Jerome Myers (1867-1940) Jerome Myers was born in Petersburg,
Virginia in 1867. He lived with his family in Philadelphia as
well as Baltimore, before settling in New York City in the
1880s. Myers attended Cooper Union and the Arts Students League
by night, while working by day in the art department of the
Herald Tribune. A painter, etcher and illustrator, Myers’s early
work consists mainly of drawings, pastels and watercolors, as
well as abundant illustrated articles, many of which were likely
created when working at the Herald Tribune. An urban realist,
Myers typically painted scenes of immigrants residing on the
Lower East Side. He captured the activities of everyday life,
including the marketplace, children at play, and religious
processions. During his time, Myers’s paintings were considered
progressive on account of their subject matter. His compositions
typically employed a synthesis of soft forms and muted colors.
These works did not depict the harsh conditions of the slums,
but instead portrayed a sen