Page 7 - The Peorian Vol 3 Issue 1 Winter

The Past 7
thePeorian.com
In 1898, when he was 15 years
old, Peoria Herald-Transcript editor
Henry Pindell hired Richard
to walk up and down Peoria’s
streets and draw “interesting”
people for the newspaper’s
cartoons. His mother wrote,
“He would often see a type on
the street that he would want
to copy. He would follow —
sketching all the while — and
endeavor to catch up with the
unsuspecting model.”
In 1899, he was sent to New
York to nurture his artistic talent.
He lived with Peoria artist Grant
Wright, who had an art studio
in Times Square. Soon he was
studying under William Merrill
Chase and George Bridgeman,
and studied in Paris with the
masters.
His first Life Magazine cartoons
began appearing in 1905. The
July 10, 1913 cover he drew for
Life Magazine cover entitled “His
Grandmother’s Funeral” was
reproduced into thousands of
posters by popular requests. He
made numerous contributions to
the Saturday Evening Post, Colliers,
Cosmopolitan, Judge Magazine ,
and many others. Culter’s art
illustrated many national ad
campaigns, notably Texaco
Oil, Paramount Pictures, and
Overland Automobiles.
Continued on page 8
The pictures on this and the next two pages show some of
Richard Culter’s artwork.