On this day, May 18, 1925, children’s book illustrator Lillian Hoban was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She studied at the Philadelphia Museum School of Art and also studied dance with Martha Graham. Hoban illustrated more than 100 children’s books some of which were written by her husband Russell Hoban.
On this day, May 17, 2002, cartoonist Dave Berg died in Marina Del Rey, California. He studied at Pratt Institute and then at Cooper Union. He began to draw for Mad magazine in 1956 worked for them throughout his life.
On this day, May 16, 1922, pulp illustrator Jim Bentley was born in Patchogue, New York on Long Island. After service in the Army Air Corps in WWII, Bentley studied art through correspondence course with Art Instruction, Inc. He produced illustrations for various pulp magazines and paperback book cover illustrations for various publishers.
On this day, May 15, 1875, illustrator Anna Whelan Betts was born Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, in Paris, and with Howard Pyle in Wilmington, Delaware. Her work appears in many of the popular magazines of the time and when her eyesight failed he retired from illustration.
On this day, May 14, 1904, pulp illustrator Jon L. (Jacob Lupu Blumer) Blummer was born in Hartford, Connecticut. In 1924 he moved to New York and worked as a line artist in newspapers. In 1930 Blummer began his studies at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, but he only finished 2 years of a 3 year program.
On this day, May 13, 2010, children’s author and illustrator Ruth Chew died in Castro Valley, California. Ruth Chew studied at the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, D.C. She created over 30 children’s books mostly in the juvenile fantasy genre, mostly published by Scholastic in the 1970s and 80s.
On this day, May 12, 1908, pulp illustrator Harry Barton was born in Seattle, Washington. Barton studied at the Art Students League in New York. During WWII he worked a defense job. After the war Barton began producing illustrations for the pulps and cover illustrations for digests and paperback books.
On this day, May 11, 2013, fashion illustrator J. Hyde Crawford died in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Crawford studied at Parsons School of Design and soon after he was hired by Bonwit Teller to produce fashion illustrations for newspaper ads. He also founded Quadrille, a fabric and wallpaper company.
On this day, May 10, 1905, illustrator Alex Schomburg born in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. He moved to New York in the early 1920s with his brothers. While working for various organizations, Schomburg produced freelance illustrations for the pulps, science-fiction magazines, and for comic books.
On this day, May 9, 1916, author and illustrator William Pène du Bois was born in Nutley, New Jersey. Son of the painter Guy Pène du Bois, William was to has studied architecture but he sold a book he’d written and illustrated at age 19. In addition to illustrating his own books, he also illustrated books