THE ART OF CHARLES LASALLE

"We have some artists in the family." I didn't know it at the time, but my future father-in-law Aiden E. LaSalle was a master of understatement.

- Robert Kahler

Aiden grew up surrounded by art. His parents were both artists, and he remembered hearing stories as a child about his uncle Charles LaSalle, who was a nationally known illustrator, and his cousin, Aiden Lassell Ripley (1896-1969), who had won many national art awards and was accepted into the National Academy of Design. His mother would read him letters/updates from Aiden, Charles, and their lifelong friend Rusty Heurlin (1895-1986), who supposedly lived and whaled with Alaskan natives, worked on tall ships, and mined for gold in Alaska. Then there were stories of Rusty and Charlie working in New York City, where they became colleagues and friends with many famous people, including Norman Rockwell, N.C. Wyeth, and others. Great stories and great memories. But family "lore" is not always accurate.

As I began researching the artists of the family as a present for my wife, I soon realized that the family lore in this instance was not only true, it was just the beginning of the story. This article focuses on Charles Louis Lassell (1894-1958), and it's a story of a loving father and husband whose career in illustration spanned the roaring '20s, the Great Depression, WWII, and continued well into the 1950s. I hope this article helps to preserve the memory and art of Charles Lassell for his family and art lovers alike.

EARLY LIFE

Charles Louis Lassell (aka Charlie, Chas, and to his oldest friends and family Lank or Louie) was born to Edith Stuart and George H. Lassell in Greenfield, Massachusetts on March 5, 1894. Charles was raised by his paternal grandparents Charles August and Mary Lassell in nearby Wakefield, Massachusetts, after his father abandoned him and his mother.