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Ad Code: 4
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An example of work by Lee Mero
Artwork images are copyright of the artist or assignee
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This biography from the Archives of AskART:
|  “There is one man in Minneapolis who has to think in terms of Christmas
all year round.” Such a man was Lee Mero, a successful commercial
artist and illustrator of Christmas greeting cards, who frequently
visited Morrison County and became well known in the Little Falls area.
Born May 30, 1885, in Ortonville, MN, Lee V. Mero was a younger brother
of Dr. Frank H. Mero, a prominent Little Falls dentist around the turn
of the century. The Little Falls Daily Transcript followed the
accomplishments and exploits of Lee Mero, and through those newspaper
articles the story of a talented artist unfolds.
Lee Mero studied art and illustration at the Minneapolis School of Art
and later at the Chase School of Art in New York City – both schools
which famous Little Falls artist George W. Harting also attended.
During the summer of 1908, Lee worked as purser on the steamboat
Hopkins on Lake Minnetonka, and made headlines when he saved the life
of a seven year old girl who fell overboard and rescued by Mero in a
feat of bravery – considering Lee could not swim! His artistic talents
also made news as the Transcript in December 1910 reported that large
lithographic reproductions of his drawings were on sale locally and
were “attracting considerable attention.”
Quoting from the Minneapolis
Tribune, the Transcript in March 1913 carried a lengthy article
regarding an exhibition of the Attic Club, a show which included two
controversial works by Lee Mero. Done in the Cubist style, his A
Gentleman Eating Noodle Soup led the Tribune to muse, “It is expected
that this painting will create a furor,” when exhibited along with his
other painting, The Loss of the 29,000 Hairpins. Furor or not, the
Tribune in August 1913 admired Mero as “the artist who painted the
Minneapolis scenes reproduced in the charming booklet issued by the
Civic and Commerce association for the use of visitors.”
In February 1917, Mero spent a month in New York City and made the
headlines again when he was arrested for drawing the Brooklyn Bridge!
The Transcript, again quoting the Tribune, had a field day explaining
how this “prominent member of the Minneapolis art circle” and
“respected and admired member of the Attic Club” had so innocently set
out to draw the Brooklyn Bridge only to be arrested as a spy. The
arresting officer applied the cuffs to innocent Lee, who was unaware
that such an act was any violation during the height of World War One.
Soon released by a police captain with a stern warning, Mero stayed in
New York City long enough to attend a reunion of 21 alumni of the
Minneapolis School of Art who resided in the Gotham area and gathered
at the famous studio loft of George W. Harting. The following year, Lee
won both first and third prizes at the 1918 Minnesota State Fair art
exhibit.
Married to Kathryn Rice of Fargo in 1920, Lee briefly moved to Chicago,
working for the Chas. D. Frey Advertising Co. where he designed ads for
Coca-Cola. Returning to Minneapolis, he became head of the art
department of the George Buzza Company (later Buzza-Cardoza Co.),
working on poem cards and posters. Around this time he began to
concentrate on Christmas greeting cards, and the Transcript via the
Tribune reported in December 1921 that Mero labored to create Christmas
cards year around: “He sits in his office all his working hours,
planning ways to say ‘Merry Christmas’ in new ways that still have the
charm of the old.” Neither spring, summer or fall were “allowed to come
between him and his all-year Christmas meditations.” His cards were
noted for their human quality, and his hobby was stated as
photographing “crowds at a fire where everyone is straining to see the
spectacle; it is from these photographed figures that he gets his
inspirations for his Christmas card people.”
Becoming a highly successful creator of Christmas cards led Mero to
work as a freelance artist in 1937, and he was a longtime contributor
to the Augsburg Publishing House’s famous annual Christmas publication.
Lee continued to find success freelancing in design, decorative
illustration, creating mottos and greeting cards, until his retirement
around 1971. Lee Mero passed away in 1977 at the age of 92, but his art
work laden with Christmas themes are timeless in the joy they bring to
us all – as if to say – “And to all a merry Christmas!”
By Bruce Mellor
Copyright 1993, Morrison County Historical Society, Little Falls, Minnesota
Submitted by Virginia Berger
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This biography from the Archives of AskART:
|  Born in Ortonville, Minnesota, Lee Mero was a specialty design
illustrator for mottos and greeting cards at the Buzza Company in
Minneapolis. He was a pupil of Robert Koehler in Minneapolis and
Robert Henri in New York and was a member of the Minneapolis Society of
Fine Arts.
He was a member of the Attic Club, which had been
founded in 1909 in Minneapolis by a group of 13 artists. Other
early members of the club were Theodore Keane, Edwin Dawes, August
Kaiser and others. The club held exhibitions, gave teas, costume
balls, etc.
Additional information supplied by Larry Greenly.
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| ** If you discover credit omissions or have additional information to add, please let us know at registrar@AskART.com. |
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