Tom Lovell Art
“A storyteller with a brush, a custodian of the past” is how illustrator Tom Lovell once described himself. Lovell is regarded as one of the 20th century’s leading Western artists, with his work including figurative paintings of important historical events, portraits of homespun American life and thought-provoking illustrations for publications such as Life, National Geographic and The Saturday Evening Post.
Born in 1909 in New York City, Lovell spent his childhood in Nutley, New Jersey, where he developed a keen interest in art and Native American culture. He often visited New York’s American Museum of Natural History, where he would sketch Native American clothing, weapons and artifacts.
Lovell studied art at Syracuse University, where he roomed with future well-known illustrator Harry Anderson. While there, he began his illustration career by selling his work to pulp magazines. Later, he illustrated for publications such as The American, Cosmopolitan and Women’s Home Companion.
During World War II, Lovell enlisted with the Marine Corps Reserve and created illustrations for the Marine Corps’s Leatherneck magazine and the Marine Corps Gazette. He also completed several large paintings chronicling historical military events; they are now displayed at the Marine Corps headquarters in Washington, DC.
After the war, Lovell continued illustrating for magazines like Collier’s, Redbook, Ladies’ Home Journal and McCall’s, which featured “Day of Yellow Flowers,” one of his better-known illustrations. He contributed a series of historical works, including his famous Civil War painting “Surrender at Appomattox,” to National Geographic.
Throughout the 1960s, he was increasingly fascinated with the American Southwest. In 1975, Lovell and his family moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he found inspiration for his landscapes that depict Native American and Old West culture.
Lovell received numerous accolades throughout his career. In 1974, the Society of Illustrators named him a Hall of Fame Laureate. In 1992, the National Academy of Western Art and National Cowboy Museum honored him with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Lovell is the only artist to have won the National Cowboy Museum’s invitational Prix de West exhibition twice.
Lovell died in 1997. His illustrations and paintings continue to be prized by Western art and Americana collectors.
On 1stDibs, discover a range of Tom Lovell’s paintings.
20th Century Tom Lovell Art
Paint
1950s Tom Lovell Art
Oil
Mid-20th Century Realist Tom Lovell Art
Oil Pastel, Oil, Board, Illustration Board
20th Century Tom Lovell Art
Oil, Canvas
1940s Tom Lovell Art
Oil, Canvas
1940s Tom Lovell Art
Oil, Canvas
1950s Tom Lovell Art
Oil, Canvas
20th Century Tom Lovell Art
Oil
1940s Tom Lovell Art
Oil, Masonite
20th Century Tom Lovell Art
Oil, Canvas
1940s Tom Lovell Art
Oil, Linen
1940s Tom Lovell Art
Oil, Canvas
20th Century Tom Lovell Art
Oil, Canvas
1950s Tom Lovell Art
Oil, Masonite
1950s Tom Lovell Art
Oil, Board
1950s Realist Tom Lovell Art
Gouache
Mid-20th Century Tom Lovell Art
Oil, Canvas
1960s Tom Lovell Art
Board, Oil
1940s Tom Lovell Art
Oil, Canvas
1950s Tom Lovell Art
Oil, Board
1950s Other Art Style Tom Lovell Art
Oil, Board
1950s Tom Lovell Art
Oil, Board
1940s Other Art Style Tom Lovell Art
Oil, Canvas
1950s Other Art Style Tom Lovell Art
Oil, Board
16th Century Old Masters Tom Lovell Art
Ink, Gouache, Pen
20th Century Modern Tom Lovell Art
Gouache, Paper
Late 17th Century Old Masters Tom Lovell Art
Oil, Canvas
Mid-17th Century Baroque Tom Lovell Art
Copper
Mid-20th Century Victorian Tom Lovell Art
Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Photorealist Tom Lovell Art
Canvas, Oil
Irina TrushkovaFlorence -original still life painting-original realism still life oil painting, 2023
1960s Realist Tom Lovell Art
Gouache, Illustration Board
Mid-20th Century Abstract Impressionist Tom Lovell Art
Oil
1930s Realist Tom Lovell Art
Oil Pastel
Late 20th Century Realist Tom Lovell Art
Paper, Oil Pastel, Pastel
Mid-20th Century Post-Impressionist Tom Lovell Art
Oil
Early 2000s Abstract Expressionist Tom Lovell Art
Cardboard, Oil Pastel, Acrylic
20th Century Tom Lovell Art
Paint
20th Century Tom Lovell Art
Oil, Board
20th Century Tom Lovell Art
Oil, Board
1940s Tom Lovell Art
Canvas, Oil