LEON RENE PESCHERET (1892-1971)

Leon Rene Pescheret — painter, illustrator, etcher, craftsman, architect, writer, teacher, and designer — was born in Chiswick, England on May (or March) 15, 1892 and died in 1971. Although all the research books list his death to be in 1961, a collector states that he purchased several works in 1962 and 1964 directly from the artist's studio in Whitewater, WI and that Pescheret was alive and well in the Spring of 1964. Pescheret resided and worked in Whitewater where he produced work in oil, watercolor, and an assortment of graphic media. In 1926 his address was 64 East Van Buren Street in Chicago and, in 1953, his studio listing was Whitewater, WI.

Pescheret studied at the Royal College of Engraving in Kensington, England; Battersea Polytechnic in London; the Art Institute of Chicago; and in Belgium. He was a pupil of Fleury, Millet, Malcolm Osborn, and Roger Hebbelinck.

He was a member of the Palette and Chisel Club; Chicago Society of Etchers; the American Color Print Society; the Society of American Printmakers; and the Printmaker's Society of California. Pescheret exhibited with the Buck Hills Art Association in 1948 and 1949; the Southern Printmakers' Society in 1936 and 1937, wining prizes both years; the Chicago Galleries Association in 1951; the Chicago Society of Etchers in 1935, where he won a prize, and also in 1936; the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC; and a solo exhibition at the Yonker Brothers Tea Room Galleries. He was the recipient of the Lila Mae Chapman Award in 1936 and 1937, and the Grand Central Galleries Award.

Pescheret was the author and illustrator of the "Principle and Practice of Interior Decorating" and "An Introduction to Color Etching." He illustrated "The Spirit of Vienna" and "Chicago Welcomes You" and contributed color etchings to two magazines — "American Artist" and "Arizona Highways." Pescheret did decorations for the Drake Hotel in Chicago; the University of Wisconsin; the Peoria Country Club; and the Memorial Union Building in Chicago.

His work is included in the collections of the Whistler House Museum in Lowell, MA; the Library of Congress in Washington, DC; the Cabinet du Roi in Brussels; the Cabinet des Estampes in Brussels; the Kenyon College Union Building in Gambier, OH; the British Museum; the Art Institute of Chicago; the New York Public Library; the Wright Museum of Art in Beloit, WI; the National Collection of Fine Arts in Washington, DC; and the University of Michigan Museum of Art in Ann Arbor, MI.

References: Who Was Who in American Art; Davenport's; Mantle Fielding; Mallett; Dealer's Choice Biographical Encyclopedia of American Painters; AskART.com archives; Whistler House Museum of Art files; Peter Kostoulakos, ISA ˜ Fine Art Consultant www.pkart.com.