Thornton Oakley
Encyclopedia
Biography
Thornton Oakley was born March 27, 1881, in Pittsburgh. He studied at the University of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
and received B.S. and M.S. degrees in architecture in 1901 and 1902. He first studied with Howard Pyle
Howard Pyle
Howard Pyle was an American illustrator and author, primarily of books for young people. A native of Wilmington, Delaware, he spent the last year of his life in Florence, Italy.__FORCETOC__...
in 1902 at Chadds Ford in the mill, and described his first day there in a talk given at the Free Library in Philadelphia in 1951:
"There we four - my new cronies - Allen Tupper True
Allen Tupper True
Allen Tupper True was an American illustrator, easel painter and muralist who specialized in depicting the American West.-Biography:...
, George Harding, Gordon McCouch and I - made our first sketches from a model, and our efforts were frightful to behold! Not one of us had had a palette in our hands ever before: I had not the least idea as to procedure. My attempts were terrifying to behold, and when H.P. came to me to criticize my work he paused for a long, long time before speaking, and I know that he must have been appalled."
Oakley studied with Howard Pyle
Howard Pyle
Howard Pyle was an American illustrator and author, primarily of books for young people. A native of Wilmington, Delaware, he spent the last year of his life in Florence, Italy.__FORCETOC__...
for three years. During his first class, Pyle
Howard Pyle
Howard Pyle was an American illustrator and author, primarily of books for young people. A native of Wilmington, Delaware, he spent the last year of his life in Florence, Italy.__FORCETOC__...
stood before his easel for a while before commenting that "either you are color-blind or else you are a genius." It turned out with time that neither was true. Oakley never learned the nuances of color but had a instinctual like for the primaries - red, yellow and blue.
Oakley became an illustrator and writer for periodicals, including Scribner's, Century
Century
A century is one hundred consecutive years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages .-Start and end in the Gregorian Calendar:...
, Collier's, and Harper's Monthly. In the years 1914-19 and 1921-36 he was in charge of the Department of Illustration at the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Art. In 1914-15 he also taught drawing at the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
, and gave lectures at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Curtis Institute. He was a member of the jury of selection and advisory committee of the Department of Fine Arts at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco in 1915 and the Philadelphia Sesquicentennial Exposition in 1926.
During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
lithographs of his patriotic drawings of war work at the Hog Island Shipyard, Pennsylvania, were distributed by the United States government. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
he did three sets of pictures of the war effort for the National Geographic in 1941, 1943, and 1945. After the war he was commissioned to paint industrial subjects for the Pennsylvania Railroad, the Philadelphia Electric Company, Sun Oil, and other industries. In 1938-39 he did six mural panels for the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia on epochs in science.
Oakley was deeply influenced by Howard Pyle
Howard Pyle
Howard Pyle was an American illustrator and author, primarily of books for young people. A native of Wilmington, Delaware, he spent the last year of his life in Florence, Italy.__FORCETOC__...
's philosophy of illustration. In the talk at the Free Library referred to above, he said: "We never heard one word from our beloved teacher concerning tools and methods. His utterances were only of the spirit, thought, philosophy, ideals, vision, purpose." Oakley presided at the private viewing of the Howard Pyle Memorial Exhibition at the Philadelphia Art Alliance in 1923, when reminiscences of Pyle were given by Elizabeth Green Elliott, Jessie Willcox Smith
Jessie Willcox Smith
Jessie Willcox Smith was a United States illustrator famous for her work in magazines such as Ladies Home Journal and for her illustrations for children's books....
, George Harding, and Frank E. Schoonover. In praising Pyle
Howard Pyle
Howard Pyle was an American illustrator and author, primarily of books for young people. A native of Wilmington, Delaware, he spent the last year of his life in Florence, Italy.__FORCETOC__...
, Oakley said: "Illustration is the highest type of pictorial art ... because illustration is simply a pictorial MAKING CLEAR, and if a picture makes clear a message in a big way, it is an illustration, whether it be made for magazine, book, mural decoration, or exhibition." In an essay on "Illustration" for the American Magazine of Art in August 1919, he spoke of illustration as inspiration and the expression of man's highest ideals.
Oakley also illustrated a series of travel books, authored by his wife, Amy Ewing Oakley (1882–1963).
These include:
Hill Towns of the Pyrenees (1924, John Long, Ltd.)
The Cloud-Lands of France (1927, Century)
Enchanted Brittany (1930, Century)
The Heart of Provence (1936, D. Appleton-Century)
Scandinavia Beckons (1938, D. Appleton-Century)
Kaleidoscopic Quebec (1947, D. Appelton-Century)
Our Pennsylvania: Keys to the Keystone State (1950, Bobbs-Merrill)
Behold the West Indies (1951, Longman’s Green)
Oakley made a large collection of Pyle, drawings, prints, books and other items, including letters and sketchbooks, which he presented to the Free Library
Free Library of Philadelphia
The Free Library of Philadelphia is the public library system serving Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.-History:History of the Free Library of Philadelphia: Initiated by the efforts of Dr...
in Philadelphia in November 1951. He died in Bryn Mawr
Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
Bryn Mawr from Welsh for "big hill") is a census-designated place in Lower Merion Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, just west of Philadelphia along Lancaster Avenue and the border with Delaware County...
on April 4, 1953 and is buried with his wife Amy at the Lower Marion Baptist Church Cemetery in Bryn Mawr, PA.
Magazine Illustrations
American Magazine of Art - 1919, 1925Appleton's Magazine
Appleton's Magazine
Appleton's Magazine was a monthly magazine published by D. Appleton & Co., New York in the late 19th century and the early 20th century. Originally called Appleton's Journal, it was published under that name from April, 1869 to December, 1881...
- 1907
Artwork
Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
- 1918
Century
Century
A century is one hundred consecutive years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages .-Start and end in the Gregorian Calendar:...
- 1905-1912, 1916-1919
Colliers
Collier's Weekly
Collier's Weekly was an American magazine founded by Peter Fenelon Collier and published from 1888 to 1957. With the passage of decades, the title was shortened to Collier's....
- 1904-1918
Everybody's - 1906-1909
Forum - 1926-1927
Harpers Magazine
Harpers Magazine
Harpers Wine and Spirit Trade Review or simply Harpers is a British fortnightly publication for the wine and spirit industry. Founded in 1878, it has a circulation of 5,224 fully subscribed readers. It is read across all sectors of the drinks industry including producers, distributors,...
- 1906
Harpers Monthly
Harper's Magazine
Harper's Magazine is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts, with a generally left-wing perspective. It is the second-oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. . The current editor is Ellen Rosenbush, who replaced Roger Hodge in January 2010...
- 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908–1915, 1916, 1918
International Studio - 1913, 1915
Ladies Home Journal - 1908
Leslie's - 1904
Metropolitan - 1907-1910
National Geographic - 1942-1945, 1942, 1943
Nations Business - 1919
Pennsylvania Magazine - 1947
Scientific American
Scientific American
Scientific American is a popular science magazine. It is notable for its long history of presenting science monthly to an educated but not necessarily scientific public, through its careful attention to the clarity of its text as well as the quality of its specially commissioned color graphics...
- 1918
St. Nicholas - 1908-1909
Scribner's - 1905-1916
System
System
System is a set of interacting or interdependent components forming an integrated whole....
- 1909
Western Penna. Historical Magazine - 1948
See also
- Brandywine SchoolBrandywine SchoolThe Brandywine School was a style of illustration and an artists colony in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, near Brandywine Creek, founded by artist Howard Pyle at the end of the 19th century...