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Alfred Joseph Frueh (pronounced: "free"; 1880 – 14 September 1968) was an American 
New York Public Library archived works
Smithsonian archived works
MetMuseum collection
Amon Carter Museum collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frueh, Alfred 20th-century American artists 1880 births 1968 deaths American editorial cartoonists American caricaturists American magazine cartoonists American magazine illustrators American humorists American political artists The New Yorker cartoonists
caricaturist
A caricaturist is an artist who specializes in drawing caricatures.
List of caricaturists
* Abed Abdi (born 1942)
* Abril Lamarque (1904–1999)
* Al Hirschfeld (1903–2003)
* Alex Gard (1900–1948)
* Alexander Saroukhan (1898–1977)
* Alfre ...
, political cartoonist
An editorial cartoonist, also known as a political cartoonist, is an artist who draws editorial cartoons that contain some level of political or social commentary. Their cartoons are used to convey and question an aspect of daily news or current ...
, and humorist
A humorist is an intellectual who uses humor, or wit, in writing or public speaking. A raconteur is one who tells anecdotes in a skillful and amusing way.
Henri Bergson writes that a humorist's work grows from viewing the morals of society ...
. In his ''Lakeville Journal'' obituary, he was lauded as "The most important theatrical caricaturist of his era." He was also an amateur horticulturist
Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...
, who owned a fruit and nut farm. From 1904 to 1908, he worked for the ''St. Louis Dispatch
The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' is a regional newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the St. Louis metropolitan area. It is the largest daily newspaper in the metropolitan area by circulation, surpassing the ''Belleville News-Democrat' ...
''. In 1908 and 1909, Frueh traveled through Europe, including the cities of Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
, Munich
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
, Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
, and Madrid
Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
. While living and loafing for bread money in Europe, he studied under Henri Matisse
Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual arts, visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, ...
, Georges Braque
Georges Braque ( ; ; 13 May 1882 – 31 August 1963) was a major 20th-century List of French artists, French painter, Collage, collagist, Drawing, draughtsman, printmaker and sculptor. His most notable contributions were in his alliance with ...
, Theophile Steinlen, Lucien Simon
Lucien Joseph Simon (1861 – 1945) was a French painter and teacher born in Paris.
Early life and education
Simon was born in Paris. After graduating from the Lycée Louis-le-Grand, he studied painting at the studio of Jules Didier, then from ...
, and Naudin.
In 1910, Frueh began working at the ''New York World
The ''New York World'' was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 to 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers as a leading national voice of the Democratic Party. From 1883 to 1911 under publisher Jo ...
'', and worked there until 1925. However, his tenure at the World was briefly interrupted by another voyage to Europe from 1910 to 1914. While abroad, he married Giuliette Fanciulli.
In 1925, he helped launch ''The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'', and drew two cartoons in their first issue. He drew the cover art for ''The New Yorker's'' second issue, and worked as an artist for this magazine
A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...
until he was 82 years old, retiring in 1962. In this capacity, he was one of the most important artists in New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
in the middle of the twentieth century, and drew celebrities, politicians, and other notable figures for the magazine that he met and interacted with in the city. His art is still on display in several museums
A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private collections that are used by researchers ...
around the country.
He died in Sharon, Connecticut
Sharon is a New England town, town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States, in the northwest corner of the state. At the time of the United States 2020 Census, 2020 census, the town had a total population ...
on September 14, 1968.
References
External links
New York Public Library archived works
Smithsonian archived works
MetMuseum collection
Amon Carter Museum collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frueh, Alfred 20th-century American artists 1880 births 1968 deaths American editorial cartoonists American caricaturists American magazine cartoonists American magazine illustrators American humorists American political artists The New Yorker cartoonists