Beatrice Tonnesen - Photographer & Artist

A photograph by Beatrice Tonnesen found recently by the Winneconne Historical Society in Winneconne WI, features a woman dressed as an Indian maiden. This image is the central figure in an art print titled “The Dawn of Woman” by Homer Nelson, indicating that Nelson painted from Tonnesen’s photo. The distinctive headband worn by the woman appears in at least one other Nelson print, leading me to believe that he was a repeat customer of the Tonnesen Studio.

Nelson is known for his many paintings of Indian maidens in outdoor settings that adorned calendars of the 1920s and ‘30s during the Golden Age of Illustration. Fueled by the popularity of the Ziegfeld Follies and other costumed dance troupes during the pre-pinup-calendar era, Indian maiden prints were all the rage then, and maintain their popularity with today’s collectors.

Shown at top right is the Nelson print as seen on page 198 of the indispensable guide to calendar art, Vintage Illustration: Discovering America’s Calendar Artists 1900-1960 by Rick and Charlotte Martin. Collector’s Press. 1997. Image used with permission.

Shown below the Nelson print is an image of the original untitled photograph by Beatrice Tonnesen. Courtesy Winneconne Historical Society, Winneconne, WI. All rights reserved.

Copyright ©2009 Lois Emerson

Marjorie Eid of the Winneconne (WI) Historical Society reports that more than 100 original photographs by Beatrice Tonnesen have recently been found and many of them are now on exhibit.  Tonnesen grew up in Winneconne.  Most of the photos were found in an old, long-unopened envelope box at the Society.  The donor is unknown.

Scott Cross, Archivist at Oshkosh Public Museum, itself the holder of a large Tonnesen archive, has authenticated the Winneconne photographs, terming them an “absolutely wonderful collection.”

The Winneconne Historical Society Museum Complex at 611-617 W. Main Street in Winneconne will be open every Sunday, 1:30-4:30 pm.  The exhibit will run at least through June in the Steamboat House.  Private tours may be arranged by calling 920-582-7643.  Admittance is free - donations accepted.  The website is www.winneconnewi.gov/historical.

Popular illustrator Charles Relyea (1863-1932) was especially known for his colorful calendar art featuring glamorous flappers and Indian maidens. Some of his works appear to feature real women who modeled for Beatrice Tonnesen.

In Relyea’s “Two Hearts that Beat as One”, right, the beautiful brunette flapper (foreground) looks to me to be the same woman who is shown in the original painting from a photo by Tonnesen that appears in the post dated February 24, 2009 directly below this one. (Scroll down to compare.)  It’s also possible that the blonder woman in both images is the same, although I’m less certain about that.

Relyea’s “A Duet in the Moonlight”, below right, features two lovely flappers, one of whom appears to be Chicago-based photographic model Adelyne Slavik. I strongly suspect she was one of Tonnesen’s models. (For evidence, see Slideshow Album 9, images 22-26.)

Compare Relyea’s woman in the yellow dress in “Moonlight” with the photo, left, of Adelyne as she appeared in the June 27, 1921 issue of  The Bridgeport Telegram. (Adelyne made news in The Telegram, as well as other newspapers across the country, when she came to the defense of a former beau, millionaire J. Stanley Joyce, who was embroiled in a messy divorce trial with notorious gold-digger Peggy Hopkins Joyce.  But I digress…)

I think Relyea’s apparent use of these two photographic models in his works points to the conclusion that he sometimes painted from photos. And since these photographic models apparently worked for Tonnesen, the photos he used may well have been hers.

All Content Copyright 2009 Lois Emerson

This pastel and watercolor original from a photo by Beatrice Tonnesen was found in the archives of the old Thomas D. Murphy Calendar Company.  Traces of the photo underlying the painting can be seen upon close examination.  Although it is not known who added the pastel and watercolor elements, the photographic element clearly originated with Beatrice Tonnesen.  The dress worn by the dark-haired model is one that was worn by a different model in a photo in the Tonnesen archive of the Oshkosh Public Museum.  Based on the dating of other photos featuring these same models, I would place this one at around 1918.  I have two other pieces of original illustration art in my collection which I believe to have originated with Tonnesen photos.  However, this is the only one I’ve ever been able to verify.

It is known that the publishing companies purchased photos from Tonnesen and other photographers and then, sometimes, had their own staff illustrators add color, detail and/or backgrounds.  It is also known that the photographic studios employed staff artists who sometimes embellished their photographs before selling them to the publishing companies.  In Tonnesen’s case, we know that both she and her sister Clara sometimes acted as illustrator.  With no signature on the painting, however, the identity of the illustrator remains a mystery. 

This painting measures approximately 19 X 25 (without mat and frame).  Presumably, the Murphy Company published it as a print, although I have never come across one.

All Content Copyright 2009 Lois Emerson   

The blond toddler shown in Tonnesen photos and prints circa 1917-20 has been identified as Jane Berghauer (1916-1994). She had earlier been identified by fellow models as Janie Burkhardt or Janie Berkhauer. Searching on close matches, I found that the Chicago Tribune reported on November 3, 1917 that Jane Berghauer had placed second in a “prettiest baby” contest for 1-2 year olds.

Family friends Brenda and Rudy Arreola confirmed that she had modeled as a child. They also have been kind enough to supply biographical information.  Jane lived in Chicago all of her life, marrying John Sheridan and eventually becoming vice president of Cosmopolitan National Bank.  She also had a younger brother, Vern, who modeled as a child.  It is known that he modeled for the catalogs of large department stores such as Marshall Fields.  We are currently trying to determine if he modeled for Tonnesen or other art photographers active in the 1920’s.  Neither Jane nor Vern had children.

Janie is shown here on a 1923 calendar print (photo ca. 1917-18), titled “Fairyland Days” with fellow model Virginia Waller (1913-2006).

Album 14 - Photo Advertising was added to the Slideshow.  This album accompanies the post Tonnesen Sisters: Pioneers in Photo Advertising.

Before the Tonnesen Sisters became known for their art prints, they were known for their pioneering work in advertising. In the 1890’s, they came up with the idea of using live models in advertising photos. With Beatrice handling the creative work and Clara tending to business affairs, they marketed their historic new technique nationwide, with phenomenal success.

While a number of large national firms are known to have used Tonnesen photos in their ads, I have found it difficult to positively identify specific examples. This is because the ads tend to feature mostly the product being marketed, rather than the photographer’s own sets and props. And the ads are very seldom signed by either an artist or a photographer. The models, of course, are often identifiable, but most of them also modeled for other studios. So, while I can browse an old magazine and identify a great many suspected Tonnesens, it’s often difficult to make a positive identification.

Slideshow Album 14 shows six ads believed to have been produced by the Tonnesen Studio. Two of them are attributed within the ad and four of them contain images of items that strongly suggest Tonnesen’s involvement.  The photo shown above advertises Pickwick Rye and was provided by Laurelei Farley.

All Content Copyright 2008 Lois Emerson

Update:  1/26/2009- I found the following praise for Tonnesen’s contributions to print advertising on a website titled “Graphic Exchange”, www.gxo.com.  

“But perhaps it’s fitting that the final word on design should go to the woman who first demonstrated the concept of combining type, illustration and photography in advertising.  Chicago-based photographer Beatrice Tonnesen pioneered this style of promotion back in the early 1890’s with tremendous success - and over one hundred years later, print advertising hasn’t found a better way to sell a product.”

-Page 41, The Graphics Industry:  Evolution and Revolution - The 100 Most Influential Graphics People of the Last Millenium by Dan Brill and Ron Giddings.

This amazing World War I- themed photo contains seven Tonnesen models, as well as the distinctive-looking collie often seen in Tonnesen’s work.  During WWI (1914-18), scenes of families welcoming their loved ones home or seeing them off to war were extremely popular.

In most cases, the cast involved the soldier and his wife and child, or the soldier and his mother. But this one shows us the whole extended family and, in doing so, it provides a group shot of key Tonnesen models circa 1916-18.

Moving left to right, the following can be noted in this gem of a photo:

The older woman at left is also shown, wearing the same dress, in a photo from the Tonnesen Archive of the Oshkosh Public Museum. Her husband (who may be a younger man in disguise) sits in a rocking chair which can be seen in the shot of Tonnesen’s studio shown elsewhere on this website.

The younger woman in yellow was named Jean Blackwell, but I have no further information about her. The man portraying the soldier appears in other photos in the museum archive. The little girl is Virginia Waller (1913-2006) and she is holding a doll found often in Tonnesen prints.

I have only one other confirmed Tonnesen photo containing the image of the beautiful older girl who is holding the soldier’s arm. But portraits of her can be found frequently on art postcards of the era. She appears to have been older than William Redmond (1908-1992), who is kneeling at right, playing with the “Tonnesen” collie.

Virginia Waller did not begin modeling until 1916. WWI ended in 1918, so I would date the photo between those years.

All Content Copyright 2008 Lois Emerson

Album 13 - Visitor Contributions was added to the Slideshow.  Images 1-3 were provided by Angela Lachniet.

Two of the prints that appear in our slideshow are signed “Tonneson”, as opposed to the usual “Tonnesen.” These are “Miss Coquette” (Image 3, Album 1) and “Roses” (Image 13, Album 2). Both prints feature the same curly-haired little girl. Both are machine-signed.

Because the style of these prints is similar to the style used by R. Atkinson Fox in his portraits of children, and because Fox shared Tonnesen’s studio during the 1920’s when these prints were produced, collectors have speculated that Fox may have painted these prints from photos made by Tonnesen. The Tonnesen archive of the Oshkosh Public Museum contains the original black and white photo of “Miss Coquette,” as well as several other photos of the same little girl.

Regardless of Fox’s suspected involvement, I’ve always leaned toward the theory that the publisher simply misspelled Tonnesen’s name on these two prints. But now, I’m not so sure. I recently found a hand-signed Tonneson signature on yet another print of the same little girl (See above; closeup below). I can’t see Tonnesen misspelling her own name! Even more intriguing is the fact that this particular Tonneson signature bears a striking resemblance to Fox’s own signature! (Look especially at the letters “son” in each of the signatures below.) Now, I’m wondering if the “Tonneson with two O’s” signature is a sort of code, denoting Fox’s collaboration through his illustration of a Tonnesen photograph.

And why does this odd spelling of Tonnesen’s name always appear on prints featuring this same little girl? I’m wondering if the little girl was Fox’s daughter. He had two daughters who would have been the right age. Hazel, born in 1920, and Flo, born in 1919. Photos of the daughters as adults appear in R. Atkinson Fox His Life & Work, by Rita C. Mortenson on pages 14 and 17. Call me crazy, but… Flo’s curly hair - curled down onto her forehead - her twinkling eyes and smile, and her defined cheekbones all look like Miss Coquette to me! If you have the book, it might be fun to check it out.

(The image of Fox’s signature shown here is taken from page 97 of Collector’s Value Guide to Early Twentieth Century American Prints by Michael Ivankovich. Collector Books, Paducah, Kentucky: 1998. Used with permission.)

All Content Copyright 2008 Lois Emerson