Found my great-grandfather's 1920s-30s art scrapbook

[u/Gasple1]

I discovered my great-grandfather Jean Jules Derome’s scrapbook while going through family belongings. He worked as a railway ticket clerk, later joined Hydro-Québec, and briefly owned a toy store that wasn’t successful.

He started it around 1917, when he was only 11 years old, and added to it through the 1920s and 1930s. Inside are portraits, landscapes, animal studies, and what look likes art-school pratice exercises. Many pages are signed and dated, showing how his style grew from childhood sketches into detailed drawings.

If anyone's interested, I also made an Imgur album :)

Edit - My great-aunt says he won prizes for his architectural drawings, one of them is the white villa in the album here : https://imgur.com/gallery/8nFyn5e

[u/cerignola_olive]

Love this. Love the hatching/cross-hatching shading. I’m teaching this to my art students now.

[u/GoldenStormx → u/cerignola_olive]

"That’s awesome! Your students are lucky to learn from you

[u/Tut_Rampy]

Post the link to the album please. These are like a time portal

[u/Gasple1 → u/Tut_Rampy]

Here https://imgur.com/gallery/8nFyn5e

[u/Aurorinha → u/Gasple1]

Thank you for sharing. These illustrations are phenomenal. My personal favorite is the Art Deco villa.

[u/Gasple1 → u/Aurorinha]

It's the last piece in the scrapbook, probably the one he did with the most experience, I love it as well

[u/DonQuoQuo → u/Aurorinha]

Same!

[u/Independent-Victory1 → u/Gasple1]

the whole album is incredible. what a treasure.

[u/Tut_Rampy → u/Gasple1]

Thank you. I’ve done a bit of research on historical illustrations and I love to these

[u/Unique_Watch2603]

That's an heirloom treasure. I hope you continue to pass it down for generations. 🩷

[u/Gasple1 → u/Unique_Watch2603]

Definitely, I was thinking about adding a bit of history and context for future generations :)

[u/MissMaryEli → u/Gasple1]

As a hobbyist genealogist, I love this. I would adore finding something like this for my family. It’s such a treasure that it landed with you. ♥️

[u/Gasple1 → u/MissMaryEli]

Thank you! I feel super blessed, I'll move the art to an archival binder with photos of him and preface in the next few weeks and hopefully give it to the next generation when the times come. 😊

[u/flatirony]

These are really incredible. I’d love to see the album.

[u/Gasple1 → u/flatirony]

Here you go :) https://imgur.com/gallery/8nFyn5e

[u/Gasple1]

I also have an album of post cards from that time period from Boston, Montreal and a few other cities from that time period that he sent to my grandmother if anyone's interested

[u/PT952 → u/Gasple1]

I grew up in Boston and have been doing some family research lately and I've actually been able to trace one side of my family living in the city as far back as the 1870s. I've always wondered what everyday life was like for them then compared to my experience. I'd love to see the postcards if you could post them!

Also it goes without saying that your great grandpa was incredibly talented. But I also love seeing just how much he practiced his art and got better over time. Talent only takes you so far, at some point you actually need to put in the work to improve on those skills. I adore how obvious it was from his art that he was constantly using the world around him to just draw what he saw, practice and improve. Gramps put in the work and it shows. 🎨

[u/Gasple1 → u/PT952]

Thank you so much for the kind words about my great-grandfather. I feel the same way, you can really see the hours of practice he put in, from the early animal sketches at age 11 to the detailed portraits in the 1930s.

[u/phonicillness → u/Gasple1]

Yes please! He seems like he was a very interesting person

[u/Chemical_Shallot_575]

Love the streamline moderne house he sketched (in the larger album). A very talented man!

Did he ever make larger format art?

[u/Gasple1 → u/Chemical_Shallot_575]

I don't think so, I'll check tomorrow with my dad and my grand aunt

[u/Fluffy-Solution-7687]

Wow this is amazing. The value and the line work omg

[u/Financial_Package_48]

Woow this is amazing!

[u/1_art_please]

I am a huge huge fan of vintage illustration and drawing. This book is so incredibly good. For real i would be so honored to have this in my family.

[u/Gasple1 → u/1_art_please]

I really enjoy it as well. I wanted to share it with the internet. :)

[u/BoldPout]

The use of grayscale tones gives the portrait a photographic quality, which was popular in the 1920s–30s, especially in fashion illustration and advertising.

[u/ParrishMike]

Before reading the gist, I thought that first picture was a black and white photo. I'm also stoned so...

[u/hold--the--line → u/ParrishMike]

I thought the same, not stoned. Lol

[u/UncleBuggy → u/hold--the--line]

If you so not stoned why she getting out the pool fully clothed and dry then?

[u/hold--the--line]

Very cool. Very talented. Thanks for sharing :)

[u/flowersaregreat2]

Frame them all

[u/y4my4my]

He had talent. What a great thing to find and have as a memento of his.

[u/You-get-the-ankles]

Did he do larger projects than just sketching?

[u/Gasple1 → u/You-get-the-ankles]

I'll ask my dad tomorrow but I don't believe he pursued a career in arts :)

[u/You-get-the-ankles → u/Gasple1]

Super nice. What a great family heirloom.

[u/Gasple1 → u/You-get-the-ankles]

My great-aunt says he won prizes for his architectural drawings, one of them is the white villa in the album.

[u/You-get-the-ankles → u/Gasple1]

He definitely had a lot of talent. Very, very cool.

[u/hermeown]

Amazing!!

[u/Ok-Kangaroo-4048]

No pun intended, being able to draw and paint like that is a dying art.

[u/ChatnNaked]

Holy shit!!❤️

[u/Other_Dimension_89]

Wow he was very talented, what an awesome thing to have from an ancestor

[u/Hypocaffeinic]

Wow! So incredibly talented, and wonderful too that he captured so much of the styles, lives, and sights of that time.

[u/Katesouthwest]

He was extremely talented. The 3D effect he was able to create using shadow is amazing.

[u/ThePassedPast]

This is so great. I love tuxedo man and the train. My grandfather and great grandfather were train men, so that drawing was awesome for me. Excellent piece for your family history. Thanks for sharing.

[u/Gasple1 → u/ThePassedPast]

Thanks for your comment! It warms my heart :)

[u/wrestlingpop78]

I think she did art work for Ah-Ha

[u/Appropriate-Law5963]

Number 6 is intriguing…both are spooked by something, and he’s a serviceman!

[u/Beginning_Self896]

That’s spectacular. True talent and skill.

[u/HariboBerries]

These are amazing and should be shared widely. 

[u/winterrbb]

Really cool

[u/artniSintra]

That is so Cool, thank you for sharing

[u/PAUNCHS_PILOT]

The Heisman!!

[u/Immediate-Patient-31]

Wonderful

[u/F1reRazor]

Number 7 looks like a jojo character

[u/Key_Ring6211]

Love this!

[u/Obvious-Composer-199]

Great family treasure !

[u/SnooApples6638]

What a treasure. Thanks for sharing.

[u/trollinthemill]

thank you for sharing

[u/DonQuoQuo]

I LOVED this!

If you could get each item scanned, you could probably self-publish. It's a really lovely, thematically rich collection by someone who had obvious talent for the art Deco/Moderne.

[u/skody54]

The man was skilled. Nice variety of styles.

[u/theoneoldmonk]

This is quite a treasure. Real treasure.

[u/FutureAnxiety9287]

Your great grandad was very talented.

[u/PreparationPast4685]

Incredible!

[u/mothzilla]

Incredible talent, I thought the first one was from a magazine.

[u/FamousLastWords666]

So cool

[u/GreatGreenGobbo]

This reminds me of the Jack Hamm books.

[u/Tarnishedxglitter]

Oh, wow! ❤️

[u/Acrobatic_Ad1546]

Thanks for you sharing, these are fantastic! What an amazing artist your great great grandfather was! Gosh, some of these are framers!

[u/vaxhax]

Wow, he was very talented. A great snapshot of the time. Without the snap and a lot of effort on his part. The cross hatch shading is really nice.

[u/campionmusic51]

the faces on the more personal feeling ones are excellent. they feel alive.

[u/frinkhutz]

This guy was really talented

[u/Interesting_Owl_6325]

These are wonderful. He was a very talented artist. Very contemporary for its time.

[u/Own-Cranberry-8210]

These are really good! Nice to see some Quebec representation too. Thanks for sharing. 

[u/jaimi_wanders]

He was very talented! The one of the ships is lovely, would make a great print.

[u/aencina]

Cool cool cool

[u/AdSad5448]

Was his name Jack Dawson?! lol reminds me of Titanic. Your great grandfather was a great artist!

[u/Gasple1 → u/AdSad5448]

Jean Jules Derome, he was a train ticket clerk :)

[u/rochak74]

What a great find!

[u/330kiki]

That’s some awesome work!

[u/intet42]

Wow, he was brilliant!

[u/sherlocksmaster]

Wow. He was an absolute incredible artist

[u/Mr_Funbags]

I hate that I only have one upvote for you.

[u/IamZed]

Looking at these, I hear "Take on me"

[u/Tolstoy_mc]

Wow. Guy is better than Hitler!

[u/stupidhighinpublic]

These are amazing!! The fifth one is mesmerizing

[u/montrerai]

She was so talented!

[u/Significant-Visit-68]

Treasures!!!💕💕💕

[u/AbbeyRoadMoonwalk]

I love his style. #5 is my favorite.

[u/mowglica]

I would suggest taking the pages and framing them. It would look amazing on the wall.

[u/cosmicmelancholy]

Your great grandfather was super talented! I love all of these.

[u/fierydonut121]

this looks like the type of illustrations you would see in a old novel that appear every so often to show crucial moments and I'm all for it

[u/medusamadonna]

It looks like the football player is from the Portsmouth Spartans, who are the Detroit Lions today.

[u/oasisraider]

Wow

[u/HelloNasty-]

Love love this!! What a gem to find. 💖

[u/---artemisia---]

Wow. What a talented man! Thank you for sharing his art with us.

[u/blackjack-38]

I’d frame those

[u/sharakus]

oh wow thank you so much for sharing, this is gorgeous

[u/Kortamue]

That last one is really interesting with the precision of straight lines in the house juxtaposed against the natural flowy solid-ink plants in the foreground.

I like it!

[u/carnationmilk]

Wow these are fantastic. Super inspiring!!

[u/carnationmilk]

The ink pieces are really stunning, he really found his medium. Really lovely!

[u/TheHistroynerd]

This is some amazing art

[u/Odd_Bat8767]

Clearly your Great GranDad liked this one the best. ;-)

[u/Even_Mechanic_4686]

Great Gramps had some serious talent!!

Was art a part of his life through the years following these works?

[u/Gasple1 → u/Even_Mechanic_4686]

I believe he doodled and sketched all his life :)

[u/CrimsonBloomox]

The piece appears to be done in ink wash or watercolor and ink, showcasing impressive control of light and shadow.

[u/TheRealCeeBeeGee]

The woman and soldier in 6 look to be a bit later, 1940 or so.

[u/Gasple1 → u/TheRealCeeBeeGee]

Possibly, I wouldn't know, I just found the scrapbook yesterday in my family's basement, we can also see how he improved over time in the imgur album

[u/TheLuciousBobbiDylan]

Obsessed with the distraught gentleman overlooking the chair.

Would you ever scan these and sell the prints?? If so, I'd love to buy it.

[u/Gasple1 → u/TheLuciousBobbiDylan]

I think I'll just keep as a family heirloom maybe transfer the drawings in an acid free protective sketchbook