January 31, 1907

Aline Vollmer (January 31, 1907 to May 26, 1978) was an artist of some renown. She was described by Wapo, in their obituary, as "a caricaturist whose work has appeared in a number of publications and who had her work exhibited in galleries in Washington and New York...:

'Mrs. Vollmer, who signed her caricatures Aline Fruhauf, was a native of New York City.
Her work appeared in a number of New York newspapers during the 1920s, in magazines such as Vanity Fair and Theatre Magazine and in exhibits at the Macbeth Gallery in New York, the Baltimore Museum of Art, the D.C. Public Library and the Whyte Gallery in Washington.
'More than 40 of her caricatures in various mediums appeared under the title of "Making of Faces" exhibited at the Smithsonian Institutionas Museum of History of Technology in 1965.
'In the fall of 1977 the Corcoran Gallery of Art mounted a retrospective of her work that included watercolors, woodcuts and lithographs.
'Mrs. Vollmer's subjects were persons prominent in the fields of art, fashion, literature or entertainment.
'Theatre Magazine published six caricatures of playwrights in its June 1929 issue. These included studies of Maxwell Anderson and S.N. Behrman.
'Vanity Fair published a number of her caricatures, including one of drama critic George Jean Nathan.
'Two caricatures, of violinist Jascha Heifetz and comedian Harpo Marx, are included in the Phillips Collection.
'Mrs. Vollmer began her professional career in 1926 when the New York World published her drawing of actress Paula Trueman. Her work later ran in the New York Post, the Brooklyn Eagle and the Morning Telegraph.
'Vogue published a series of color caricatures she did of dress designers in 1940.
'She came to Washington in 1940 and continued to do caricatures of persons in the arts, largely shying clear of political caricature.
'The Post quoted a critic in 1958 as saying that her printings were "portraits with a wry twist." Mrs. Vollmer considered her work as "terribly friendly" but this did not prevent her from falling afoul of Alice Roosevelt Longworth.
'Mrs. Longworth posed for a caricatures but Mrs. Vollmer would not show her the artwork before an exhibition. Mrs Longworth took revenge by sketching the artist and then declining to show her sketch to Mrs. Vollmer.
'Mrs. Vollmer studied at the old Parsons School of Design and the Art Students League in New York...'

Our interest is in her drawing of William Zorach, whom you may recall has been featured in this almanac.





William Zorach included cats among his subjects.