Louis Grell, the American Artists’ Club, and the Artists of Tree Studios, 1912–1922

Long before Louis Grell became known for his monumental murals, theatrical interiors, and architectural commissions, he belonged to an extraordinary circle of American artists studying and working in Munich, Germany.

Their friendships would endure across the Atlantic, bringing together some of the most accomplished painters, illustrators, and art instructors of the early twentieth century.

Among them were E. Martin Hennings, Walter Ufer, Victor Higgins, Eugene Savage, Carl Bohnen, and Richard Fayerweather Babcock. Their shared experiences in Munich would continue through Chicago’s Tree Studios, the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, and an artistic community whose influence extended far beyond the city.

Rare photographs, handwritten postcards, exhibition records, and contemporary newspaper accounts preserved in The Richard Grell Archival Collection document this remarkable network of artists and their lives together.

The American Artists’ Club in Munich

The American Artists’ Club traced its origins to 1873–1874, when William Merritt Chase helped organize a community of American artists studying in Munich. Early members included Frank Duveneck and J. Frank Currier, both important figures in the development of American painting.

By 1912, a younger generation of artists had joined this distinguished tradition.

Louis Grell and his close friend E. Martin Hennings belonged to a circle that included Carl Bohnen, Eugene Savage, Richard Fayerweather Babcock, Victor Higgins, Walter Ufer, and other American artists pursuing their careers in Europe.

The club met regularly at Munich’s Café Glasl, where artistic discussions, friendships, and lively social gatherings brought the members together.

A Remarkable Signed Photograph — Munich, 1912

One of the most extraordinary surviving records of the American Artists’ Club is a rare 1912 photographic postcard depicting its members gathered in Munich.

The photograph includes Carl Bohnen, J. Ernest Dean, Walter O. R. Korder, John M. Imhof, Richard Fayerweather Babcock, Bennet S. Linder, Herbert E. Martin, Eugene Savage, Walter Ufer, E. Martin Hennings, Victor Higgins, and Louis Grell.

The commonly encountered photograph depicts sixteen members. The example preserved for many years in the Grell family collection is especially significant because it bears the original signatures of numerous participating artists. Family research suggests that only a small number of examples received such extensive signatures.

Far from a conventional formal portrait, the photograph captures the artists’ humor and camaraderie.

Richard Fayerweather Babcock holds an open umbrella indoors, while Walter Ufer poses with a beer label pinned beneath his chin. A Café Glasl sign adds to the playful atmosphere.

Eugene Savage is seated two places to Grell’s right.

The image is both a historical document and a rare glimpse into the personalities of artists whose careers would later become closely associated with American painting and the development of regional artistic movements.

American Artists’ Club, Munich, 1912. Rare signed photographic postcard, The Richard Grell Archival Collection.

From Munich to Chicago — 1916

The First World War disrupted the lives of American artists working in Europe. Several members of the Munich circle eventually established themselves in Chicago, where they resumed their artistic careers and continued their friendships.

By September 1916, Louis Grell was living in Studio No. 14 at Tree Studios, sharing quarters with his close friend E. Martin Hennings.

In a surviving postcard sent to his sister, Grell proudly reported that he was a “main” instructor at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts and had a number of scholars studying under him.

This firsthand account establishes an important moment in Grell’s career: his residence at Tree Studios, his close association with Hennings, and his early responsibilities as an art instructor.

Hennings had arrived in Chicago before Grell. Their fellow Munich artists Victor Higgins and Walter Ufer were also active in the city’s artistic community, continuing professional relationships that had begun in Europe.

Their shared Munich training and friendships became part of the larger story of American art as these artists pursued careers in different regions of the country.

Louis Grell’s 1916 postcard from Studio No. 14, Tree Studios, Chicago. Grell describes his position at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts and his teaching responsibilities. The Richard Grell Archival Collection.

The Chicago Academy of Fine Arts

The Chicago Academy of Fine Arts brought together an unusual combination of academically trained painters, illustrators, and professional cartoonists.

Grell and Hennings were among the artists associated with its faculty.

The Academy’s catalog, effective September 1, 1920, under director Carl N. Werntz, documents instructors including Louis Grell, E. Martin Hennings, Frederick M. Grant, Carey Orr, Will “Billy” De Beck, Leroy Gossett, and Paul Bartlett.

Grell taught figure drawing, drawing upon the European academic training that had shaped his early career.

The Academy’s combination of fine-art instruction and commercial illustration placed its students within an important period of transition in American visual culture.

Among those students was Walt Disney, who attended the Academy during 1917–1918 and studied under Grell during this period.

The connection between Grell and Disney forms another chapter in the history of the Academy, linking European-trained academic instruction with the emerging world of American animation.

Grell’s 1916 postcard, the Academy’s surviving faculty catalogs, and Disney’s student records provide important documentation of this educational history.

ABOVE – 1916 catalogue.

Chicago Academy of Fine Arts faculty documentation, 1919–1920. Louis Grell appears among the school’s instructors.

A Day at Lake Michigan — Summer 1917

The artists’ friendships extended well beyond their studios and classrooms.

A remarkable group of photographs taken during the summer of 1917 captures Grell and his friends enjoying a day along the shores of Lake Michigan, Oak Street Beach.

Among those identified are illustrator J. Allen St. John, E. Martin Hennings, Carl Hoeckner, Gretchen Fricke, and other members of Chicago’s artistic community.

One figure, identified in Friedl Grell’s handwriting as “Tomas,” is believed to be George Hamilton Thomas. A contemporary newspaper account reproduced with the photographs provides additional context for this identification.

The images offer an unusually personal glimpse into the lives of artists better known through their paintings, illustrations, and public commissions.

They appear relaxed and playful, enjoying the summer sunshine far removed from the demands of professional artistic life.

Chicago artists enjoying a summer outing along Lake Michigan, 1917. Identified participants include Louis Grell, E. Martin Hennings, J. Allen St. John, Carl Hoeckner, and members of their artistic circle. The Richard Grell Archival Collection.

A Painting Connected to the Photographs

During the summer of 1917, Grell painted a portrait identified in the family research as Portrait of the Artist’s Sister, Helen.

A particularly interesting connection emerged through the surviving photographs.

The skirt worn by the portrait’s subject corresponds to clothing visible in photographs taken during the same summer, providing visual evidence connecting the painting with the artists’ informal gatherings.

Such details demonstrate how family photographs can contribute to the identification and dating of works of art.

Comparison of Grell’s 1917 portrait and a contemporary photograph showing corresponding clothing details.

A Wedding at Tree Studios — April 1, 1922

On April 1, 1922, Louis Grell and Fredricka “Friedl” Grell celebrated their wedding at Chicago’s historic Tree Studios.

The surviving wedding photograph brings together friends and fellow artists whose relationships had developed over many years.

Among the guests were E. Martin Hennings and members of his family circle, portrait artist Paul Trebilcock, and other friends from Chicago’s artistic community.

The ceremony was performed by Cook County Superior Court Judge Charles M. Foell, who had attracted national attention through proceedings involving the estate of Captain Marshall Field.

The photograph is especially significant because it documents the enduring friendship between Grell and Hennings, who had shared their Munich experiences and later lived together at Tree Studios.

Their association continued through important personal milestones as well as their professional artistic careers.

Wedding celebration of Louis and Friedl Grell, Tree Studios, Chicago, April 1, 1922. E. Martin Hennings, Helen Otte, Paul Trebilcock, and other members of the artists’ circle appear among the guests. The Richard Grell Archival Collection.

Tree Studios — An Oasis in Bohemia

Chicago’s Tree Studios was more than a collection of artists’ workspaces.

Its studios, courtyard, and shared social life created one of the city’s most distinctive artistic communities, bringing together painters, sculptors, illustrators, and designers.

The September 29, 1948, Chicago Daily Tribune article “The Oasis in Bohemia” offers a fascinating account of the personalities and history associated with the colony.

The article also provides intriguing connections to two important figures in American art and popular culture: Grant Wood and Walt Disney.

For Grell, Tree Studios remained a central part of his life and career. It was both his workplace and his home, a place where artistic friendships continued across decades.

“A WILD EVENING IS HAD BY ALL AT ARTISTS’ BALL,” Chicago Daily Tribune, November 2, 1919. Contemporary account of the Tree Studios artist colony and its remarkable residents.

The Extraordinary Story of Rembrandt Michelangelo Tree Torrey

Among the more unusual stories associated with Tree Studios is that of a young boy reportedly abandoned at the complex in 1903.

According to the historical account, six artists collectively adopted the child, despite restrictions against children living at the studios.

He was given the remarkable name Rembrandt Michelangelo Tree Torrey the First.

The surname Torrey came from a sculptor whose wife was appointed the child’s principal caregiver.

The “waif” mentioned in early newspaper articles is believed to be the young boy appearing in a Tree Studios courtyard photograph with J. Allen St. John and other members of the artists’ circle.

The story illustrates the unconventional and closely connected community that developed within the historic studios.

Artists and friends gathered in the Tree Studios courtyard, 1917. Grell is second from left after his sister Helen.  The young boy pictured with the group is believed to be Rembrandt Michelangelo Tree Torrey the First. The tall man at far right is J. Allen St. John.  The Richard Grell Archival Collection.

Preserving the Munich Archives — 2023 to 2026

In 2023, Richard Grell loaned the three significant archival objects to the PACE Art Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa, preserving an important part of Louis Grell’s early artistic history.

The loan included:

• The rare signed 1912 American Artists’ Club photographic postcard.
• Louis Grell’s American Artists’ Club membership card.
• Grell’s entry card for the XI Annual Munich Exhibition.

The three objects were mounted together in a double-sided glass frame for preservation and exhibition.

These surviving documents establish Grell’s participation in Munich’s American artistic community and its exhibition culture.

Their placement at PACE brought this important chapter of Grell’s European career back to Council Bluffs, the city closely associated with his early life.

American Artists’ Club photographic postcard, membership card, and XI Annual Munich Exhibition entry card. Loaned to PACE Art Center, Council Bluffs, Iowa, 2023 – 2026.

An Artistic Network Across Continents

The surviving record of Louis Grell’s Munich and Chicago years reveals an extraordinary network of artists whose friendships, training, and professional relationships endured across continents and decades.

From Munich’s Café Glasl to Chicago’s Tree Studios and the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, these artists helped shape American painting, illustration, theatrical design, and art education during a period of remarkable artistic change.

The signed 1912 photograph, Grell’s 1916 postcard, the 1917 informal photographs, and the 1922 wedding image preserve something rarely documented so completely: the personal relationships behind the public achievements of an important generation of American artists.

Together, these records place Louis Grell within a broader history of American art and reveal the international artistic community from which much of his later work emerged.

Historical Sources and Archival Documentation

American Artists’ Club, Munich (1912). Signed photographic postcard documenting members of the American artistic community in Munich. The Richard Grell Archival Collection; loaned to PACE Art Center in 2023-2026.

Louis Grell correspondence (September 1916). Postcard from Studio No. 14, Tree Studios, Chicago, describing his position at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. The Richard Grell Archival Collection.

Chicago Academy of Fine Arts (1916, 1919–1920). Faculty catalogs and institutional records, including the catalog effective September 1, 1920, under director Carl N. Werntz.

Tree Studios photographs (1917). Lake Michigan beach outing and Tree Studios courtyard photographs. The Richard Grell Archival Collection.

Louis and Friedl Grell wedding photograph (April 1, 1922). Tree Studios, Chicago. The Richard Grell Archival Collection.

“A WILD EVENING IS HAD BY ALLAT ARTISTS’ BALL” (November 2, 1919). Chicago Daily Tribune.

PACE Art Center donation (2023-2026). American Artists’ Club photograph, membership card, and Munich exhibition entry card again part of The Richard Grell Archival Collection.

watch the Louis Frederick Grell video here

watch video on cartoonists’ with the Chicago Tribune here