- Coby Whitmore
-
Coby Whitmore Birth name Maxwell Coburn Whitmore, Jr. Born June 11, 1913
Dayton, OhioDied October 12, 1988 (aged 75)
Hilton Head, South CarolinaNationality American Field Commercial art, Magazine illustration Influenced John Buscema, John Romita, Sr. Awards Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame Maxwell Coburn Whitmore, Jr. (June 11, 1913 - October 12, 1988)[1] was an American painter and magazine illustrator known for his Saturday Evening Post covers, and a commercial artist whose work included advertisements for Gallo Wine and other national brands. He additionally became known as a race-car designer.
Whitmore was inducted into the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame in 1978.
Contents
Biography
Early life and career
Whitmore illustration for the 28 March 1953 The Saturday Evening Post
Coby Whitmore was born in Dayton, Ohio, the son of Maxwell Coburn Whitmore Sr. and Charlotte Bosier, and attended the Dayton Art Institute.[2] Following an apprenticeship with the "Sundblom Circle" of Chicago, Illinois, illustrator Haddon Sundblom, Whitmore joined the Charles E. Cooper Studio, on West 57th Street in New York City, in 1943.[3][4] There he illustrated for leading magazines of the day and did other commercial art.
Whitmore and Jon Whitcomb were two of the top illustrators at Cooper, which in the 1940s and 1950s "monopolized the ladies' magazines like McCall's, Ladies Home Journal, and Good Housekeeping with postwar images of the ideal white American family centered around pretty, middle-class, female consumers living happily in new kitchens, new houses, driving new cars, living with handsome husbands, adorable children, and cute dogs".[5][6]
Later life and career
Whitmore later became an instructor with the Famous Artists School, joining Norman Rockwell, Stevan Dohanos, Albert Dorne and others members of what became known as the Westport School of American illustration.[7] Additionally, Whitmore, by then living in Briarcliff Manor, New York, teamed with former World War II fighter pilot John Fitch, an imported car dealer in White Plains, New York, to design and race sports cars in the 1950s and 1960s.[8][9][10]
Whitmore died in Hilton Head, South Carolina, in 1988 at age 75.[1]
Legacy
Whitmore's work influenced such comic-book artists as John Buscema,[11] John Romita, Sr.,[12] and Phil Noto.[13] Glen Murakami, producer of the 2000s Teen Titans animated series on Cartoon Network, cited Whitmore and fellow illustrator Bob Peak as "big influences on the loose, painterly style we have been using for the backgrounds".[14]
Awards and honors
Whitmore was inducted into the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame in 1978.[15]
His work was presented alongside that of several contemporaries of illustrator Al Parker in the "Re-Imagining the American Woman" section of the retrospective "Ephemeral Beauty: Al Parker and the American Women's Magazine, 1940-1960", mounted by the Norman Rockwell Museum from June 9 to October 28, 2007.[16]
Footnotes
- ^ a b Social Security Death Index record for "Whitmore, M. C.," Social Security Number 287-10-5182
- ^ "M. Coburn Whitmore (1913 - 1988)". Ask Art: The Artists' Bluebook. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. http://www.askart.com/AskART/artist.aspx?artist=23159&redir.
- ^ Mendez, Prof. A. E.. "The Rules of Attraction: The Look of Love: The Rise and Fall of the Photo-Realistic Newspaper Strip, 1946–1970". Archived from the original on July 9, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070709030044/profmendez.tripod.com/html/photo2.htm. Additional WebCitation archive, July 16, 2009
- ^ Pelotas, Geza. The Charles E. Cooper Studio. WebCitation archive.
- ^ Heller, Steven, and Marshall Arisman. Inside the Business of Illustration (Allworth Press : 2004), ISBN 1581153864, ISBN 978-1581153866, p. 42
- ^ "The Visual Telling of Stories: Coby Whitmore", Fulltable.com, n.d. WebCitation archive of page "Coby Whitmore: Gallery One - Illustrated Fiction"
- ^ Heller, Steven. "Draw Me Schools of Commercial Art", Design Observer, December 15, 2008. WebCitation archive.
- ^ Frank, Michael "The Fitch Whitmore Le Mans Special in Detail", New Jersey Jaguar Touring Club, 2001. WebCitation archive.
- ^ Blunk, Frank M. "Luxury Sports Car of Tomorrow Is Unveiled Here", The New York Times, July 8, 1966, Section: Sports, Page 60
- ^ "Blackwood Takes Race; Hits 132 M. P.H. in National Modified Sports Car Test", The New York Times, February 22, 1953, Section: Sports, Page S7
- ^ Spurlock, David J., and John Buscema, John Buscema Sketchbook (Vanguard Productions: Lebanon, N.J. 2001), Hardcover ISBN 1-887591-18-4, signed-numbered hardcover ISBN 1-887591-17-6, trade paperback ISBN 1-887591-19-2, p. 27.
- ^ Spurlock, J. David, and John Romita. John Romita Sketchbook. (Vanguard Productions: Lebanon, N.J. 2002) ISBN 1-887591-27-3 ISBN 1-887591-29-X, p. 16
- ^ Arrant, Chris. "Phil Noto on Superman/Supergirl: Maelstrom", Newsarama, November 5, 2008. WebCitation archive.
- ^ Glen Murakami interviewed in Worley, Rob. "Teen Titans, LXG, Hulk, Illuminati, X-Men: Comics2Film Wrap for July 14, 2003", Comic Book Resources, July 14, 2003. WebCitation archive.
- ^ Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame. WebCitation archive.
- ^ "Norman Rockwell Museum Presents First In-Depth Exhibition of Influential Illustrator’s Work", Norman Rockwell Museum press release, n.d. (dead link to original release). WebCitation archive to capsule description and date only of Al Parker exhibit
External links
Categories:- American illustrators
- American magazine illustrators
- Art educators
- 1913 births
- 1988 deaths
- People from Dayton, Ohio
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
