Research - A.E. Mitchell Art

Research about A.E. Mitchell’s art is on-going as there are many of his works hidden in archives. Some archives do not digitize works, so research has to be done in person. There are some works that look like his but are not signed so more research must be done to identify them.

His lettering is very precise and recognizable, and if you study his style and take into consideration other clues, you might be able to identify his work without his signature. The detailed bio written by his son Bryant gives us a lot of information about the companies and industries he worked for.

There are also some missing photos that could be in friends’ and colleagues’ archives. There are many missing photos from Go-Ye Fellowship services, foreign mission fields, and various life events of the Mitchell family. Maybe you have some in your archives! If you find any photos you don’t see on this site, feel free to send by email.

There are some Mitchell art discoveries to be made. If you like to solve mysteries, see some research topics below. If you choose to research these works and discover some answers, we would love to hear from you. Email us here. We will post research news in the Research News section below and in the site blog.

Research Topics

  • Panama Pacific International Exposition

  • Produce Labels

  • Stone Vase - Los Angeles

  • Santa Barbara Friar

  • Pacific Palisades Map

  • Foreign Language Plaques

  • Riley Moore Engraving Works

  • Missing Photos

  • The Quartet

  • Rancho Palos Verdes Map

  • Relief Map - Randolph Mktg Citrus Show

  • JL Hudson Artwork

  • Button design for the Grand Junction, CO Fifty Thousand Club

Panama Pacific International Exposition

Alternate Vase

Santa Barbara Friar

When you ask AI if Andrew was possibly the artist for this drawing of the Panama Pacific International Exposition, it states “yes” with around 80% certainty given the other birds-eye-view images he created and other clues.

Below is the massive relief map he did for a produce company, Randolph Marketing, and the exhibit won first prize at the Citrus Show in San Bernardino Citrus Show in 1918. Finding better quality photos in archives would be great. Because he did this work, what other relief maps might he have done?

Andrew did a map (below and at this link) for the Denver & Rio Grande RR while living in Denver, and it looks like they used his map on their exhibit for the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition, on the globe surface in the photo above.
Did he assist in the application of the material on the globe? Sometimes when you know an artist does one project, similar projects will follow. How did he get the job for Randolph Marketing? Was that his first relief map or was there something before? Why did the family move to California in the teens? Was it for Andrew to take some work for the PPIE?

Andrew left home to seek work in Detroit to support his mother and siblings after their father passed. The famed JL Hudson dept. store hired him on the spot when he showed them what he could do. We have some research to do, to find any artwork he did for them. The card above looks like it could be his work from the late 1800s but it is difficult to know for sure.

A.E. Mitchell designed a club button, the official emblem for the Fifty Thousand Club of Grand Junction, CO. Coins, badges, buttons, etc., would be items we could find his work on due to his excellent bas-relief skills. We are on the search for this button! We learn from this article that he had a fruit farm in Rifle, CO before the family moved to Los Angeles.

Here A.E. Mitchell’s great-granddaughter doing research in the Palos Verdes, CA Library, looking at all of the maps in the collection. It is very possible Andrew did some work for the Palos Verdes developers. Nothing found yet with his signature, but there are some possibilities.

J.L. Hudson Department Store, Detroit

This is another vase A.E. Mitchell created and it is somewhere in Los Angeles.

Palestinian Rock Urn

A.E. Mitchell’s grandson David Mitchell going through family photos at the Go-Ye Fellowship office 2017.

A.E. Mitchell created this “Palestinian Rock Urn”, and it may still be at the Mitchell family home in Echo Park. What is the story behind it?

The Quartet

The Quartet - Did he create the actual quartet or just the base? We do have the entire mold. An image of
this 3D sculpture appeared in
advertising of a store in Germany.
What clue does that give us?

The Quartet

Colorado Club Button Design

These 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition tickets look like A.E. Mitchell’s work. Since he did work on the map to the exposition, and moved to California a few years before the event, perhaps it could be possible this is his work? More research is needed in the PPIE files to confirm.

PPIE Tickets

Research News

We will put new information from your research and ours in this space. To submit AE Mitchell discoveries email us at the address below.

Purpose of Santa Barbara friar clay sculpture discovered. (Some day!

Space for research news…coming soon!