On this day, April 10, 1890, Mary (Marsh) Buff was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. Mary Marsh studied at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts and at the Cincinnati Art Academy. After her marriage to Conrad Buff they collaborated writing and illustrating children’s books and winning Newbery Medal honours for three of their collaborative efforts.
On this day, April 9, 1976, Margaret (Hedda Johnosn) Brundage died. After studying at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, she began drawing designs for the local fashion industry. In the early 1930s Brundage began creating cover illustrations for the pulps. She typically signed her work M. Brundage as she was a woman working in what
On this day, April 8, 1920, children’s book author and illustrator Ruth Chew was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. After studying at the Corcoran School of Art, Chew went on to produce over 30 children’s books most of which were juvenile fantasy typically centered around witches and magic.
On this day, April 7, 2007, cartoonist Johnny Hart died in Nineveh, New York. Hart’s first published work was in Stars and Stripes done when he was enlisted in the U. S. Air Force. In 1957 Hart created the cartoon B. C. and later was the co-creator of The Wizard of Id with Brant Parker.
On this day, April 6, 1926, illustrator Gil Kane was born in Riga, Latvia. His family emigrated to the U. S. in 1929. Kane went to Manhattan’s School of Industrial Art, and in his senior year he went to work for MLJ Comics. Kane also worked for Marvel Comics. He served in the Pacific in the
On this day, April 5, 2005, illustrator Dalia (aka, Dale) Messick died in Sonoma County, California. Messick studied briefly at the Ray Commercial Art School in Chicago and began working for a Chicago greeting card company. Messick worked on and/or created a variety of comic strips. In 1940 she created her most famous comic strip and
On this day, April 4, 1918, illustrator Joyce Ballantyne was born in Norfolk, Nebraska. Ballantyne studied art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and at the American Academy of Art. Her earliest work was painting Rand McNally maps. In the mid-40s, Ballantyne began painting pin-ups for Brown & Bigelow calendar company. In addition
On this day, April 3, 2013, cartoonist Ed Fisher died in Canaan, Connecticut. While studying at Antioch College in Ohio, Fisher sold his first cartoons. He served in the Pacific in the Army Air Forces during WWII. Fisher contributed cartoons to many publications, but his over 700 witty cartoons for The New Yorker from 1951 through
The Gerlach Barklow Company produced art calendars and advertising materials in Joliet, Illinois from 1907 through the late 1950s.* Their popular calendars were typically personalized for the businesses who purchased them to distribute to their customers as gifts. Many of the company’s illustration artists were women, some even residents of the local area. One of
On this day, April 2, 1929, illustrator and author Edmund H. Garrett died in Needham, Massachusetts. Garrett studied in Paris at the Académie Julian. In addition to his fine art paintings, Garrett produced illustrations for a variety of publishers, for books of poetry, and books of fiction such as The Legends of King Arthur and Pride