Paul Plaschke (1880-1954)

Plaschke, a German immigrant, achieved recognition as a political cartoonist in Louisville and Chicago  in the 1930s. His need to earn a livelihood as a cartoonist conflicted with his ambitions as a painter, but his reputation as an Impressionist landscapist earned him a place in major American art exhibitions in the East and Midwest, including the Hoosier Salon. Plaschke was a founder of the Louisville Art Academy, was instrumental in the beginnings of the Speed Art Museum and was a major force in the Wonderland Way Art Club in New Albany, Indiana. He was a student of George Luks at the Art Students League in New York.