Bert Grimm, artist and businessman

Bert Grimm was born at the dawn of the 20th century.^rd century, in February 1900 in the Illinois capital Springfield. Attracted by the tattoo world at a very young age, he was barely ten years old when he began wandering the city's tattoo parlors.

At just 15 years old, the young man decides to leave the family nest in order to conquer the world. He discovered the nomadic lifestyle by combining the Wild West Shows, impressive traveling shows that enjoyed phenomenal success in the United States and Europe from the 1870s to the early 1930s. Traveling from city to city, Grimm will become familiar with the art of tattooing through casual and ephemeral encounters with many of the artists of his time. Percy Waters, William Grimshaw, Frank Kelly, Jack Tryon, Moses Smith, Hugh Bowen are among the tattoo artists who come across his path and allow him to diversify and enrich his training.

If at the age of 20 he was already earning his living from his art, Grimm, nevertheless, recognized his lack of accuracy and decided to conduct a real training. In 1923, determined to succeed in his profession, he left the bohemian life. Fate puts in his path the sailor George Fosdick, an experienced tattoo artist, especially famous in Portland. Together with him, he forged his style for several months before landing in Los Angeles to hone his needle stab with Sailor Charlie Barrs, in other words, "the grandfather of all good tattoos" (the grandfather of all good tattoos).

Fosdick and Barrs taught him the basics of traditional American style, which he will learn and continue to refine over the course of his 70-year career. Indeed, if he perpetuates the old school style by following the classic codes: limited color palette (yellow, red, green, black) and mythical motifs like rose, tiger head, heart, skull, panther, dagger, cartoons, etc. He suggests a more sophisticated version, playing with shadows and shades of black. He created his own style, recognizable at first sight and, above all, timeless, to the point where we still find his tattoo designs printed on clothes, even today.

Understand, "tattooing is fun." This is what Grimm liked to say, and for good reason. In 1928 he moved to Saint Louis, Missouri. A carefully chosen destination, his clientele was found between the US Army barracks on the Mississippi and the daily dockings of sailors.

He opens his own salon in record time and works non-stop. With these hundreds of ink-ready applicants, he polishes his art and perpetuates his work day after day. Bert Grimm is a hard worker: he tattoo 7 days a week, and in the areas adjacent to his living room, he simultaneously creates and operates a playroom and a photo studio. The real businessman, his investment and determination pays off because his small business knows no crisis, while the US has just been hit hard by a 7-year stock market crash and the Great Depression that followed.

After 26 years of covering the bodies of sailors and soldiers in Saint Louis, Grimm is undoubtedly recognized as one of the greatest tattoo artists in the country. He will continue his career for another 30 years in the most prestigious salons in the USA and the world, making a particularly outstanding pass at Nu-Pike. This mythical amusement park in Long Beach, California was a destination in the 50s and 60s for sailors who wanted to be marked with indelible ink before heading out to sea again. Among dozens of Nu-Pike stores, Grimm held the title of the oldest permanent tattoo parlor in the country. Enough to solidify his prominence and lengthen the line in front of his door! After stopping in San Diego and Portland, he opened his last store in Gearhart, Oregon ... in his own home! Passionate and perfectionist, he cannot retire or stop tattooing until his death in 1985.