{"id":468,"featured":0,"modified":"2026-04-17 19:48:36","latitude":40.047228548248455126667977310717105865478515625,"longitude":-85.9948325017467283259975374676287174224853515625,"title":"The Brehm Collection","subtitle":"Housed at Hamilton East Public Library","fullsize":"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/fullsize/7633756934396734a9de3dbe79276962.jpg","address":"1 Library Plaza, Noblesville, IN 46060","all_locations":[],"zoom":17,"creator":["Hamilton East Public Library"],"description":"The Hamilton East Public Library has acquired an interesting collection of artwork over the last eighty years. Beginning with its first Brehm works donated in the 1930s, the Hamilton East Public Library now has a number of works by the Brehm brothers as well as  Floyd Hopper. Several of the Brehm works can be seen hanging in the Indiana Room today. <br /><br />Brothers George Brehm (1878-1966) and Worth Brehm (1883-1928) grew up in Noblesville, Indiana. Living for a time at 1384 Maple Avenue, they ultimately left Indiana to establish careers as nationally famous artists. The Brehms created iconic images for national magazine covers and classic novels by drawing upon their memories of their Noblesville childhood. <br /><br /><strong>George Brehm</strong> <br />After graduating from Noblesville High School in 1898, George took lessons from William Forsyth, attended Indiana University, and worked as an illustrator for the <em>Indianapolis Star</em> before moving to New York in 1905. He became a regular contributor to several magazines, including the <em>Saturday Evening Post</em>, <em>American Magazine</em>, <em>Colliers</em>, and <em>Ladies Home Journal</em>. He did illustrations for authors like James Whitcomb Riley, Booth Tarkington, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and William Faulkner. His friends and colleagues were people like Frederic Remington, Thomas Hart Benton, and Norman Rockwell. He continued doing illustrations until the 1950s and died in 1966. George was the first illustrator of the Hamilton County School to be nationally successful and could be considered the New York “anchor” for the group. <br /><br /><strong>Worth Brehm</strong> <br />Worth Brehm graduated from Noblesville High School in 1902, attended Herron Art Institute, and eventually followed his brother to New York. There, he became known for his illustrations of children. His first success was a series of drawings published in <em>Outing Magazine</em> in 1907-1909. The series was based on his memories of growing up in Noblesville and was titled <em>When I Was a Boy</em>. His first <em>Saturday Evening Post</em> cover was in June of 1908. He followed this up with the illustrations for a 1910 edition of Mark Twain’s <em>Tom Sawyer</em>, a 1912 edition of <em>Huckleberry Finn</em>, and original illustrations for Booth Tarkington’s <em>Penrod</em> stories. At the urging of his friend Johnny Gruelle, (the creator of Raggedy Ann), Worth joined the Silvermine art colony in Connecticut in 1912. He took a trip to Europe in 1914 to do more study, but returned just as World War I broke out in August. He was widely recognized for his work before his untimely death at age 45 in 1928 from blood poisoning due to an abscess.<br /><br />You can listen below to a story about some of George Brehm's earliest drawings.","sponsor":null,"accessinfo":"","lede":"","website":"","related_resources":["Check out other resources avaliable at the library's Indiana room: <a href=\"https://hamiltoneastpl.org/crossroads-discovery-center/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https://hamiltoneastpl.org/crossroads-discovery-center/</a>"],"factoids":[],"files":{"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/fullsize/7633756934396734a9de3dbe79276962.jpg":{"id":2113,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Hamilton East Public Library","description":"This is the Noblesville building of the Hamilton East Public Library. Artworks and materials relating to the Brehm brothers, Floyd Hopper, and other artists can be found here. Find hours and more about the library at <a href=\"http://hepl.lib.in.us\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http://hepl.lib.in.us</a>. | Image courtesy of HEPL | 2019 | Hamilton East Public Library","thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/square_thumbnails/7633756934396734a9de3dbe79276962.jpg"},"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/fullsize/f0d3059c8024b34164b8710724f566b4.jpg":{"id":2114,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Brehm House","description":"This Queen Anne style house at 1384 Maple Avenue was the home of the Brehm family in 1900. Worth Brehm lived there when he graduated from Noblesville High School in 1902 and attended the Herron School of Art in 1904-1905.    | Image courtesy of photographer | 2020 | David Heighway","thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/square_thumbnails/f0d3059c8024b34164b8710724f566b4.jpg"},"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/fullsize/4ede16fb88794d553668376274ccb19c.jpg":{"id":2115,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Brehm Brothers","description":"This photograph of George Brehm (left) at age 28 was used in the Noblesville High School Annual for many years for a page that discussed important alumni. The photograph of Worth Brehm (right) was for his high school graduation. He was about 19 at the time.   | Noblesville High School 1906 Annual, courtesy of Hamilton East Public Library. Noblesville High School 1902 Graduation Photos, courtesy of Hamilton County Historical Society | 1902; 1906","thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/square_thumbnails/4ede16fb88794d553668376274ccb19c.jpg"},"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/fullsize/60642803d50efa2b89094f0ca1046203.jpg":{"id":2116,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Vogue Cover","description":"This clipping is from one of George Brehm’s first magazine covers, which appeared on the August 7, 1902 edition of Vogue. The image of a woman sitting against a tree was titled Expectancy. This image is from George Brehm’s scrapbook at Hamilton East Public Library.   | Courtesy of Hamilton East Public Library | 1902 | George Brehm","thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/square_thumbnails/60642803d50efa2b89094f0ca1046203.jpg"},"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/fullsize/24ca020f3986dd91adc70382fce4a972.jpg":{"id":2117,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Saturday Evening Post Cover","description":"This image of a windswept woman in a long red coat with fur stole and muff, standing on ice skates is the first Saturday Evening Post cover done by George Brehm, which was for the December 15, 1906 edition. George would go on to do six more Post covers and many interior illustrations.    | 1906 | George Brehm for the Saturday Evening Post","thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/square_thumbnails/24ca020f3986dd91adc70382fce4a972.jpg"},"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/fullsize/81e6f2fdf8fdeb69e57d1ba23407394d.jpg":{"id":2121,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Riley Caricature","description":"This is a caricature of James Whitcomb Riley drawn by George Brehm that first appeared in the Indianapolis Star in 1903. It was part of a series about Indiana authors and was later used in a 1904 calendar of authors from the state.  | 1903; 1904 | George Brehm","thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/square_thumbnails/81e6f2fdf8fdeb69e57d1ba23407394d.jpg"},"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/fullsize/449b35e4ecd10b9cacd90c7c33e714f6.jpg":{"id":2118,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Outing Magazine Illustration","description":"This image, titled Leapfrog, was published in the March 1908 Outing magazine in Worth Brehm’s series When I was a Boy. The original drawing hangs in the Indiana Room of the Hamilton East Public Library.  A note on the back identifies the site and some of the children - “Board fence by house on Cherry Street where Brown’s lived. House old Hutchens home on Maple.  Two Brehm boys, two Brown boys.”     | Outing Magazine, digitized by Google Books | 1908 | Worth Brehm for Outing Magazine","thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/square_thumbnails/449b35e4ecd10b9cacd90c7c33e714f6.jpg"},"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/fullsize/424cce304ace0db23cc1b2420bfc367e.jpg":{"id":2119,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Saturday Evening Post Cover","description":"This is the first Saturday Evening Post cover done by Worth Brehm, which was for the June 6, 1908 edition. Like the When I was a Boy series, this image of boys jostling to look through the hole in a fence was likely inspired by Worth Brehm’s childhood in Noblesville. Worth would later do two more Post covers. | 1908 | Worth Brehm","thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/square_thumbnails/424cce304ace0db23cc1b2420bfc367e.jpg"},"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/fullsize/984a2c9d545d8fbe38aafe58f67ca97c.jpg":{"id":2120,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Worth Brehm Illustration","description":"This image of an older couple in a field with a horse harnessed to a plow was created for an edition of Gene Stratton Porter’s book The Song of the Cardinal published in 1913 and illustrated by Worth Brehm. Porter did not like the illustrations, and soon published a new edition with a different illustrator.   | 1913 | Worth Brehm","thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/square_thumbnails/984a2c9d545d8fbe38aafe58f67ca97c.jpg"},"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/original/52fad1d9d1553a651cd666a178dbc015.mp3":{"id":2240,"mime-type":"audio/mpeg","title":"George Brehm&#039;s Childhood Drawings","description":"Click play to listen to a story about George Brehm&#039;s earliest drawings.<br />\r\n&quot;George Brehm started his art career at an early age. He would later tell an interviewer that, as a small boy, he would take slate shingles from construction sites around Noblesville and draw on them with chalk. His favorite subjects to copy were the female acrobats on circus posters around town. When the workers later found the shingles, George said they didn’t mind the theft, but (quote) They were appalled that a 13-year-old boy should draw a woman’s legs (end quote).&quot; | Audio recording courtesy of the reader | Recorded June 2020 | As told by David Heighway"}}}