Pastel/chalk? Boy on a Tractor Seat

[kdj]

I never thought I would have a story to tell about anything I collected. Now I do. I bought a pastel/chalk  picture at a thrift store. I do not find any “dots” on the picture. None. But I did find minuscule words in lines as a letter or poem might look, only seen with a magnifying glass, on the sleeve of the boy’s shirt in the deeper lavender area. Has anyone seen anything like this? I will have to get a better magnifier so that I can read more of the words. So far I can only see a few words: love, by the…
Under the artist’s signature is a swirl. No idea what that means. That indicate a print. (But no dots present)
Researching the artist’s name eventually led me to an obituary for Claude Schneider. There, I was stunned to see that Claude was my Dad’s cousin. I saw the long gone relative’s names, Grandma’s family, and survivors I do not know.
My Grandmother kept one of Claude’s pencil sketches at the top of the stairway in her old Victorian house. As a kid, I ran up and past that sketch because it was of a man on an operating table with a doctor standing over him…didn’t like that.
Claude has some prints on line of canned vegetables, a dog, a cow, and a carousel horse, all for around $70.00. The boy on the tractor seat has not been found.  I have been to many sites and nothing has turned up. You would think that if it is a print, there would be a record of it somewhere. I would appreciate comments about this picture. The framed size is 26 ¾ by 33 in. tall. The picture is 16 ¾ by 22 ¾ in. It has the appearance of chalk/pastel and again, there are no dots to indicate a print. Thanks for comments!

[ghopper1924]

Wow, great story! Almost uncanny.

I think there are multiple methods of reproducing prints. Not all of them would be revealed by dots.

Evidently Claude was painting and teaching art up unit the end in 2015. Your rendering of a boy on a tractor seeks to tap into the nostalgia market; his clothing looks like 1890-1920 but of course the original was painted much later, quite possibly in the 21st century.

I couldn't find this particular work on the internet, but his others seem to be in this same pastoral vein. I did see portraits of cows, canned/bottled fruit and flowers. These would appeal to those who would like a kinder, gentler Norman Rockwell.

His unframed prints seem to go for about $20.00. Framed, maybe $40-60. Was the one at the top of the stairs in your Grandma's Victorian house  an original? Was it ever reproduced that you know of? If it was an original, it would be worth more, possibly into the hundreds. Schneider's work seems to be widely reproduced and can even be purchased as greeting cards.

This may be the obituary you found:

"The 15th of April 2015 marked the unexpected passing of Claude Schneider of Jonas Ridge who expired peacefully in his home. He was born April 12, 1932, in Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., to the late Joseph F. Schneider Sr. and Cayrl Cooley Schneider. He graduated Port Edwards High School in Wisconsin, and achieved a degree from Layton School of Arts in Milwaukee, Wis.
Claude was a lifetime artist. In his earlier years he worked in furniture sales, then as a fine artist for various companies throughout his career and was a contributor for the High Point furniture market until retirement. God blessed him with talent in his hands, and he continued to paint pastel pictures and build frames in his home-based “Time Ago Again” studio while he taught art classes at Land Harbor Resort. He was involved in Jonas Ridge Volunteer Fire Department, Ruritans and was a volunteer for Meals on Wheels. He attended Crossnore Presbyterian Church and loved his church family. He enjoyed entertaining his family and giving his grandchildren art lessons.
His hobbies were art, illustrating children’s books, collecting antiques, woodworking and bird watching."

[ghopper1924]

P.S. Here's something about the dot-free Iris printer, invented in 1985 (from Wikipedia):

"The Iris printer is an inkjet printer designed to interface with digital prepress systems to produce a hard copy that shows what the exact image will look like before the job goes to press. Such prepress output devices are used to check the image and for critical color match on industrial printing jobs such as commercial product packaging and magazine layout. Their output is also used to check color after mass production begins. Iris printers use a continuous flow ink system to produce continuous-tone dot free output."

It seems like any continuous flow ink system would produce dot-free prints.

[kdj]

Yes,  the one at the top of the stairs in Grandma's  house  is an original.  Never  reproduced. The pencil sketch/drawing is from when he was  young - just starting his art career.
I called my Dad this morning and told him about the picture. He said he has another original watercolor by Claude- also never reproduced and from the early days.
It is odd how art travels. Claude lived out in the Smokies, and I bought his picture in Minnesota!
Thank you for the information on printing. That is so helpful!.
The one other thing that I wonder is if you have any thoughts about  the words on the sleeve? The print is in it's original frame and behind glass so it is not where something else  with print got on to it. Any thoughts on that? Thanks!

[mart]

The little symbol below the signature may be his version of Copyright symbol !! 

[kdj]

Thanks mart ! I thought so too.

[rink28]

Yeah that's a copyright symbol! Still cool picture though. Frame and matting looks modern. Probably around 35 to 40 dollar picture. Neat story on it also!

[ghopper1924]

Yes,  the one at the top of the stairs in Grandma's  house  is an original.  Never  reproduced. The pencil sketch/drawing is from when he was  young - just starting his art career.
I called my Dad this morning and told him about the picture. He said he has another original watercolor by Claude- also never reproduced and from the early days.
It is odd how art travels. Claude lived out in the Smokies, and I bought his picture in Minnesota!
Thank you for the information on printing. That is so helpful!.
The one other thing that I wonder is if you have any thoughts about  the words on the sleeve? The print is in it's original frame and behind glass so it is not where something else  with print got on to it. Any thoughts on that? Thanks!

Hold on to those originals. You won't be able to retire on them by any means, but its always great to have original works by someone you like. You should also let his estate and/or survivors know that you've got these two works. Send them a photo!

As far as the lettering goes, it's an old tradition. He was probably trying to reinforce the carefree, old-fashioned feeling of the picture. Movements from Arts and Crafts back to the Renaissance have incorporated letters and words into visual art, usually to reinforce a message.  His method seems unusually subtle.

[kdj]

Thanks - good to know! I was imagining that maybe he knew this little boy - maybe a Grandson. The message seems to be of a loving kind. Very subtle. I'm going to have to get one of those loop things because my magnifying glass isn't good enough...or get a stronger glass.

[KC]

What a neat story!  Thank you for sharing!

You need to document the history/relationship and attach it to the back!