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Jack Welch
Trying To Make Baby Smile, Saturday Evening Post Cover

1949

$109,000
£81,555.98
€94,652.20
CA$151,769.04
A$170,706.55
CHF 88,541.75
MX$2,070,794.76
NOK 1,122,657.06
SEK 1,056,483.17
DKK 706,132.42
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About the Item

Signed Lower Left by Artist Born in small town Texas, Welch first learned his trade through the W. L. Evans correspondence course in cartooning, which led him to a short-lived stint at Southern Methodist University illustrating yearbooks. This work launched him as a newspaper artist, and eventually earning a position as an advertising agency sketch man. Some of Welch's best loved works are from this period, doing work for advertisers such as Keds, Jell-O, Pullman, and Traveler's Insurance. Yet, it is his work for the Saturday Evening Post that is considered his best - he created a number of memorable covers for the publication, as well as others including Family Circle and Woman's Day. The Post described, “So you get out the camera to catch baby’s winning smile; we really ought to have a picture of that, you say. Baby watches with bright interest as someone sets up the camera. The picture’s in focus; everything is ready. Does the baby smile? Every parent and grandparent knows the answer. Baby begins to cry as if he had just been left on somebody’s doorstep. Will baby smile again? Your’re darned right; the minute you put the camera away. One of artist Jack Welch’s favorite family photographs is one he took from behind the baby — his daughter Ruth Marie — while a dentist friend, the dentist’s wife and Mrs. Welch all made faces and waved balloons in a futile attempt to get baby to grin. Very much as you see here.” (The Saturday Evening Post, February 19, 1949, p. 3)
  • Creator:
    Jack Welch (1905 - 1985, American)
  • Creation Year:
    1949
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 29 in (73.66 cm)Width: 25 in (63.5 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Fort Washington, PA
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: 1301stDibs: LU384313360612

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Trying To Make Baby Smile, Saturday Evening Post Cover
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Cover of Saturday Evening Post magazine, February 19, 1949 The parents and grandmother are taking a picture of the baby while trying to make him smile. Jack Welch was a tall Texan from Cleburne. He went through public school in Temple, Texas, took the W. L. Evans correspondence course in cartooning, and did a short turn at Southern Methodist University illustrating yearbooks. This was enough to launch him as a newspaper artist; he worked for papers in Texas, California, Chicago, Philadelphia, and New York. The next logical step was an advertising agency sketch man...
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1940s Other Art Style Paintings

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