The painting originally hung in Chapin and Gore's Saloon and Restaurant, old Chicago landmark, when it was located at 73-75 (now 20-22) West Monroe Street, Chicago, Illinois.
Subject Description
Caricature of George Aden 1866-1944 and Orson Collins Wells 1859-1940 full lengths. Ade on the left, facing forward is costumed in woman's clothing, consisting of a green hobble skirt dress with a high lace collar and lace sleeve and a large plumed red hat with over size hat pins. in his left hand he holds a small red striped parasol. in his right hand a bundle of strapped books with the words: "FABLES/IN/SLANG/G.A." To the right is Wells, wearing a summer suit and a miniature straw hat. in his forearm. in his right hand he holds a fan having the letter "C". They are both standing on the steps of a pyramid. To the right rear is a camel with Arab rider before a distant pyramid.
Curatorial Statement
Author and playwright George Ade got his break while working as a weather reporters for the Chicago Record in 1890. (He had come to Chicago at the insistence of his friend John T. McCutcheon.) Ade's first column, Stories of the Streets and of the Towns, endeared him to readers with his combination of everyday language and street slang. By 1899, his Fables in Slang was syndicated across the country and his fans included Mark Twain. In this caricature, Schemdtgen painted Ade with his close friend, Chicago stockbroker Wells.
