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for WILLIAM HENRY KOERNER
WILLIAM HENRY KOERNER
1878 - 1938
W.H.D Koerner was regarded as one of the most capable and prolific illustrators of the mythical American West. Born in Germany, he immigrated with his family to the United States in 1880, settling in Iowa. Koerner made his way to Chicago in 1898 and worked as a newspaper illustrator for the Chicago Tribune, covering many assignments and developing a sure, rapid hand as a draftsman. By 1901 he was attending classes at the Chicago Art Institute, and four years later enrolled in the Art Students League in New York.
A major step in Koerner¿s career occurred when he was accepted for formal instruction by Howard Pyle, the famed illustrator who had also taught N.C. Wyeth. In 1919, he built a permanent home and studio in Interlaken, New Jersey, and settled into a busy life as a famous artist much in demand.
In 1924, Koerner made is first trip to the trans-Missouri West by car a seven passenger Buick equipped with camping supplies. He went as far as Cooke City, Montana, near the northern section of Yellowstone Park. Koerner hiked in the high mountains and worked excitedly, inspired by his surrounding. In the next few years he traveled to California via the Santa Fe Railway, sketching throughout the Southwest. In 1927, he also participated in a pack trip into the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming. Koerner absorbed everything he saw, making countless sketches and using a camera to help him record details of cowboy life and the waning existence of the Indians on their reservations.
In 1928, Koerner¿s fame as an illustrator was at its peak. Among the many authors for whom he illustrated was Zane Grey, the most popular western writer of his time. Grey was particularly fond of the artist¿s work and owned some of the ¿square-ups,¿ or working drawings, which Koerner had done for his magazine stories. Another popular writer with whom Koerner worked in the 1920s was Hal G. Evarts; in 1928-29 he completed the illustrations for Evarts¿ serial, ¿Tomahawk Rights,¿ about he settling of the Old Northwest.
Resources: The American West: Legendary Artists of the Frontier, Dr. Rick Stewart, Hawthorne Publishing Company, 1986
From website: http://www.askart.com/biography.asp?ID=2776
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