4:25 p.m., Jan. 14, 2003--Samuel Lorne Schmucker (1879-1921) was born in Reading, Pa. As a child, a bout with polio partially paralyzed his right arm. This forced him to hold his brushes or pencils in a claw-like grip between his second and index fingers. Instead of moving his hand, he moved his whole arm when sketching or painting. This disability, however, did not detract from his draftsmanship and by the time he was 14, Schmucker’s art was well-known in Reading.

Eager to learn more, he left Reading in 1896 to get professional training in Philadelphia. After taking a drawing and a still life class at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Schmucker transferred to the Howard Pyle Institute at Drexel University. Unlike the academy, which focused on the fine arts, the Pyle Institute concentrated on practical illustration. Although he only took classes from Pyle for one year, the noted illustrator’s influence can be seen in all of Schmucker’s paintings.

By 1905, Schmucker had established himself as a commercial artist. In addition to creating postcard images, he supported himself making pen and ink sketches for the fashion plates printed in the Philadelphia Daily Press. For almost 10 years, Schmucker’s work was printed by two of the largest postcard publishers in the United States—the Detroit Publishing Co., and then, the John Winsch Co.

Schmucker used his wife, Katharine Rice Schmucker, as the model for his distinctive wide-eyed woman. His brightly colored images of women in nature show the artistic milieu of the time. Schmucker’s illustrations take bits and pieces from Pre-Raphaelite art, Howard Pyle and the Brandywine tradition, Japanese art and the European Art Nouveau movement.

As the postcard craze died down, Schmucker found new ways to earn a living. In 1913 he moved from Wilmington, Del., to New York City, where he tried his hand at a number of jobs.

He worked at hand-painting candy boxes and designing candy labels for the Mirror Candy Co. After a two-year stint as an accountant, Schmucker and two of his friends incorporated the advertising agency Robert Hoyme Inc. All the while, he continued to paint and draw. Between 1915 and 1921, he sold approximately 130 postcard designs.

In 1921, Schmucker’s career was cut short when he unexpectedly died from a heart attack. He was 42 years old.