Joseph Clemens Gretter -Thomas Jefferson Illustration circa 1940s or '50s

    Offered here is an original illustration of Thomas Jefferson by American illustrator Joseph Clemens Gretter (more commonly known as Clem Gretta), circa 1940s/50s.  Painting is mixed media on board and measures 16 x 20 inches.  Painting is signed lower right.  The overall framed size is ~20 x 24 inches.

Artwork appears to be in generally good condition with minor flaking in blue coat.  Has old framing, as found.

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Joseph Clemens Gretter (1904-1988)
a.k.a. Clem J Gretta
 

Clem Gretta was born Joseph Clemens Gretter on December 11, 1904 in Indiana but grew up on a farm in Idaho.  He attended Idaho University School of Fine Art, then moved to Chicago where he studied at the Art Institute of Chicago.

In 1926 he was an artist on the staff of The Chicago Tribune, where he drew The Kippity Skip Puzzle Page.  He then illustrated the syndicated feature, Sue to Lou, for The Chicago Evening Post, a comic strip that ran for nine years.

By 1932 he had moved to New York City to work as a freelance illustrator in the pulp magazine field. His work appeared in Short Stories and Mystery Novels Magazine. He used the pen name "Gretta" for most of these illustrations.

He contributed drawings to New Fun and More Fun Comics, which were two of the earliest American comic books to consist of original materials. He also contributed to Real Fact Comics. These comics were produced by a company that eventually became D.C. Comics, which was owned by the pulp magazine publisher, Harry Donenfeld.

In 1935 he moved to Norwalk, Connecticut and continued to draw for comic books published by Fawcett, Hawley, and Magazine Enterprises.

He drew the popular syndicated strip Ripley's Believe It Or Not during the years 1941 to 1949.

During the 1950s he drew a widely distributed newspaper feature called "In This World."

Clem Gretter died in Wilton, Connecticut in 1988.