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Dean Cornwell Art

American, 1892-1960

Dean Cornwell was an American illustrator and muralist born on March 5, 1892, in Louisville. Dean Cornwell was Normam Rockwell's favorite Illustrator. At the peak of his popularity he was nicknamed the ‘Dean of Illustrators’. He was a student of Harvey Dunn and he in turn taught artists and developed talents for a generation. Cornwell's paintings were in Cosmopolitan, Redbook, True, The American Weekly, Life and Good Housekeeping. He has done book arts for The Man of Galilee and others. Cornwell has also taken up advertisement contracts for GM, Eastern, Pennsylvania Railroad, Paul Jones Whiskey, Aunt Jemima, Seagram's Gin, Woodbury Soap, Palmolive, Coke, Goodyear, New York Life and Squibb. Cornwell was an icon of the ‘Golden Age of Illustration’. Cornwell died on December 4, 1960, in New York.

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Artist: Dean Cornwell
Periwinkle House, The Red Book Magazine interior illustration
By Dean Cornwell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
This work was published in The Red Book Magazine as an interior illustration for the serial "Periwinkle House" by Opie Read, May-September 1920.
Category

Early 1900s Dean Cornwell Art

Materials

Oil

"The governor was speaking now..."
By Dean Cornwell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Signed Lower Left by Artist Literature: V. Delmar, "A Matter of Honor," Cosmopolitan, November 1942, pp. 20-21, illustrated. The present work was reproduced as an illustration for Vina Delmar's novelette "A Matter of Honor," published in the November 1942 issue of Cosmopolitan. The story follows young Joseph, who discovers that his father is an infamous criminal and becomes fearful that the stain on his family's name will deter his love interest from marrying him. After he returns home as a war hero, during the community's homecoming celebration in his honor, he realizes that perhaps the only great quality he inherited from his father is his fearlessness and that this is perhaps a good enough reason for his love to marry him. The present moment captures Joseph deep in thought as the governor...
Category

1940s Dean Cornwell Art

Materials

Oil

World War I Army Corps on the March
By Dean Cornwell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Signed "Dean Cornwell" Left Center World War 1 Army Corps on the March
Category

Early 20th Century Dean Cornwell Art

Materials

Oil

Seated Contemplation
By Dean Cornwell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Initialed and dated lower right
Category

1920s Dean Cornwell Art

Materials

Oil

Illustration for 'Somewhere at Sea'
By Dean Cornwell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Signed Lower Right by Artist This piece was created as an illustration for John Fleming Wilson’s short story Somewhere at Sea, published in the May 1917 issue of Redbook Magazine. T...
Category

1910s Dean Cornwell Art

Materials

Oil

Portrait of Chinese Couple. Pearl S. Buck Tiger Tiger Illustration Cosmopolitan
By Dean Cornwell
Located in Miami, FL
Among the many accolades I would grant Dean Cornwell, the one that rises to the top would be that he is one of America's greatest portrait painters. With a few strokes, he captures h...
Category

1930s American Realist Dean Cornwell Art

Materials

Gouache

Original 'Victory Loan Victory - now you can invest in it!' vintage poster
By Dean Cornwell
Located in Spokane, WA
Original WWII poster: VICTORY - NOW YOU CAN INVEST IN IT! VICTORY LOAN. Linen-backed in very good condition. Restored 'original' fold marks during linen backing which are not ...
Category

1940s American Realist Dean Cornwell Art

Materials

Offset

The Exquisite Perdita, Cosmopolitan Interior Illustration
By Dean Cornwell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Lower Right LITERATURE: C.D.B. Bryan, Mort Walker and the Art of Illustration, Architectural Digest, July 1988, p. 64, illustrated.
Category

1920s Dean Cornwell Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Androscoggin River Falls, study for The Manufacturers National Bank of Lewiston-
By Dean Cornwell
Located in Miami, FL
If there ever were a perfect work in the canon of art history, this masterpiece study by Dean Cornwell would be it. Every line has meaning and not a line out of place, as Cornwell d...
Category

1960s American Realist Dean Cornwell Art

Materials

Pencil, Pastel

Spanish Tavern
By Dean Cornwell
Located in Miami, FL
There is no one alive that can paint and draw like Dean Cornwell. How can that be? They do not train artist the way they did. He was Normal Rockwell's ...
Category

1920s American Impressionist Dean Cornwell Art

Materials

Oil

Ernest Hemingway. The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber He Lay Face Down
By Dean Cornwell
Located in Miami, FL
A complex composition of interlocking pyramids defines Cornwell not only as a great storyteller but a master of painting fundamentals and design. There exists no living artist today who can paint and draw on a level as Dean Cornwell. Published in Cosmopolitan magazine: "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" by Ernest Hemingway Reproduced in Dean Cornwell, Dean of Illustrators (Broder) The work is rendered in the painterly style of a school of impressionism. Dean Cornwell was Normam Rockwell's favorite Illustrator. He was a student of Harvey Dunn, he in turn taught artists and developed talents for a generation. Oils for Cosmopolitan, Redbook, True, American Weekly, Life, Good Housekeeping. Book art for Man from Galilee and others. Ad contracts for GM, Eastern, Pennsylvania Railroad, Paul Jones Whiskey, Aunt...
Category

1930s Post-Impressionist Dean Cornwell Art

Materials

Oil

The Great Things of Life-Travel, General Electric Advertisement, 1921
By Dean Cornwell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Lower Left Sight Size 36.00" x 34.00; Framed 43.75" x 41.75" "The Great Things of Life—Travel, Edison Mazda Lamps/General Electric advertisement" Signed and dated lower left: Dean / Cornwell / 21 Dean Cornwell's advertisements for companies like Coca-Cola, Palmolive Soap, and Philadelphia Blended Whiskey are as chock full of atmosphere and narrative drama as his magazine story illustrations. The present work graced one of eleven advertisements in ""The Great Things of Life"" series, commissioned by General Electric, which ran in monthly 1921 editions of The Saturday Evening Post. Each of these ads, designed by a different artist - among them, Arthur I. Keller, Elizabeth Shippen Green, Clarence F. Underwood, and Sarah Stillwell Weber -- suggested that the warmth of the Edison Mazda Lamp, or incandescent light bulb, went hand in hand with middle-class virtues and opportunities, including ""Reverence,"" ""Contentment,"" ""Gratitude,"" and ""Chums."" For ""Travel,"" Cornwell imaged a honeymooning couple disembarking from a car, about to enter a brightly illuminated inn: ""The Honeymoon Trail is a trail of Light -- Soft lights, orange blossoms, and solemn vows - A handful of confetti, laughing goodbyes and a porch--light smiling its happy farewell -- Bright headlights throwing their radiance over the road; and the lights of welcome in an old-fashioned inn -- So another couple sets forth on the honeymoon trail -- a trail that lingers in memory as long as life lasts, indelibly etched by the magic of light. We speak of life as a journey; have you ever stopped to think how much Edison Mazda Lamps contribute to the pleasure of the journey?"" (General Electric advertisement, The Saturday Evening Post, 1921). The present work is accompanied by three copies of the advertisement as featured in The Saturday Evening Post. " Dean Cornwell, born in 1862, was an American artist who was best known as a muralist and for his famous illustrations in national magazines including Harper's Bazaar, Redbook, and Cosmopolitan. He was born in Louisville, Kentucky and as a child observed his civil engineer father do industrial drawings, which led to his interest in art. Cornwell studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and built his career as a cartoonist for the Lousiville Herald and the Chicago Tribune. Cornwell illustrated the works of some of the most famous names in the literary world, including Edna Ferber, Ernest Hemingway, Pearl S. Buck, and Somerset Maugham. He also created murals for the 1939 World's Fair, Bethlehem Steel, and the General Motors Building in New York City. Cornwell's spectacular murals grace buildings...
Category

1920s Dean Cornwell Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

River Boat, The New World
By Dean Cornwell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Lower Left
Category

20th Century Dean Cornwell Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

(Untitled)
By Dean Cornwell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Lower Left
Category

1920s Dean Cornwell Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Cosmopolitan Story Illustration
By Dean Cornwell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Woman with suitor/explorers wearing pith helmets Publication Information: Story Illustration for "A Marriage of Concenience" by Comerset Mau...
Category

1930s Dean Cornwell Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Bobbies and Crowds Gathered in Industrial Setting
By Dean Cornwell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Upper Left Story illustration for “The Stars Look Down” by A.J. Cronin, illustrated by Cornwell and W. Smithson Broadhead...
Category

1930s Dean Cornwell Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Spanish Tavern
By Dean Cornwell
Located in Miami, FL
There is no one alive that can paint and draw like Dean Cornwell. How can that be? They do not train artist the way they did. Dean Cornwell in his day was as famous as Normal Rockwell...
Category

1920s Post-Impressionist Dean Cornwell Art

Materials

Oil

The Exquisite Perdita
By Dean Cornwell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed and Dated Lower Right
Category

1920s Dean Cornwell Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Euphorbia - Golden Age of Illustration - Stoic and Soulful Women
By Dean Cornwell
Located in Miami, FL
One of the hallmarks of Cornwell's style is that he paints the most stoically soulful faces that express the contained trials and hardships of the subject. Caption: "Are you making little things?" questioned Lucy. 'No ,' said Marge. 'If this one happens to live, there will be many long years ahead of us for that." Morris Weiss collection...
Category

1920s Post-Impressionist Dean Cornwell Art

Materials

Oil

Kindred of the Dust, Frontier Town Cosmopolitan Magazine
By Dean Cornwell
Located in Miami, FL
More than 20 beautifully rendered post-impressionist portraits in character, define Dean Cornwell as one of America's great artists. In his time, he was a famous as Norman Rockwell and was Norman Rockwell's favorite illustrator. "One thing puzzled Dirty Dan extremely. That was the perfectly frank, friendly manner in which his employer and this outcast woman greeted each other, the earnestness with which they conversed, and the effect of the woman's low-spoken words upon the color of Hector McKaye's face." Morris Weiss collection...
Category

1920s Post-Impressionist Dean Cornwell Art

Materials

Oil

Art Deco Painting Romantic Couple on Rocks
By Dean Cornwell
Located in Miami, FL
Fact: There is no one alive today who can paint and draw as good as Dean Cornwell. Why? It takes a lifetime of training, work and commitment to be a great academic artist. Unfortunat...
Category

1920s Art Deco Dean Cornwell Art

Materials

Oil

At the Precinct, Story Illustration
By Dean Cornwell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Date: 1929 Medium: Oil on Board Signature: Signed and Dated Lower Left Dimensions: 30.00" x 19.00" Study for "Find the Woman" (Cosmopolitan Magazine) Artist biographical not...
Category

1920s Dean Cornwell Art

Materials

Oil, Board

The Callers, Cosmopolitan Magazine Interior Illustration
By Dean Cornwell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Date: 1925 Medium: Oil on Board Dimensions: 25.5" x 16.5" Signature: Initialed, Dated and Inscribed Lower Left: DC / 1925 / To Sid Hydemon / 19
Category

1920s Dean Cornwell Art

Materials

Oil, Board

Woe is Me
By Dean Cornwell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Board Dimensions: 25.50" x 20.00" Signature: Initialed Lower Right
Category

Early 20th Century Dean Cornwell Art

Materials

Oil, Board

Never the Twain Shall Meet, Cosmopolitan Illustration
By Dean Cornwell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Date: 1923 Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 35.50" x 30.00" Signature: Signed Lower Left Never the Twain Shall Meet, Cosmopolitan illustration, 1923 This illustration appeared in Peter B. Kyne's story, Never the Twain Shall Meet. "'Ah!' said Tamea. 'You do not believe, then, that I am the Queen of Riva?' 'No,' retorted the health officer, 'I do not. You're the Queen of Hearts.''" It was also reproduced on page 76 of Dean Cornwell: Dean of Illustrators by Patricia Janis Broder, Collector's Press, 2000. Exhibited: Masters of the Golden Age: Harvey Dunn and His Students South Dakota...
Category

1920s Dean Cornwell Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Parachuter with Abraham Lincoln and George Washington
By Dean Cornwell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Date: 1940 Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 40.00" x 36.50" This image was used in magazine advertisements and promotional calendars. Exhibited: 22nd Avvual Exhibition of Advertisi...
Category

1940s Dean Cornwell Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Betsy Ross
By Dean Cornwell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 43.00" x 38.00" Signature: Signed Lower Right This image was used in magazine advertisements and promotional calendars.
Category

Early 20th Century Dean Cornwell Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Stern News After Dinner
By Dean Cornwell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Date: 1919 Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 26.00" x 40.00" Signature: Signed and Dated illustrated: JVJ Publishing, Jim Vadeboncoeur; The Vadeboncoeur Collection of Images...
Category

1910s Dean Cornwell Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

The Torrent
By Dean Cornwell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Date: 1918 Medium: Oil on Board Dimensions: 13.00" x 14.00" Signature: Unsigned 1921 Hearst International, The Torrent. Nicknamed "The Dean of Illustrators" by his peers. A cartoonist at 18 for Louisville Herald. By 1911 he was in the Chicago Tribune's Art department while studying at the city's Art Institute. In 1915, a student of Harvey Dunn, he in turn taught artists and developed talents for a generation. Oils for Cosmopolitan, Redbook, True, American Weekly, Life, Good Housekeeping. Book art for Man from Galilee and others. Ad contracts for GM, Eastern, Pennsylvania Railroad, Paul Jones Whiskey, Aunt...
Category

1910s Dean Cornwell Art

Materials

Oil, Board

The Valley of Silent Men
By Dean Cornwell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Date: 1919 Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 24.00" x 36.00" Signature: Signed and Dated 'Dean / Corn / well '19' (Lower Right) This work was originally used as an illustratio...
Category

1910s Dean Cornwell Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Couple Under Loggia
By Dean Cornwell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 34.00" x 30.00" Signature: Signed Lower Left PRICE ON REQUEST- Story illustration for The Torrent, image of man and woman in outdoor setting. Masters of the Golden Age: Harvey Dunn and His StudentsSouth Dakota Art...
Category

Early 20th Century Dean Cornwell Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Two Different Canvases, Cosmopolitan Story Illustration
By Dean Cornwell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Date: 1930 Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 40.00" x 30.00" Signature: Initialed and Dated Lower Right of Right Canvas Woman with suitor/explorers wearing pith helmets Pub...
Category

1930s Dean Cornwell Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Androscoggin River Falls, study for The Manufacturers National Bank of Lewiston-
By Dean Cornwell
Located in Miami, FL
If there ever were a perfect work in the canon of art history, this masterpiece study by Dean Cornwell would be it. Every line has meaning and not a line out of place, as Cornwell d...
Category

1950s American Realist Dean Cornwell Art

Materials

Pastel

Find the Woman
By Dean Cornwell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Date: 1920 Medium: Oil on Canvas Dimensions: 24.00" x 30.00" Signature: Signed Lower Right 1920 Cosmopolitan - page 63 of cornwell book Nicknamed "The Dean of Illustrators" by his peers. A cartoonist at 18 for Louisville Herald. By 1911 he was in the Chicago Tribune's Art department while studying at the city's Art Institute. In 1915, a student of Harvey Dunn, he in turn taught artists and developed talents for a generation. Oils for Cosmopolitan, Redbook, True, American Weekly, Life, Good Housekeeping. Book art for Man from Galilee and others. Ad contracts for GM, Eastern, Pennsylvania Railroad, Paul Jones Whiskey, Aunt Jemima...
Category

1920s Dean Cornwell Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Mutiny
By Dean Cornwell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Medium: Oil and Pencil on Board Dimensions: 29.50" x 23.25" Signature: Signed Lower Left
Category

Early 20th Century Dean Cornwell Art

Materials

Board, Color Pencil, Oil

Man with Bandaged Head, Saturday Evening Post Illustration
By Dean Cornwell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Date: 1918 Medium: Oil on Mounted Canvas Signature: Signed Lower Left Dimensions: 24.70" x 18.20" Illustration from “The Fire Flinger’s” written by William J. Neidig, featured ...
Category

1910s Dean Cornwell Art

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Story illustration: “Painless Extraction”, Author: Octavus Roy Cohen
By Dean Cornwell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Date: 1919 Medium: Oil on Board Dimensions: 35.50" x 23.00" Signature: Signed Story illustration: “Painless Extraction”, author: Octavus Roy Cohen, Saturday Evening Post, March...
Category

1910s Dean Cornwell Art

Materials

Oil, Board

Ben Franklin
By Dean Cornwell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Approximate Date: 1950 Medium: Oil on Canvas Signature: Signed Lower Right Size: 42.00" x 37.00" PRICE ON REQUEST- This image was used in magazine advertisements and promotion...
Category

1950s Dean Cornwell Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Untitled (Crucifixion on the Battlefield)
By Dean Cornwell
Located in Cliffside Park, NJ
One of the most successful illustrators of the early 20th century Dean Cornwell Untitled (Crucifixion on the Battlefield) initialed DC (center left), oil on canvas, framed canvas: 33...
Category

Early 20th Century Post-Impressionist Dean Cornwell Art

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Study for Mural in the Lobby of WPA Courthouse in Nashville
By Dean Cornwell
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Signature: Not Signed, Authenticated Authenticated and confirmed by Mr. Tim Walker of the Historical Commission, which recently completed a restoration of...
Category

20th Century Dean Cornwell Art

Materials

Board, Gouache, Color Pencil

Land Where Men Forget the Past, The Coconut Pearl
By Dean Cornwell
Located in Missouri, MO
Original Oil on Canvas Illustration for Hearst/Cosmopolitan Aug. 1925 "Land Where Men Forget the Past, The Coconut Pearl" Caption: " 'Anyone who's knocked ...
Category

1920s American Modern Dean Cornwell Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Dean Cornwell art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Dean Cornwell art available for sale on 1stDibs. If you’re browsing the collection of art to introduce a pop of color in a neutral corner of your living room or bedroom, you can find work that includes elements of blue, orange and other colors. You can also browse by medium to find art by Dean Cornwell in paint, oil paint, canvas and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the Post-Impressionist style. Not every interior allows for large Dean Cornwell art, so small editions measuring 14 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Georges Henri Manzana Pissarro, Joseph O'Sickey, and Donald Roy Purdy. Dean Cornwell art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $695 and tops out at $496,000, while the average work can sell for $38,500.

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