Arthur Baloy Ray McCowen (July 29, 1893 – October 14, 1959) was an American

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicate ...

who drew magazine covers between 1920 and 1959. He also made illustrations for

pulp magazine Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 until around 1955. The term "pulp" derives from the Pulp (paper), wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed, due to their ...

s, including five covers for

Liberty magazine Liberty magazine may refer to: * Liberty (1881–1908), ''Liberty'' (1881–1908), a political magazine published from 1881 to 1908 by Benjamin Tucker * Liberty (general interest magazine), ''Liberty'' (general interest magazine), published from ...

between 1932 and 1933. He also produced covers for ''American Detective, True Romance, Liberty,

True Detective ''True Detective'' is an American Anthology series, anthology Crime fiction, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Nic Pizzolatto for the premium cable network HBO. The series premiered on January 12, 2014, and ...

, Physical Culture, Love & Romance'' and ''Satire Presents.''

Biography

McCowen was born in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

, Oregon, on July 29, 1893, to Arthur and Carrie McCowen. His father worked as a grocer in Portland. In 1910, McCowen and his father were living in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California, where McCowen worked as an assistant bookkeeper at Blake, Moffit & Town, a paper company. In 1917, McCowen joined the

U. S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

and went to war, as a 2nd Lt. in the Yuma National Guard. By 1920, McCowen was living in Manhattan, working as commercial artist. During this period, McCowen produced hundreds of magazine covers and Illustrations for popular pulp magazines. In 1956 McCowen retired and he moved to

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. McCowen died on October 14, 1959, at age 66 at

Bay Pines Veterans Hospital The Bay Pines Veterans Administration Home and Hospital Historic District is a U.S. historic district located at 10000 Bay Pines Blvd. in Bay Pines, Florida. The district contains prehistoric aboriginal sites and fourteen Mediterranean Reviva ...

, in Bay Pines, Florida.

List of Published Illustrations

Liberty Magazine, issue 33, August 13, 1932
* Liberty Magazine, issue 38, September 17, 1932

* Liberty Magazine, issue 37, September 16, 1933 * Liberty Magazine, issue 35, November 11, 1933

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCowen, Baloy 20th-century American illustrators Pulp fiction artists 1893 births 1959 deaths American magazine illustrators