Juan Ricardo (1903-1986) American Artist, AKA: John Richard “Jack” Morgan

Introduction:

It could be said he was a man that lived a double life, and in some respects it was like he was a double agent. Gluing the two different careers together resolves a mystery, as he died before the internet age. There was John R. Morgan, the renown industrial designer and Juan Ricardo, the multifaceted talented artist. Both were the same person configured by his Latino childhood heritage and the American Dream as a prominent professional designer.

He was born Juan Ricardo Morgan in Guatemala City, 1903. His family immigrated to Canada in 1913 when he was eleven. That same year he won the first prize for a watercolor submitted to the Canadian National Exhibition for his age category. This opened an opportunity to study landscaping painting with the noted Canadian artist, Thomas John Thompson. He studied with Thompson for just a couple of years, as Thompson died at the age of 39 in 1917. So his artist name of “Juan Ricardo” was not made up, it was his name from birth.

John Richard "Jack" Morgan, the Designer:
References say that the American “Morgan” loved exotic cars, and when it came time for college in the 1920s he attended the Detroit Technical Institute. In 1927 he started his career with the C. G. Spring and Bumper Company, and quickly moved on to Harley Earl’s new “Art and Color” section of General Motors. Earl was the Vice President of Styling and was instrumental in creating streamlined looking cars. Morgan designed the first automobile bumper to be integrated into the overall design of a car and worked in the Pontiac studio.

In 1934, Morgan became the Chief Product Designer for Sears, Chicago. That same year he designed the now noted “Waterwitch” outdoor motor. This boat motor was revolutionary for the times, and it won critical acclaim as part of the Museum of Modern Art’s 1934 Machine Art Exhibit; Examples are in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, Minneapolis Art Institute, and the last time I checked - one is on display in Gallery 912, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC. He designed and held the patents of numerous products for Sears: vacuum cleaners, kitchen cabinet systems and appliances.

By 1943 he established his own company called Jack Morgan Associates in Chicago. His company created designs for industrial objects, and his clients included: Hotpoint, RCA, Magic Chef, so on and so on. It was those same skills used to create drawings, renderings for fabrication and patent documents for the US Patent and Trademark Office, that also allowed him to create fine art, both requiring creativity.

Juan Ricardo, the Artist: 

"January Farm"
Acrylic on Canvas Board
Image Size:  16" X 12"
Signed LLC: Ricardo

For 33 years, I was a designer, so when I saw Juan Ricardo’s “Winter” painting, I knew his background without ever meeting him. The painting told a combination story of commercial art and fine artistic talent. The farm-yard buildings were created with careful architectural linear lines. The composition takes on a group of triangles and geometric forms that become commingled, then Ricardo selected the building shapes to harmonize with the shadows, in the late afternoon winter light.

The red out-buildings have an intensity of color contrasted with the white and yellowing snow. He uses just a hint of blue to create shadows in the snow and allows clumps of grass to occasionally poke out through the snow banks. Yet the buildings are more than just red, they are a spectrum of reds: garnet, burgundy, and dark cherry, and all these shades of red are trimmed in white. The white outlines the doors, windows and trim, providing further definition of the buildings. The gray roofs are covered in snow and ice and the days are now long enough to start to melt away the snow. In his composition he foreshortened the landscape with trees that anchor the eyes on the painting.

The bare trees have built up paint, creating textured elements, likewise the snow banks and snow that has piled up against the buildings has a three-dimensionality. Ricardo uses all the tools in his artistic toolbox; composition, perspective, line, color, tone, value, shadow, light, dark, texture, and then he tops it off with feeling. The painting communicates the character of a cold wintery brisk day in rural America, where the farm-buildings had just been freshly painted before harvest and before the howling cold winds of “January Farm”.

Juan Ricardo, Artist Bio Information: 

During his life, Ricardo traveled extensively and he captured ideas for art wherever he went, spending time in Scandinavia and Europe. Eventually, after an exciting life and retiring as an industrial designer, he set up his artist studio in Wheeling, IL, a rented barn. He would open the oversized doors and would draw/paint in the sunshine, while his wife would handle the business matters and art sales.

Business Card Example from the Barn Studio

      
He became an accomplished fine artist in the 1950s, and stepped back into his Latino heritage, using it as part of his identity. It was reported in one document that he “was a colorful personality who wore dapper clothes and had a romantic designer mustache. He affected a Latino persona, had a wonderful sense of humor, and called himself Juan Ricardo, which of course, was his real name.”

During his fine art career, he had two one-man shows in Chicago, and exhibited in Palm Beach (Florida), Connecticut and Pennsylvania. Reviews during his life stated that his paintings were powerful, colorful and expressive. His designer skills allowed him to work in several media: oils, acrylic, pastels, and pencil. His oil/acrylic paintings frequently had built up sections of paint, creating an almost three-dimensional quality to the canvas.

 

Pastel Drawing
Signed LRC: Juan Ricardo
Courtesy of Patrick Fraley, Captain Saltys Locker

He described his later years as being semi-retired and his last address was McHenry, IL, Ricardo died in 1986.  Please see the newspaper article and advertisement in the references below.   

References:

1950s Photo of Juan Ricardo.

• Carroll Gantz, Founders of American Industrial Design, McFarland Incorporated Publishers; Illustrated Edition, July 3, 2014.
• Robert Bruegmann, Art Deco Chicago - Designing Modern America, Yale University Press, October 2, 2018.
• Olivia Mahoney, Modern by Design - Chicago Streamlines America, Chicago History (Magazine), Pages: 14/15, & 17, Photo Circa 1950.  
• Bob Banser, Artist Juan Ricardo’s Creed: No Two Alike, The Daily Herald (Newspaper), September 4, 1968. His frames were built and designed by Randal Voelkes of Algonquin Designs.
• Member of the American Society of Interior Design, Chicago Chapter, active in the 1950s.
• Arlington Heights Herald, November 30, 1961, Christmas Advertisement for Juan Ricardo paintings for sale, and a gallery opening announcement, April 2, 1964.

                                             

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©2021. Waller-Yoblonsky Fine Art is a research collaborative, working to track artists that got lost and overlooked due to time, changing styles, race, gender and/or sexual orientation. Our frequent blogs highlight artists and art movements that need renewed attention with improved information for the researcher and art collectors. The photos and blog was created by Mr. Waller and all written materials were obtained by the Fair Use Section 107, of The Copyright Act. #waller-yoblonskyblogspot #walleryoblonskyblogspot #juanricardo #juanricardomorgan #johnrmorgan #jackmorgan