Junior Cross Summer Cards, Containing 10 Cards Designed by Ruth Kalmar at age 14 years

Ruth Kalmar Wilson (Artist)

Published by Austrian Junior Red Cross, Vienna, Austria, 1936

About this Item

A set of ten (10) postcards featuring a young boy and girl in a variety of summer activities originally drawn by Ruth Kalmar (1916-2012) when she was fourteen and in Franz Cizek's Juvenile Art Class in Vienna, Austria. The images depict a charming young, blond boy and girl in a variety of outdoor settings, such as on a walk holding a white rabbit, fishing on a dock, playing in the sand on a beach, and riding a scooter together. The prints are bright and colorful, and the children themselves depict an idealized sweetness and innocence of childhood. These prints are actually postcards, and on the back of them is a space to write a short message and address. Additionally, the cards are captioned with "Junior Red Cross Summer Cards, Austrian Junior Red Cross, Vienna I, Stubenring 1, By Ruth Kalmar (14 years old), former pupil in Prof. Cizek's Juvenile Art Class, Vienna". Numbered 1-10. In original folder with Junior Red Cross The text on the envelope features the title of the set of cards and a brief description. Measures 5 3/4" x 3 3/4" (postcards). Franz Cizek (1865-1946) was an Austrian genre and portrait painter who was also well known as an art teacher and art education reformer, particularly when it came to teaching art to children. In 1903, Cizek started a small art school for children ages 4 to 14, with classes each Saturday, broken up into two hour blocks, the first for the younger students, and the second for the older ones. Cizek's students would produce an overwhelming amount of art work, which, starting in the 1920s, was used to promote a variety of childhood charities. Ruth Kalmar attended Cizek's art school between 1926-1930, and in her last year, at age fourteen, completed the set of ten images seen on the postcards. Ruth Kalmar (now Ruth Kalmar Wilson) herself, would become an artist and designer in her own right, traveling the world and teaching at several prominent schools, such the Museum School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Tufts University, Harvard University's Art Program for Children and Massachusetts College of Art. General wear. Small burn mark on back on envelope. Seller Inventory # 20107036

Bibliographic Details

Title: Junior Cross Summer Cards, Containing 10 ...

Publisher: Austrian Junior Red Cross, Vienna, Austria

Publication Date: 1936