John Held Jr.

The oldest of six children, John Held Jr. was born in Salt Lake City, to Annie Evans and John Lyman Held, who met at a church social. Annie Evans, his mother, acted in the local theater. John Held Jr.'s maternal grandfather, James Evans, was an English convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who traveled to Salt Lake City with the Mormon handcart pioneers. The wood block was his preferred medium in his youth and he would return to it several times throughout his career. He loved Western culture including horses, deserts, and cowboys, and this was a recurring theme in his art, both as a child and as an adult. While living in a flat with Hal Burrows and Mahonri Young, he drew posters for Collier's Street Railway Advertising Company and ads for Wanamaker's Department Store, and designed costumes and sets for the theater to make ends meet. In 1914, he returned to his linoleum block print style. ==Cartoons and covers==

'' (April 1921) In 1915 Vanity Fair began publishing his drawings, for which he used the pseudonym "Myrtle Held", because he was too shy to use his own name. collection In 1925, his old high school friend Harold Ross started The New Yorker. By 1927, Held's work had appeared in Life, Vanity Fair, ''Harper's Bazaar, and The New Yorker, and he had also contributed illustrations for other influential magazines, including Judge and The Smart Set''. According to Held, he didn't really intend to create the flapper ideal; he just drew what was around him, and it became popular so he kept drawing. He was reportedly becoming so popular that people were sending him blank checks, offering anything for an original piece. Held also designed the cover for Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, So Big. From 1925 to 1932, his woodcut-style cartoons and faux maps were published frequently in The New Yorker. Held Jr slipped occasional imagery alluding to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints such as temples, the acronym ZCMI, the Angel Moroni, and Brigham Young, and though some people believe he sneaked them in, Ross was fully aware of it and actually encouraged it. Held portrayed a satirical view of the Roaring Twenties, often criticizing the drinking, gambling, and rampant sexuality that often characterized the decade. This contrasted his counterparts in Jazz-Age cartoons such as Peter Arno who seemed to celebrate it. Held also created the iconic "Wise Men Fish Here" sign which hung above the door of the Gotham Book Mart for the life of the store. During the Great Depression Held lost much of his money in the Ivar Kreuger fraud scheme. His last New Yorker illustration appeared in 1932. Held wrote and illustrated several novels, such as Grim Youth (1930) and The Flesh Is Weak (1931). The reduced demand for his cartoons in the 1930s gave him more time to paint. During this time, he painted somber landscapes and cityscapes, while also illustrating children's books and animal fantasies. In 1937, he designed sets for the Broadway comedy revue Hellzapoppin, and produced the Tops Variety Show which showcased young talent. He exhibited his bronze sculptures of horses in New York in 1939 at Bland Gallery. ==Style==

Held was unorthodox among the artists of the decade, as he was uninterested in copying European art and made his own way stylistically. Pointillism was the only exception as he occasionally painted in this style up until 1931, taking inspiration from Georges Seurat. He was also inspired by the Mayan geometric designs he saw during his time in Central America in 1917, using them as elements of his art rather than the foundation of it. File:The Forum (1919) (14801550803).jpg|alt=The Forum illustration.|Held's illustration for "When the Criminal Takes to Science", The Forum (July 1919). File:The Forum (1919) (14594998820).jpg|alt=The Forum illustration.|Held's illustration for "Any Fool Could Do It!", The Forum (September 1919). ==Personal life==

Held made an enormous fortune in the 1920s and became a part of the high-society life that he depicted in his art. Held was married four times. He married Myrtle Jennings in 1910. After a divorce, he married Ada Johnson in 1918. During the 1920s the couple adopted three children. He served as constable of Weston, Connecticut and ran for Congress as a Democrat. The campaign was unsuccessful, much to his relief, because he never left his house nor gave a speech. After the stock market crash, he suffered a nervous breakdown, selling his home in Connecticut, which led to his divorce from his second wife. In 1932, Held married Miss New Orleans Gladys Moore, and had a daughter named Judy. In 1942, he married Margaret Schuyler James, with whom he had a happy marriage. He spent the last years of his life on Old Schuyler Farm in Belmar, New Jersey, with animals and a new family. He died at his home in 1958, aged 69, from throat cancer. == Legacy ==

In 1927, Held was nominated for the Vanity Fair Hall of Fame: "Because as a caricaturist, he invented the modern flapper; because last year he was almost elected a member of Congress from Connecticut; because he is a syndicated artist who has not lost his flair for drawing and satire; because he is a born comedian." Even after his death he has been the subject of many galleries and exhibitions. In 1967, his work was showcased from October to November at the Art Association of Indianapolis in an exhibition titled, "John Held, Jr.". The next year, from November to December, the Rhode Island School of Design presented "The Jazz Age", featuring Held and two other artists. The Smithsonian Institution featured a nationwide traveling exhibition from 1969 to 1972 called "The Art of John Held, Jr." == References ==