In 1934 voegde Jon Whitcomb uit Cleveland zich bij de Charles E. Cooper Studio in New York. Dit zou de geschiedenis van de Amerikaanse illustratie gaan veranderen. Whitcomb brak met de stijl van de Saturdag Evening Post, waarvan Norman Rockwell een van de bekendste vertegenwoordigers was. Deze stijl werd in grote mate bepaald door olieverf die sterk realistische voorstellingen mogelijk maakte. Maar Whitcomb schakelde over naar gouache omdat dit veel sneller werkte. De illustraties werden platter, maar kregen wel een veel grotere directheid en aantrekkingskracht. In 1943 sloot een andere mid-westener, Coby Whitmore zich bij de studio aan en vanaf dat moment zou de Cooper Studio tot ver in de jaren vijftig bepalend worden voor de Amerikaanse illustratie.

In het werk van Whitcomb , Whitmore en de zgn. Cool School wemelt het van frisse en energieke schoonheden, het type vrouw dat de lezer van Amerikaanse tijdschriften graag voor zich zag. Dat is vandaag niet veel veranderd. Maar wel heeft in de tijdschriften de fotografie de realistische illustratie geheel verdrongen. Om dezelfde reden waarom Cooper Studio in de jaren dertig overschakelde naar gouache: het werkt sneller en is dus goedkoper.

Jon Whitcomb
has made his name synonymous with pictures of young love and glamorous, beautiful young women. During World War II, a series of illustrations for advertisements he created on the theme, Back Home for Keeps, became a pin-up fad for women deprived of their husbands or sweethearts. ( … ) In 1934, he moved to New York to combine studio work with free-lance illustration. His first illustrations were for Collier’s, followed by Good Housekeeping, and then the others in succession as Whitcomb’s pretty girls began to attract enthusiastic readership.

His career was interrupted by World War II when he was commissioned a Lieutenant, j.g. in the Navy. His assignments varied from mine-sweeping duty to off the East coast, to the Public Relations Department in Washington, to the Pacific as a combat artist with the invasions of Tinian, Saipan, and Peleliu. After hospitalization for tropical infections, he was discharged in 1945 and resumed his art career. Whitcomb’s writing ability became useful when he began to do a monthly series of sketches and articles about motion picture stars for Cosmopolitan, called On Location with Jon Whitcomb. He has also written several short stories, two children’s books about poodles, Coco, and Pom Pom’s Christmas, and a book about feminine glamour, All About Girls.

Bron: illustration-house.com

M. Coburn Whitmore, known as “Coby”, described his three primary interests as “racing cars”, “illustrating” and “smart clothes on good-looking women”. The racing cars were a hobby, but he was thoroughly professional in his illustrations of beautiful women. Probably no other illustrator has been so inventive over so long a time in doing variations on the theme of “boy meets girl”. Coby was born in Dayton, Ohio and attended the Dayton Art Institute there. Next, he went to Chicago as an apprentice in the studio of Haddon Sundblom and Edwin Henry, and took night classes at the Chicago Art Institute.

Following his apprenticeship, he worked for the Chicago Herald Examiner and the Charles Jensen studio in Cincinnati, Then he moved to New York for a long association with the Charles E. Cooper Studio, and also began to get illustration assignments from the major magazines, including McCalls, The Ladies Home Journal, Redbook, Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan“and Womans Day. May foreign publications purchased the second rights to publish his pictures abroad. Whitmore exhibited at Art Directors shows in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Westchester, winning many awards and citations. He was a member of the Society of Illustrators and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1978. He was an artist and resident of Hilton Head Island for several years.
 
Bron: askart.com

De illustrators van de Charles E. Cooper Studio
Norman Adams – Larry Baranoic – James Bama – Teasdale Barney – Albert Baxter – Bob Baxter – Sheliah Becket – Wayne Blickenstaff – Joe Bowler – Robert Chambers – John Cornick – Bernard D’Andrea – John Del Gatto – Joe DeMers – James Dwyer – Lorraince Fox – Ruth Gill – Edward Gough – Robert Handville – Nick Hufford – Robert Jones – William Kautz – Anton Kurka – Dick Lee – Robert Levering – Fred Mason – Frank Mullins – Spencer Perlstein – Daniel Price – John Shailer – Don W. Sheffler – Robert Swanson – Herbert Tauss – Murray Tinkelman – Tibor Tors – Marianne Walther – Jon Whitcomb – Coby Whitmore – Bill Whittingham – Ben Wohlberg.

Bron: atmanart.org

The Illustrator in America
van Walt Reed is een standaardwerk dat ik helaas nog niet in mijn bezit heb. In 1964 verscheen de eerste editie die de periode 1900-1960 bestreek. Twintig jaar later breidde Walt Reed samen met zijn zoon Roger het boek uit en werd 100 jaar (1880-1980) Amerikaanse illustraties behandeld. De nieuwste editie werd met nog eens veertig jaar opgerekt en beslaat nu de periode 1860-2000. Het boek bevat werk van 450 illustratoren.

Jon Whitcomb [ americanartarchives.com ]

meer vogels van Charles Harper | Charles Harper [ treadwaygallery.com ]