Brian Coppola :: Late 19th/Early-to-Mid 20th C cartoonists & illustrators

“To My Friend Yohn” (Jan 1893) Charles S. Dusenberry

Artist: Charles Dusenberry (All)

1 Comment - 500 Views - 2 Likes

“To My Friend Yohn” (Jan 1893) Charles S. Dusenberry Comic Art

Click Image to View Full Size

Additional Images:

death announcement

ticket to the opera

letter to brother John (March 1894)

Previous Item:
1934.02.17 “The House of Dawn” by Frederic Rodrigo Gruger

Next Item:
“Couple Outside Farmhouse” (1910) by Helen Mason Grose

Artwork Details

Title:	“To My Friend Yohn” (Jan 1893) Charles S. Dusenberry
Artist:	Charles Dusenberry (All)
Media Type:	Pen and Ink
Art Type:	Illustration
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views:	500
Likes on CAF:	2 3
Comments:	1
Added to Site:	7/26/2020
Comic Art Archive:

Description

“To My Friend Yohn” (Jan 1893)
Charles S. Dusenberry (1869-1899)
6 x 10 in., ink on paper

This drawing is dated January 1893 and is noteworthy because it is inscribed to “Yohn” – FC Yohn, who studied at the Art Students’ League, went on to become a noted illustrator.

The timing is correct for when the two of them would have been together in NY. A few years after I posted this for the first time, I heard from Dusenberry’s first cousin, twice removed, whose grandfather ended up with a letter, from Dusenberry, written to the grandfather’s mother (aka Charles and John Dusenberry's Aunt Addie).

“I came across a letter on Art Students League of New York letterhead, profusely illustrated with pen and ink drawings, addressed to “Dear Brother” and signed C. S. Dusenberry. As near as I can determine, he would have been my grandfather’s first cousin. The letter, which is undated, refers to ‘Aunt Addie and little Coe,’ my maternal great-grandmother and grandfather, respectively. If it was written around 1893/94, my grandfather would have been 9 or 10 years old. I had never heard of C. S. Dusenberry (his first name was Charles, which I discovered from census records), but assume this letter somehow came into my grandfather’s possession and was kept by my grandmother more for the artwork than the content. There is no one left in the family who might be able to tell me more.”

I had only located one bit of information about CS Dusenberry: he was a prize-winning student at The Art Students’ League of New York. And that is because he contributed a drawing to the first (and only) issue of a literary/art publication called The Black Book (Vol 1, 1895; Perriton Maxwelll and Edwin P Upjohn, Eds.), which included illustrations contributed by the prize-winning students.

In the letter, which is undated, Dusenberry refers to some unusually cold weather and snow, and having seen a performance of the famed opera singer, Adelina Patti, the night before. Patti performed a single matinee show at Carnegie Hall (Sunday, Nov 18, 1893). It turns out the weather was unseasonably warm that November. Patti returned to Carnegie Hall in early 1894 (March 16 -March 22, 1894, where a first-tier box was $30.00. And there was a surprise cold snap later in March. The reference to Wallick is James Wallick, a producer and actor who created a string of Broadway shows based on rural dramas.

Dusenberry’s fate is posted in a short article in “The World” from New York, on December 6, 1899: Popular Newspaper Man Succumbs to Typhoid Fever.

Charles S. Dusenberry, a well-known artist, died at the home of his parents, in Middletown, N. Y., yesterday morning after being ill of typhoid fever for a week. Mr. Dusenberry was a genial personality in the newspaper world. He was noted as a portrait artist. He studied in Paris and some years ago became a member of the World's art department.

Social/Sharing

About the Owner

	Brian Coppola Premium Gallery Owner
Joined:	March 2009
Last Login:	September 2025
Country:	UNITED STATES
On CAF:	Premium Member Q&A Artworks Commented On Liked Art Site Activity on CAF

Contact the Owner

Use can use a contact form to send an email to this gallery owner,
but, you must be logged in to use this feature.

Comments on this Artwork

You must be logged in to make comments.

Nils E
Member Since 2014

Posted on 7/27/2020

Hatched a beautiful drawing

All
	R Berman 9/9/2025 1:32:00 AM
	Tony Isaza 9/9/2025 12:50:00 AM
	Peter Roe 9/9/2025 12:24:00 AM
	Matt Moore 9/9/2025 12:08:00 AM
	Neil Hansen 9/9/2025 12:02:00 AM
View All


	Jason D'Ambrosio 9/9/2025 12:01:00 AM
	Remgrandt's Collection 9/8/2025 11:57:00 PM
	Patrick Kochanek, MD 9/8/2025 11:04:00 PM
	Ben Lee 9/8/2025 10:55:00 PM
	alan moorefield 9/8/2025 10:33:00 PM