolour 32.1 x 26.9 cm |
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| Dumb Animals |
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Dutton's Au Revoir Boxes advertisement artwork
ink on board 17.8 x 27.9 cm |
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Flappers
pen, ink and watercolour on board 25.4 x 33.1 cm |
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"JE" Cowboy
ink on heavy card stock 31.7 x 33.6 cm |
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Ginning the Bar
ink on paper 20.3 x 17.1 cm |
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| Hold 'em |
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