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Will Grefé
(28 September 1875 – 9 April 1957)

By Mary Elizabeth Grefe Fox

Good Housekeeping (1911) Grefé - 001

In the Beginning: Poultry
Will Grefé was born in Des Moines, Iowa, and resided there until he was 17. He lived on a farm and his talent was evident at an early age. He began by drawing chickens on the fences and illustrating his school composition books on every page.

At 15, he went to work for an engraving company. The owners soon recognized his talent and had him make all cuts and illustrations for catalogues, fliers, etc. When he was 17, he went to New York to study at the Art Student’s League. After completing his studies there, he felt the need for further instruction and he went to France where he studied several months, but later moved on to Germany (Munich) where he finally found the teachers he had been seeking. He studied at the academy in Munich and also from a private instructor.

While he was in Europe, his family moved from Des Moines to Buffalo, NY. He joined them there when he came back from Europe.

All those early chicken drawings pay off handsomely for this pretty girl cover of
Woman's World (May 1916) Grefé - 002

Rings, Roses, and Romance for "Marry Me" (1908) Grefé - 003

Grefé made some sample drawings, photographed them and sent them to the editor of the Saturday Evening Post. (Mr. Lorimer) Mr. Lorimer answered him immediately, telling him that if he would get a studio in NY, they would give him all the work he could do. So with $75.00, he headed for NY and set up a studio and started working for the Saturday Evening Post. Also, Life, Puck, Scribner’s, Judge. Later came McClures, Ladies Home Journal, Cosmopolitan, Hearst, Woman’s World, Redbook, etc. Usually he made three drawings a week for the Post. He also did covers for Saturday Evening Post, Woman’s World, Good Housekeeping, etc.

Cover for The Saturday Evening Post; he also did story art inside (1902) Grefé - 004

Grefé was a frequent Post story artist, this one for "The Boom at Payne" inside (1916) Grefé - 005

"Hellow? License Clerk?" (1910) Grefé - 006

Postcards, Calendars, Prints, and more
Grefé made many paintings which were sold as prints for framing, such as "The Yellow Peril," "The Goal," "The Leap Year Question," "The Golden Opportunity," "The Wedding Ring," "The Match," "A Friend at Court." These and others were also printed on fans, post cards, calendars, playing cards, etc.

The Models
Some of Grefé's models included Mabel Norman, Alice Joyce, Bronco Billy Anderson, Billie Dove, and Frances Howard (who later married Samuel Goldwynn). They went on to became actors and actresses in the movies.

Rinso, "No Wonder He's Proud of His Wife." (1933) Grefé - 007

Will Grefé gets animated
In 1917, Will experimented with animation. Up until that time, animated cartoons and films did not move naturally as they were shot at 16 frames per second. Will worked to perfect a method whereby the figures moved as naturally as life at 24 frames per second, only he used a beautiful girl wearing a long flowing cape, and the action was a graceful turn.

When he took his pen and ink drawings to Pathé news, he was offered a very low price per foot of film (which consisted of a number of separate drawings) and as he was being well paid for his magazine illustrations, he dropped the idea of continuing his work with animation.

The animation idea wasn't completely lost. For Rinso advertisements, Grefé drew in a sequential comic-strip style reminscent of cartoons and storyboards. These "story" ads premiered in the early 1930s and were a mainstay of Madison Avenue through to the 1960s. Grefé was one of the first and best known artists to exploit the idea.

Will Grefé gets animated
In 1917, Will experimented with animation. Up until that time, animated cartoons and films did not move naturally as they were shot at 16 frames per second. Will worked to perfect a method whereby the figures moved as naturally as life at 24 frames per second, only he used a beautiful girl wearing a long flowing cape, and the action was a graceful turn.

When he took his pen and ink drawings to Pathé news, he was offered a very low price per foot of film (which consisted of a number of separate drawings) and as he was being well paid for his magazine illustrations, he dropped the idea of continuing his work with animation.

The animation idea wasn't completely lost. For Rinso advertisements, Grefé drew in a sequential comic-strip style reminscent of cartoons and storyboards. These "story" ads premiered in the early 1930s and were a mainstay of Madison Avenue through to the 1960s. Grefé was one of the first and best known artists to exploit the idea.

Riding Girl (1908) Grefé - 008

Crisco, Barley Cookies with a New Spicy Tang (1919) Grefé - 009

It all ads up
Gefé's paintings done as advertisements for Watkin’s Mulsified Coconut Oil Shampoo attracted much attention. They were usually beautiful women with long red hair, dressed scantily (for those days).

While he used other models, his model for the hair was his wife to be. She had beautiful long hair, and for years she was not allowed to cut it. His ad for Mulsified featured the first woman to appear on a billboard wearing a negligee. He also did ads for Interwoven Socks, Crisco, Ivory Soap, etc.

Interwoven Socks, Toe and Heel (1925) Grefé - 010

Ivory Soap (1918) Grefé - 011

Kenyon Weatherproofs (19??) Grefé - 011

It was customary for the magazines to send a story to the artist, and he would have to read it and choose the spots for illustrations. Some artists would return the story, saying that they couldn’t find anything to illustrate. Then the story was sent to Will and he always found something interesting. His illustrations also appeared in over 100 books.

On September 10, 1918, he married Margaret Moore. They were married in Hobocken, NJ because he didn’t want reporters hounding him. On March 19, 1922, they went to Miami, Florida on vacation. At this time, California was beckoning to artists to become movie directors, and they thought of going there, but he had commitments for illustrations and couldn’t take enough time to go to California (the travel in those days was by train).

The Crimson Cross, three bookplates (1913) Grefé - 012

Grefé's girls dominated A Book of Sweethearts,
complemented by Clarence Underwood, F G Cootes, Alonzo Kimball,
Howard Chandler Christy (1908) Grefé - 013

Miami Blues
Miami was beginning the real estate boom. Every store on Flagler Street was a real estate office waiting to sell swampland to prospects. Will told himself that nobody could sell him any of that type of land. But the day they were returning to NY, on the way to the train station, they fell for buying a lot in Hialeah, in the Curtis-Wright development.

They returned to Miami the following December, bought an acre of land on what is now Biscayne Boulevard and 75th Street, and built a home which was completed in February 1924. His first child, daughter Mary Elizabeth, was born on January 24, 1924.

Grefé retired when he moved to Miami, but he invested heavily in real estate, and when the bubble burst, he again went back to work illustrating for magazines. At first they sent the work to Miami, but the distance presented difficulties if any changes were needed to the drawings.

In 1929, he again opened a studio in NY. Margaret and Mary Elizabeth went with him, planning to stay in NY, but Mary Elizabeth, then five, contracted pneumonia and nearly died. Grefé sat by her bed day and night. In those days there were no antibiotics. It was a very serious, often fatal illness. When his daughter finally recovered, he vowed that he would not take any more chances with her health. Margaret and Mary Elizabeth would return to Miami to stay. He continued working in New York, making frequent trips to Miami to be with the family. His son, Will Grefé, III, was born May 17, 1930.

The Saturday Evening Post, "Real Estate Ups and Downs" (1933) Grefé - 014

Woman's World, "What Will Your Garden Grow This Year" (1915) Grefé - 015

Pictorial Review, "For the Good of the Party" (1913) Grefé - 016
NOTE: The Fade-Away girls of Coles Phillips and Valentine Sandberg were very popular at this time. Grefé countered with the "suggested girl," a combination of detailed elements (usually faces) and simple pen lines, an effect that seems to have influenced George Petty and others.

Miami Improves
After several years of traveling between NY and Miami, Will and Margaret decided to open a business in Miami so that the family could be together. In 1934, Miami was "The" place to go for vacation, and prominent people were opening restaurants. Will and Margaret opened the Studio Inn an attractive, tasteful restaurant on his property on Biscayne Blvd and 75th Street. His illustrations were hung in the dining room, and many prominent people were customers. Among them were Eddie Cantor, Wylie Post, Norman Rockwell, and Amelia Ehrhart. Over the bar, hung a life size reclining nude, done in artistic good taste. It attracted much attention. They sold the Studio Inn in 1943 and moved to 789 N. E. 86th St. in Miami.

Some years after Will and Margaret sold the restaurant, they received a letter from an elderly gentleman in Pennsylvania. He wanted to know if Will still had the painting of the beautiful nude woman which had hung over the bar, and would he sell it. Will had stored it along with many other things in a small storage house on a lot near the property he had sold. The thought of retrieving it was distasteful to him, so he put what he thought was a high price on it, so as to discourage the prospective purchaser. The man immediately sent a telegram saying that he was taking a train to Miami to buy the painting and take it home with him. Will had to retrieve the painting, clean it, and have it ready, which he reluctantly did.

The old gentleman was as happy as a lark. He explained that if he had a young woman, it would cost him a lot more, and she wouldn’t really want him – just his money. So he was thrilled to be the proud owner of the painting, which he planned to hang in his home, to cover it with drapes, and to unveil it on special occasions.

Will was a shy man. He never mingled socially or joined many organizations. He could never sell his work. His work sold itself on its own merit. He enjoyed being with his family, and enjoyed working in his yard. He had many fruit trees such as mangoes, grapefruit, oranges, avocados, and at one time had 100 papaya plants.

He had a sense of humor and a twinkle in his eye, especially when he thought of some of the devilish things he did as a boy. But he also had a grim, penetrating gaze as he studied a model when he was working.

A quote from a letter he wrote to his wife in the 1930’s: "Someone in the office said that they like not only the expressions, but the fine drawing that I am doing. Well, I’m trying hard enough, but I’m not satisfied. Some day I hope I’ll make something really good. I imagine now I’ll have to give them expression or they won’t be satisfied. I’m glad, at last that someone woke up to expression – for I have always said that so few of the artists get any – most of the faces are perfectly blank – just looking at one another."

In his illustrations the characters all seem to interact with one another. Even when there is a large group of people in the picture, you can see how each one is reacting to the other.

Saturday Evening Post (1913) Grefé - 017

Crisco (1919) Grefé - 018
The Delineator, "The Battle The Strong" (1904) Grefé - 019

Grefé on the Artist
"An artist must give of himself and the best of himself to the public, and unless his work is personal, it is valueless. He has by reason of his genius, a message to convey, and his whole nature vibrates with that message. Imagination is divine, a gift from above, a wondrous flame burning in the heart of man. Its’ kindlings are supernatural, but it is given man to guard or to quench that flame, to let it burn at random, fed by evil courses, or to nurture it with pure intentions and guileless life, and to testify to the world that which it leashes to its possessor.

"Composition and drawing are not of equal importance with imagination. The latter is hardly needed if only the truth to be revealed is strong in the artist’s mind, and his ability to produce it is sufficient."

Cupid at the Helm (1910) Grefé - 020

Will Grefe photo (19??) Grefé - 021
Grefé, Page Two
Grefé art for Mulsified