Author: Gardner, Paul (1894-1972). Ballet master & dancer, architect and artist who was director of the Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts and served as Military Governor of Ischia, Italy during the Second World War.
Title: Photogravure Christmas Greeting Card, Inscribed & Signed by the Artist and Ballet Master Paul Gardner.
Description: San Patricio, New Mexico: Las Milpas, Christmas 1952. 1952. - A 5-1/2 inch high by 4-1/4 card illustrated with a 2 inch high by 3 inch wide photogravure of the ballet master, artist, and military governor Paul Gardner riding his horse with hills rising up behind the prairies of "Las Milpas", his ranch in San Patricio. The image is centered at the top with the platemarks extending to measure 5 inches high by 3-3/4 inches wide. Inscribed in ink by Gardner within the platemarks below the image "All the Season's Greetings and best wishes for 1953 from Las Milpas", signed "Paul Gardner" and dated "Christmas 1952". An annotation in ink on the verso indicates that the envelope in which the card was mailed was "Postmarked: San Patricio, New Mexico". Fine.

Born in Boston, Paul Gardner (1894-1972) majored in architecture at MIT before joining the U.S. Army Coast Artillery Corp. in 1917. He attained the rank of captain and was awarded the Croix De Guerre with Palm for his service in France during the First World War. He studied architecture and art in Europe during the summers eventually returning to Washington, D.C. where he held the position of Ballet Master for the Washington Opera Company. Paul Gardner went on to co-own the Tchernikoff Gardnier School of Dancing with his dance partner Lisa Gardnier with whom he performed under the stage name Paul Tchernikoff. Focusing on art, he went on to study at Harvard's Fogg Art Museum and was appointed the first Director of the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art as well as the Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts. He served as a Lieutenant Colonel in command of the Arts and Monuments Commission of the U.S. Army in Italy during the Second World War. During the war Gardner also served as the Military Governor of Ischia, an Italian island in the Mediterranean, from 1942 to 1945. He spent the last 2 decades of his life on his ranch in New Mexico, where he resided in the summer while spending his winters in Italy. Fine .

Keywords: ART; DANCE; BALLET; ARCHITECTURE; PHOTOGRAVURE; GREETING CARD; CHRISTMAS; TWENTIETH CENTURY; 20TH CENTURY; AUTOGRAPH NOTE SIGNED; INSCRIBED; INSCRIPTION; SIGNATURE; PAUL GARDNER; SEASON'S GREETINGS; ORIGINAL PHOTO; MILITARY GOVERNOR OF ISCHIA; ITALY;

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