Artist Jean Mohr, Muncy PA

 

Eugene "Jean" Mohr 1877-1962

Cartoonist, Illustrator, & Artist, from Muncy PA.  After working on publications in Philadelphia and New York, Mohr returned to Muncy where he painted murals in  a variety of local buildings, frequently  in exchange for food and drinks.

Eugene "Jean" Noble Mohr was born April 30th  1877, the son of William and Emma [Noble] Mohr of Muncy.  William E. Mohr was one of the youngest drummer boys in the civil war.  Following President Lincoln's assassination, William Mohr was one of the honor guards to watch over the body.  Emma [Noble] Mohr was the daughter of one of Muncy's most successful merchants.

The Mohr's lived in the Noble home, at 217 North Main Street in Muncy.  The house would later be torn down, and the fire company social hall built on the site.  Today it's the location for Basil restaurant.

Rose on a metal drum lid, by Jean Mohr

The HOLC Facebook page wrote: "Jean (1877-1961) was born into Muncy’s lumber and mercantile royalty, the only child born to William and Emma (Noble) Mohr, a socially prominent couple.  He was reared in the Noble family’s 13-room North Main Street mansion, and while most of the family’s wealth had been squandered, or lost during the depression, Jean’s parents spared no expense when it came to his education, sending him to art schools in New York City and in Paris. As a young man he dressed in fashion’s finest attire, and in the 1930s, many Muncy residents remember his “stunning” bright red Cord convertible, an expensive vehicle in its day!"

In the early 1900s, Jean lived in Philadelphia and New York, with his  cartoon illustrations to the Inquirer, North American, New York Post, Good Housekeeping and he worked in the studio of Charles Dana Gibson, creator of the Gibson girl for Life Magazine.

Grange News Agency, Oil on Canbas by Jean Mohr

According to an article in the Muncy Luminary in 2012 Mohr met and married a beautiful young model, "but when he brought her back home to Muncy, his domineering mother put an end to the marriage and sent her on her way." [I could find no record of a marriage]

In 1907, the Miltonian reported that Jean N. Mohr of New York City "will remain in Muncy to continue the fire insurance agency of his father, the late W. E. Mohr."  

It does not appear that was the case, as for the next decade the papers regularly reported on his visits home to his mother.  In the 1920 census he was in the Muncy Census, where he  gave his occupation as artist, and in  1930, still in Muncy,  as a  Magazine Illustrator.  

Noble/Mohr Home, 217 North Main Street, Muncy

Several articles about the Mohr family mention their declining financial circumstances, and note that the family home was damaged, and not well repaired, in the 1936.  Jean's mother died in 1942.  According to her death notice, "she died in the house in which she was born."  

The Muncy Luminary reported: "Townspeople rarely saw him sober. He gave up his career as an illustrator and most of his work was done in taverns and restaurants to pay for food and liquor.

Mohr's Easel, in his kitchen.

Neighbors said he lived in his kitchen for the last seven years of his life. A cot was located just a few feet away from his easel. He only got up to paint or to throw a log onto the fire that was nearby. Edward Grenoble and his wife, Eva, cared for him during his last few years, bringing him food and warm clothing."

Jean turned to religion in his later years, and drew pictures for the nurses when he was hospitalized at Muncy Valley hospital. He died just shy of his 85th birthday, on April 3rd 1962. He is buried in Muncy Cemetery. His grave was unmarked until 1984 Mrs. Jane Jackson bought him a headstone carved by Douglas Hayhurst.

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MURALS

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2012 Article in the Muncy Luminary

A number of Mohr's works were in the basement of the building at 1 North Main Street in Muncy.  Many were destroyed in the 1972 flood, but the two above, according to a 2021 article in the Muncy Luminary, were saved and were part of an art walk in Muncy that year.

Runaway Boat - mural in the Muncy Opera House

At the Muncy Historical Society: "Lining the front stairway wall is the Jean Mohr Collection which includes examples of his work in pencil, charcoal, watercolor, and oil."

At the former Glen Mawr House and Hotel

• Muncy Opera House
• 1 North Main Muncy Pa
• Fort Brady Hotel
• Ashurst Manor [mentioned in obituary]
• [former] Mawr Glen Hotel
• Hillsgrove Hotel
• Mid-Pen Telephone Building [could not be saved]
• ” Jesus’ Ascension into Heaven,” formerly of the now dismantled Methodist-Episcopal Church near White Hall.
• The Good Shepherd' at the Point Bethel Church near Mawr Glen 
• Waterfalls at the Baptist Church at White Hall
• “Jesus Praying in Gethsemne,” at the Moreland Community Church, (formerly Lutheran)

High Hat Club Mural in Hillsgrove Hotel

Barrel/Kegs in tavern (on plaster, removed from corner Main & Water Streets) 

Article at the bottom of the age under READ MORE

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CARTOONS

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Sallie Slick and her Surprising Aunt Amelia ran for one year in the Philadelphia North American -  May 4 1902 to April 26 1903. 

The Easy Edgar series ran for only five episodes in the Philadelphia North American between November 23 1902 and May 3 1903. 

ALSO:

• 1903, Oct 25 Philadelphia Press - half a dozen illustrations representing events of the past week

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1901

Dec. 5, page 2: Eugene Mohr, who is in the Art department of the Philadelphia Inquirer, was the guest of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. W. E. Mohr, the past few days.

1906 

Jean home for the holidays

1907

Nov. 15, page 8: Jean M. [sic] Mohr, the well known cartoonist, one of the art staff of a New York daily, has decided to make Muncy his permanent home. Mr. Mohr will continue to sketch for the New York papers, and will also manage the insurance business of his late father, W. E. Mohr.

 1908 

Jean spending a week in New York City

 1909 

Jean lived in Avon-By-The-Sea NJ, visited his mother in October 1909

 1910

 "Jean Mohr, a staff artist of Good Housekeeping returned to New York yesterday after spending a few weeks with his mother Mrs Emma Mohr"

Feb. 8, page 3: A number of excellent illustrations in the current issue of Good Housekeeping were drawn by Jean Mahr  whose home is at this place [Muncy].

 1911 

July - "Jean N. Mohr, a staff artist of Good Housekeeping, a well known New York City Magazine, is at present spending a vacation with his mother Mrs Emma Mohr.

 "Jean Mohr has gone to Philadelphia where he will spend the winter"

 1914 

Jean N. Mohr of Philadelphia is home to spend Easter with his mother, Mrs Emma N. Mohr.

 1916

 "Jean Mohr is able to be out again after being confined to his home on North Main street by illness

Mohr's House Boat

Artist Walter Richard Fuge, Northumberland Pa

 

WALTER FUGE A REAL ARTIST 

"One of the outstanding characters of the Strand Theatre is found in Walter Fuge, artist. Few people realize that all the art work for the Strand Theatre is conceived in the Strand workshop by Walter Fuge and his is commended as the best in the circuit. Mr. Fuge produces wonderful color schemes and also designs many different styles of setting which are very rare in art poster work. He is an artist in the truest sense of the word."  - The Daily Item, 1934

Walter Fuge was born January 19th 1890, the son of Richard & Katherine [Shannon] Fuge

Walter lived at 1328 North Front Street in Northumberland.  a A clarinetist, arranger, and composer, played in the Shamokin Our Band, and was affiliated with the Comerford Amusement Theater.  He managed the Savoy theater in Northumberland for 26 years.

Fuge died September 29th 1950, and is buried beside his wife Marion,  in Northumberland Memorial Park.

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Fuge was the artist for the Strand Theater.

Artist J. Ray Yocum

 

J. Ray Yocum was an accomplished artist from Norry who specialized in watercolors and wood carvings. He created Christmas scenes which were displayed around King Street Park.

This view from the Shikellamy State Park Overlook hangs in the Northumberland County Historical Society in Sunbury.

Several of his paintings are in the Northumberland museum at the Borough building and several carvings are hanging in St John's Lutheran church

A veteran of World War II, Yocum painted the walls of VFW Post 298 in Danville with scenes from action in Europe and the South Pacific.

1943 Won an award for a painting of the Redman farm along the Danville Road.

Joseph Ray Yocum was born September 27th 1914, in Danville, the son of the late Joseph R. and Olive [Byer] Yocum.   According to his obituary, he was at one time employed as a commercial artist for Rea & Derricks.

1953

Painted Nativity scene for St Marks

1962

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Joseph Sr  was born December 6th 1891, the son of Adam and Mary [Geyer] Yocum of White Deer Pa.  He married Olive Beyer, and was an engineer for the Pennsylvania Railroad.  Ray died in December of 1966, age 75, and is buried in Riverview Cemetery in Northumberland Pa.

Artist Hubert Davis, Native Of Milton Pa

Spring In The Coal Region
by  Hubert Davis, 1902-1981

Hubert Gray Davis was born March 15th 1902, the son of Edmund & Susan [Barnitz] Davis of Milton, Pennsylvania.  Hubert  studied at the Art Students League of New York in the 1920s.  Davis went on to produce work for the WPA,  illustrate at least one book, produce numerous illustrations for magazines and newspapers; and  write original plays, for which he also designed the costumes.  

He wrote a play, and exhibited artwork, at the 1956 Bicentennial of Fort Augusta in Sunbury PA.

Davis and his wife moved to New York, but spent much time at the Davis Family Homestead, a stone home built by Huberts great great grandfather Philip Davis, in Washingtonville Pa.

Huberts work is in several museums, including the MET & Smithsonian, and after his death, hundreds more of his works were found in a one room school house in New Tripoli that  he had used as a studio.  

Here's a look at just some of the work of Hubert Davis:

An American Tragedy By Theodore Dreiser

Illustrated by Hubert Davis

"One of the highlights of this artist's career remains his symbolic drawings for "An American Tragedy" by Theodore Dreiser. These remarkable black-and-whites, 20 commentaries on Clyde Griffiths and his life cycle, are now choice collectors' items. Published by the British firm of Horace Liverright, the edition was limited to 523 numbered copies, signed by both artist and author.."

Seaboard Castles

"His works—depictions of landscapes and figure studies executed on oil on canvas and water colour—were first exhibited in 1925. The earliest and most renowned of Davis's lithographic pieces were produced in 1931: a medium he devoted himself to, some of Davis's best known lithographs include Costume Designs, Seaboard Castle, and Pier 50, North River."

Costume Design, by Hubert Davis

"He says this with sadness rather than despair, for he can go from oils and watercolors to lithography, etching or illustrating with equal versatility and equal success. In fact, says Davis, he prefers to take a vacation from one media in order to gain perspective in another. Like most name artists, ha has never traveled the long straight line. While in Paris, for instance, he did costumes for the Casino de Paris ... "How I got the Job I don't know." . - The Morning Call, December 1957

One of the more unique pieces by Hubert Davis.

Pier 50, North River

"Pier 50, North River is an unforgettable work of Depression era art. Almost mannerist in design, despair and loneliness are mirrored in almost every element. The dart waters and shadows, the giant, inactive ships in the foreground and background, the old man sitting in quiet resignation, and finally, the great dismantled remains of the ship in which some boys use as a ready made diving board strike haunting notes."

Canal By Moonlight, Hubert Davis

In May of 1950, "Prints [mostly lithographs) by Hubert Davis shown...  in the graphic arts division's little gallery at the Smithsonian Building convey the impression that this artist observes life shrewdly, and also sardonically.  His expressive line enables to say what he pleases about everything, but not everything pleases him.  Man, his habitations and activities bring out the beast in Mr. Davis, whereas confronted by nature he becomes a tender romanticist.  Canal By Moonlight, Trees At Twilight, and Sleeping Fawn, for instance, are tonal poems, with velvety blacks and shimmering lights." - The Evening Star

A 1930s painting by Davis, for the Works Progress Administration.

On Wall Street, 1929

An article in the Daily Item labels this same photo"

 "Hubert Davis Painting In Milton Studio"

[I haven't yet looked for where his studio in Milton was located]

Oil by Huber Davis

Davis with two of the paintings he did in Jim Thorpe [Mauch Chunk] Pa. 

[Mauch Chunk was renamed Jim Thorpe in 1954.  Thorpe never stepped foot in the town while alive, but is buried there]

Ron De Long Standing with Davis' Miner In a Lanscape

On display at  The De Long Gallery at Penn State Lehigh Valley

Miners Commonwealth, by Hubert Davis

Farm Boy, By Hubert Davis

Bootleg Miner, by Herbert Davis

Artist Hubert Davis, "Of Milton and New York" exhibiting his Scenes Of The North Branch at the Fort Augusta Bicentennial in Sunbury, 1956.

In 1957, Davis opened a studio in the old Jacksonville School house near New Tripoli Pa.

Hollyhocks, by Herbert Davis

October 1961

Spring In The Coal Regions, at the Philadelphia Academy Of The Fine Arts

Ronald Delong discovered "hundreds and hundreds" of Davis works in a one room school house in New Tripoli.  He moved them to his studio near Schnecksville, where he began cleaning up the works and offering them for sale.  25 years later, in 2017, he held three separate exhibitions showcasing some of Davis many works.

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MORE ABOUT HUBERT DAVIS

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Hubert Gray Davis, age 22 in 1924

259 Broadway, Milton Pa

In 1924, Davis, age 22, applied for a passport, giving his address as 259 Broadway, Milton Pa.  His stated intention was to tour France, England,  Italy, Austria, & Germany, to study.  In 1926, he married Maxine Shipman.

 Edmund  Davis, Huberts father, was a native of Milton, the son of David and Mirabella Davis.  Edmund  was one of the organizers of  Milton Trust and Safe Deposit Co.   He had been a star pitcher at Princeton, and he graduated from law school before going into the hardware business, and then insurance business, in Milton.

   The Davis family homestead was across the county line in Washingtonville, Montour County.  The stone homestead was built by  Philip Davis, great grandfather of Hubert.

Philip Davis, great grandfather, of Hubert Davis, donated the land and built the first Chillisquaque church, which was burned by the Indians. He and other Davises are buried in the Chillisquaque cemetery.  Maria Bellas, Mr. Davis s grandmother, came from Sunbury, as did other of his relatives. "

He served in World War II from 1942-1943

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"Hubert Davis studied with the renowned painters Fernand Léger in Paris and Thomas Hart Benton in New York. His work was widely exhibited in his own time, and he associated with artists such as Reginald Marsh and Edward Hopper. Davis illustrated his friend Theodore Dreiser’s book An American Tragedy; he also produced numerous illustrations for magazines and newspapers; and he wrote original plays for which he designed the costumes. Although he used color in a bold and expressive way in his oil paintings, the prints Davis created for the WPA were often sober or even melancholic." From the Brooklyn College Library Art Collection

The Biography on many public art and auction sites showcasing his art reads:

"Hubert Davis was an American lithographic artist and painter during the Great Depression.  Born in Milton, Pennsylvania, Davis studied at the Art Students League in New York during the 1920s.  He issued his first lithograph in 1931 which primarily depicted landscapes and figures.  Davis’ lithographs were published by the New York branch of the W.P.A. - Works Progress Administration which was a federal program that provided financial aid for thousands of artists in exchange for public works.  Little is known of his life and/or work following the 1930s. "

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"Hubert Davis, contemporary American artist and a native of Milton, will stage a one-man show in the Masonic Temple, Market Square, throughout the Fort Augusta Bicentennial.  An extensive collection of his painting will be hung over the week-end..."

Born in Milton March 15. 1902. Mr. Davis has conducted one-man shows in New York City (eleven); Princeton, N., J., Newark, N. J., Trenton, N.J., Omaha, Neb., Lewistown, Mansfield, Lewisburg, Selinsgrove, National Museum, Smithsonian. Institute, Washington, D.C. also two shows in Guatemala, . Paris, France, and at the U.S. Information Service in Athens Greece.

He has also done art work for magazines and newspapers. His illustrations have appeared in Cosmopolitan, Tone and Country, Tomorrow, Harpers Bazaar, etc.  he likewise has done stage and screen work both here and abroad.

 References and critical comment on his art and activities may be seen in the files and libraries of the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Frick Art Reference Library; New York Public Library; Art News; The Art Digest; Pictures on Exhibition; The New .York Times art pages and Book Review section. He is represented in permanent collections in the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Whitney Museum of American Art; Philadelphia Museum of Art; Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts; Columbus. O. Gallery of Fine Arts; Newark, N.J. Public Library and the Library of Congress.

 References in books include: My Life with Dreiser by Helen Dreiser (World); The Provincetown, by H. Deutsch and Stella Hanau (Farrar and Rhinehart); Fine Prints by Carl Zigrosser (Crown), and Pen and Ink Drawings by Frank Hoar (Studio Publications, London.) 

Mr. Davis biographical data appears in International Who Who in America; World Biography; Whos Who in the East: Who's Who in New York and Who's Who in American Art

 He is author of the Symbolid Drawings of Hubert Davis for An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser (Horace Liveright, limited edition, 1930.) He is a member of the Society of American Graphic Artists.

 Mr. Davis has received the following awards: Lambert Purchase Prizes, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts; Denver Printmakers,  honorable mention; Philadelphia Print Club, competition award; the Print Club of Rochester, N.Y, 150th annual exhibit, honorable mention.

 He studied at the Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Art, Philadelphia, .the Art Students League of New York and the Academic Julien in Paris.

Mr. Davis and his gracious wife have a permanent home in New York City but spend much of their time at the Davis family farmstead near Washingtonville, just over the Northumberland County line, in Montour County. 

Land was deeded to ancestors of Hubert Davis by John Penn Jr. and John Penn, Esquire in the 18th century.   

Since the "Manor of Pomfret" was then in Northumberland County, this was recorded in Sunbury. Th "Hope" tract, as it was known, is now in Limestone Township, Montour County. 

The earliest settlers fled to Fort Augusta for protection when the Indians destroyed by fire the first log cabin home. Later, a temporary frame house was built to replace the log cabin. On the same sate in 1809 Philip Davis began work on the present stone dwelling which took two years in the building. It is constructed of limestone quarried on the property. The woods used came from the virgin forests of the original tract of over a thousand acres.  Experts consider the house comparable in architectural perfection and proportion to Monticello and Mount Vernon. 

Philip Davis, great grandfather, of Hubert Davis, donated the land and built the first Chillisquaque church, which was burned by the Indians.

He and other Davises are buried in the Chillisquaque cemetery.  Maria Bellas, Mr. Davis s grandmother, came from Sunbury, as did other of his relatives. "

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549 On The Red

Central Park Roadway

Cornfield At Dusk

Desplaines River