Attempted Bloggery: George Shellhase: Finding the Right Words

Sunday, April 24, 2022

George Shellhase: Finding the Right Words

Sometimes it's important not to lie but also not to say too much. The prisoners appearing in George Shellhase's (1895-1988) original art, which is currently listed on Chairish, seem to understand this. For convicts, they possess both a sense of morality and of shame. This makes them unthreatening, sympathetic even, as they are clearly in a bit over their heads, particularly the young man writing a letter home. Still, the drawing shows the hardships they face as mostly benign. The caption demonstrates how finding just the right words can make even hard labor sound respectable.

The letters Amer written on the verso of the drawing might indicate publication either in the American Magazine or in the American Legion Magazine. The $700 asking price sounds as if the seller is being a little unrealistic, but the listing still allows for a reasonable offer.