Conrad J. Linke, Jr. (1892-1995) American, Man and Dog Oil on Canvas. A man in a hat with his beloved spaniel sits in the grass in front of a lake, while a flock of ducks flies overhead, two people in a canoe paddle by, and two squirrels in a nearby tree frolic. Signed bottom left. 

Condition: Damage to bottom of frame. 

Overall Size: 27 1/2 x 41 3/4 in. 

Sight Size: 25 1/2 x 39 3/4 in. 

#5048 

Conrad J. Linke, Jr. was born on December 16th, 1892 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was the second of three children of immigrant parents from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and by the age of 15 he had already graduated from high school and won a three-year scholarship to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. A child prodigy, he studied landscaping, portrait painting, and illustrating, opening his own studio in 1912 where he created posters, lithographs, and advertisements. During World War I he was in charge of the poster and publicity department of the Philadelphia Naval Yard. In 1917 he married his secretary Marian, who had a profound effect on him for the rest of his life, as her pacifist attitude towards the conflict was reflected in a shift in Conrad’s style and artistic themes. After the war they moved to Chicago, where he worked as the head of staff for a commercial art studio. He studied the work of Robert Henri at the Art Institute, and was highly successful throughout the 1920s and into the 1930s, creating covers for magazines and illustrations for sports and lifestyle articles. Throughout World War II he and his wife became vocal advocates for neutrality, especially once she joined the Society of Friends in 1938. This diminished his favor with fellow artists and magazine editors alike, and he worked solely freelance from 1941 until 1946 when he and his wife left Chicago and returned to Philadelphia, where he opened the C.J. Linke Art Services. For the next two decades they contributed heavily to the German relief effort, sending food and clothing to organizations in Europe and writing letters expressing the need for humanitarian support for both East and West Germany. In 1962 they moved once more to Beachwood Lakes, New Jersey, and Linke retired from art officially in the late 1970s, but continued to paint at his leisure, often giving away his work instead of selling it. Marian passed away in 1985, at which time he withdrew from public life almost entirely. Although they had no children of their own they sponsored many German orphans abroad financially. They were frequently lauded for their efforts by German-American organizations, and in 1990 a scholarship in Linke’s name was created to give students at his alma mater the chance to study art. Linke died on May 12th, 1995 at 102 years of age, virtually forgotten except by a handful of collectors, although there has been a resurgence in interest in his contribution to American art since the beginning of the 21st Century.

Damage to bottom of frame.