American illustrator and painter
Dean Cornwell
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Born
| (
1892-03-05
)
March 5, 1892
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Died
| December 4, 1960
(1960-12-04)
(aged 68)
New York City, U.S.
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Alma mater
| Art Institute of Chicago
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Known for
| Illustration, painting
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Movement
| Realism
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Spouse
| Mildred Montrose Kirkham Cornwell (1893 - 1974)
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Children
| Kirkham Randolph Cornwell (1920 - 1984), Patricia Cornwell (1923 - )
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Dean Cornwell
(March 5, 1892 ? December 4, 1960) was a left-handed American
illustrator
and
muralist
. His
oil paintings
were frequently featured in popular magazines and books as literary illustrations, advertisements, and posters promoting the
war effort
. Throughout the first half of the 20th century he was a dominant presence in American illustration.
[1]
At the peak of his popularity he was nicknamed the "Dean of Illustrators".
Background
[
edit
]
Cornwell was born in
Louisville, Kentucky
. His father, Charles L. Cornwell, was a civil engineer whose
drawings
of industrial subjects fascinated Cornwell as a child. He began his professional career as a
cartoonist
for the
Louisville Herald
. Soon thereafter he moved to
Chicago
, where he studied at the
Art Institute
and worked for the
Chicago Tribune
. In 1915 he moved to
New Rochelle, New York
, a well known
artist colony
,
[2]
and studied in
New York City
under
Harvey Dunn
at the
Art Students League of New York
. Eventually he traveled to
London
to study mural painting as an apprentice to
Frank Brangwyn
. Brangwyn's style influenced Cornwell's artistic development in "rendering the human figure, bold outlines, flattened picture plane, and graphic approach to composition."
[3]
Cornwell married Mildred Kirkham in 1918 but married life was difficult. From 1935 until his death, Dean and Mildred lived separately but never divorced.
[4]
Cornwell taught and lectured at the Art Students League in New York. He served as president of the
Society of Illustrators
from 1922 to 1926, and was elected to its Hall of Fame in 1959.
[5]
In 1934, he was elected into the
National Academy of Design
as an Associate Academician, and became a full Academician in 1940. He served as president of the
National Society of Mural Painters
from 1953 to 1957.
[6]
Career
[
edit
]
Cornwell's paintings were in
Cosmopolitan
,
Harper's Bazaar
,
Redbook
, and
Good Housekeeping
magazines, illustrating the work of authors including
Pearl S. Buck
,
Lloyd Douglas
,
Edna Ferber
,
Ernest Hemingway
,
W. Somerset Maugham
, and
Owen Wister
. Cornwell's February 1953 cover of a riverboat for
True
was later made into a U.S. Postage stamp as part of the
USPS
's 2001 American Illustrators series.
Although a prolific and successful magazine illustrator, Cornwell felt that such advertising was too ephemeral, and that magazine illustration was not enough to "guarantee his artistic immortality"
[3]
and sought means to permanently showcase his talent through mural painting where his work could be readily viewed by the public. In 1927, the
Los Angeles Public Library
held a competition to paint the central rotunda of the building with murals depicting the history of California.
[7]
Cornwell submitted three entries, two under pseudonyms and one under his real name, competing with 25 other muralists. Cornwell won the competition under his own name, and won 2nd and 3rd with his two other entries.
[3]
He completed the murals in 1933, composed of four large oil paintings, 40 feet wide, and eight 20-foot murals containing over 300 figures for the commission price of $50,000.
[3]
The successful completion of the Los Angeles Public Library murals led to more commissions at other public buildings, such as the
Lincoln Memorial Shrine
in
Redlands, California
, "
The History of Transportation
" in the
Eastern Airlines
Building (now 10
Rockefeller Plaza
), executed
Federal Art Project
murals in two post offices,
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
and
Morganton, North Carolina
, with other murals in the
Warwick New York Hotel
in New York City, the
New England Telephone
headquarters building in Boston, the
Davidson County Courthouse
and Sevier State Office Building in
Tennessee
, and the
Centre William Rappard
in
Geneva
,
Switzerland
. His murals were seen by millions of visitors, and millions more were reached through his published reproductions of murals. Cornwell served as president of the
National Society of Mural Painters
from 1953 to 1957.
[3]
By the time the U.S. entered
WWII
Cornwell was commissioned to create paintings of men in combat by the War and Navy departments, and by corporations like the
Fisher Body
company. Cornwell also painted patriotic imagery for the
Coca-Cola Company
, the
Pennsylvania Railroad
, and did portraiture of wounded GIs as part of the
U.S.O.
entertainment program organized by the Society of Illustrators. It was during WWII that Cornwell was commissioned to illustrate two of his most successful works for
The American Weekly
for "Dean Cornwell Paints the Holyland" and "Dean Cornwell Paints the Missions."
[3]
After World War II television became the more popular medium and people were less inclined to read short fiction from magazines, and heralded the end of the "celebrity illustrator."
[3]
Throughout the 1930s and 1940s Cornwell remained a popular illustrator but he considered mural painting his "true vocation."
[3]
Shortly before his death, Cornwell accepted a commission to finish painting a mural for the
Berkshire Life Insurance Company
after the original commissioned artist, fellow illustrator
Norman Rockwell
had trouble with the "complexity of the medium". It was also Rockwell's first attempt at mural painting and he abandoned the project. Cornwell died before completing the mural and his assistant Cliff Young finished the project.
[3]
[8]
Artist and illustrator
James Montgomery Flagg
wrote, "Cornwell is the illustrator par excellence-his work is approached by few and overtopped by none...he is the most sought-after illustrator of the day. His secret is this. He is a born artist."
[9]
Death
[
edit
]
Cornwell continued to work until his failing health. On December 3, 1960, Cornwell experienced severe abdominal pains and was admitted to the
Roosevelt Hospital
in New York City for surgery but died due to a "heart ailment" on December 4, 1960. He was 68 years old.
[10]
Examples of Cornwell's work
[
edit
]
-
Some Necktie Lady
(1916) oil on canvas 14.5 inch. x 34 inch.
-
The Red Shawl
Hearst's International magazine illustration (1921) oil on canvas 34 inch. x 30 inch.
-
Priest, Spanish City
(1921) oil on canvas 30 inch. x 34 inch.
-
The Bridge
Harper's Bazaar illustration (1921) oil on canvas 34 inch. x 30 inch.
-
Romantic Couple Seated by Piano
Hearst's International magazine illustration (1922) oil on canvas 34 inch. x 36 inch.
-
Laying the Cornerstone of Old East
(1941), at the Chapel Hill Post Office
-
Murals in the Grand Rotunda of the
Los Angeles Central Library
depicting California history (1933)
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Reed, Walt and Roger.
The Illustrator in America 1880-1980
(1984)
ISBN
0942604032
.
- ^
"NRCA - New Rochelle: Arts City"
.
newrochellearts.org
. Archived from
the original
on 2014-10-26
. Retrieved
2012-07-08
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
Zimmer, Daniel (2016).
The Art of Dean Cornwell
. Saint Louis, Missouri: THE ILLUSTRATED PRESS, INC.
ISBN
9780997029208
.
- ^
Broder, Patricia Janis (1978).
Dean Cornwell: Dean of Illustrators
. New York: Balance House, LTD. p. 18.
ISBN
0823012697
.
- ^
Reed, 1984, p. 119.
- ^
"National Society of Mural Painters"
.
nationalsocietyofmuralpainters.com
. Archived from
the original
on 2018-10-15
. Retrieved
2019-07-20
.
- ^
"Painted Decoration: Goodhue Building | Los Angeles Public Library"
.
www.lapl.org
. Retrieved
2024-02-29
.
- ^
"Cliff Young"
.
lambiek.net
. Retrieved
2024-02-29
.
- ^
Flagg, James Montgomery (April 1923). "Dean Cornwell: A Painter Who Illustrates and an Illustrator Who Paints".
Hearst's International
.
43
: 97.
- ^
"CORNWELL, PAINTER, 68, DIES: MURALIST WAS MAGAZINE AND BOOK ILLUSTRATOR, NOTED FOR ATTENTION TO DETAIL." New York Times (1923-), Dec 06, 1960, pp. 41.
References
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