ROY F. SPRETER (1899-1967) "Safely through the critical years."
Advertisement illustration for the Electric Refrigeration Bureau, 1932. Oil on canvas. 712x610 mm; 28x24 inches, framed to 32¼x27¼ inches. Signed "Spreter" in lower right corner. Remnants of original Standard Sanitary Manufacturing Company label loose but kept with frame.
In the 1930s, significant effort was dedicated to developing an affordable, reliable, and efficient domestic refrigerator. Advertisements for this once-luxury item, which was becoming increasingly accessible, filled newspapers and magazines. These ads often featured healthy, well-groomed children to evoke a sense of "family," while the mother's attentive focus emphasized the child's inherent right to parental care and concern.
Roy F. Spreter, an artist, portrait painter, and illustrator, was born in Chicago in 1899. By the time he was 20, he had become a commercial artist at Grauman & Company in Chicago. There, he was a member of the Palette & Chisel Club where he participated in his first exhibition in 1922. In the early 1920s, he moved to the Philadelphia area, participated in the notable exhibition "Seven Men" at the Philadelphia Art Club, and maintained his home and studio in the suburb of Gladwyne, which had the distinction of being designed by the renowned architect, William Lescaze (of the famous first international modern skyscraper, 1932's PSFS Building, in Philadelphia). Spreter's commercial clients included Cream of Wheat, Look Magazine, Women's Home Companion, The American Magazine, Ladies' Home Journal, Liberty magazine, Standard Sanitary Mfg., and several others. He also was well-regarded as a portrait painter.
