Alonzo Earl Foringer (February 1, 1878 – December 8, 1948) was a painter best known for his

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

promotional poster, '' The Greatest Mother in the World''.

Biography

Born in

Kaylor, Pennsylvania Kaylor is an unincorporated community in northern Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States. It lies between Jamestown and Altoona, approximately 80 miles east of Pittsburgh. Notable person Kaylor is the birthplace of football player Joe St ...

, Foringer spent the early part of his life in Armstrong County. Foringer received artistic training from Horatio S. Stevenson in Pittsburgh, then from Henry Siddons Mowbray and Edwin Howland Blashfield in New York City. Later, he moved to

Saddle River, New Jersey Saddle River is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. It is a suburb of New York City, located just over northwest of Manhattan. The town is known for its natural fields, farmland, forests, and rivers, and has a bucolic atmo ...

. A perpetual bachelor, Foringer's household included his brother, T. Milton, and his sisters, Lilian, Ire, and Edith. The Foringer name was important in local politics between Alonzo's art career and Milton's 31-year career on the Saddle River borough council. He died December 8, 1948, in Saddle River, following an illness. Foringer's former home in Saddle River is now a historic landmark, listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

Career

* Foringer completed 11 murals for the Council Chambers of the

Yonkers Yonkers () is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. Developed along the Hudson River, it is the third most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City and Buffalo. The population of Yonkers was 211,569 as enu ...

City Hall. * Around 1911, Foringer completed a mural for the

Mercer County, Pennsylvania Mercer County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 110,652. Its county seat is Mercer, and its largest city is Hermitage. The county was created in 1800 and later organized in 1803. Me ...

, courthouse depicting Justice hearing a case before the public in the building's Courtroom 2. * Foringer completed a promotional poster for the Red Cross during World War I known as ''The Greatest Mother in the World'', and which depicts a nurse cradling an undersized soldier on a stretcher similar to popular imagery of Mary holding the Christ child.

References

1878 births 1948 deaths 19th-century American painters American male painters 20th-century American painters People from Saddle River, New Jersey Painters from New Jersey People from Armstrong County, Pennsylvania Painters from Pennsylvania American muralists 19th-century American male artists 20th-century American male artists {{US-painter-1870s-stub