Emmett St. Clair Watson, Jr. (January 30, 1893May 7, 1955) was an American illustrator whose works appeared in popular magazines such as ''

The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine published six times a year. It was published weekly from 1897 until 1963, and then every other week until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely circulated and influ ...

'', ''

Judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

'', ''

Collier's } ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter F. Collier, Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened i ...

'', and ''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

'', and also in

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 such as '' Argosy'', '' Railroad Stories'', and ''Detective Fiction Weekly''.

Early life

Emmett St. Clair Watson, Jr. was born in 1893 in

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

to Emmett St. Clair Watson, Sr. and Julia Butler Winn, and spent his early childhood in the Church Hill section of the city. He attended John Marshall High School and worked as an illustrator for Metropolitan Engraving. In 1916, Watson moved to New York City, where he attended classes at the

Art Students League The Art Students League of New York is an art school in the American Fine Arts Society in Manhattan, New York City. The Arts Students League is known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may study f ...

and the

Grand Central School of Art The Grand Central School of Art was an American art school in New York City, founded in 1922 by the painters Edmund Greacen, Walter Leighton Clark and John Singer Sargent. It closed in 1944. History The school was established and run by the Gra ...

World War I

When the United States entered

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in 1917, Watson enlisted in the 7th Regiment of the New York Militia, also known as the "Silk Stocking" regiment, but was soon transferred to the Intelligence Section of Headquarters Company of 69th Infantry Regiment, the famous "Fighting Sixty-Ninth", within the 42nd Infantry "Rainbow" Division. In France, Watson worked as a cartographer, drawing maps of the front lines. He served with noted poet

Joyce Kilmer Alfred Joyce Kilmer (December 6, 1886 – July 30, 1918) was an American people, American writer and poet mainly remembered for a short poem titled "Trees (poem), Trees" (1913), which was published in the collection ''Trees and Other Poems'' in ...

Father Duffy Francis Patrick Duffy (May 2, 1871 – June 27, 1932) was a Canadian American soldier, Catholic priest and military chaplain. Duffy served as chaplain for the 69th Infantry Regiment (known as the "Fighting 69th"), a unit of the New York Army N ...

, and William "Wild Bill" Donovan.

Freelance Illustrator

With the

Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from t ...

, the war was over and Watson returned to New York, opening his own art studio on East 34th Street in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. Many of his early published works were black and white illustrations and advertisements. Soon, however, he was creating color covers for slick magazines such as ''

'', ''

'', and ''

Life Magazine ''Life'' (stylized as ''LIFE'') is an American magazine launched in 1883 as a weekly publication. In 1972, it transitioned to publishing "special" issues before running as a monthly from 1978 to 2000. Since then, ''Life'' has irregularly publi ...

''. During the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, many of Watson's works appeared in

s, such as '' Argosy'', ''Detective Fiction Weekly'', and '' Railroad Stories''. David Saunders has described Watson's work for the pulps as "masterful" and wrote that his "...confident drawing style, bold compositions, and joyous color schemes were very influential, especially for the younger pulp artist,

Rudolph Belarski Rudolph Belarski (May 27, 1900 – December 24, 1983) was an American graphic artist known for his cover art depicting aerial combat for magazines such as ''Wings'', '' Dare Devil Aces'', and ''War Birds''. He also drew science fiction covers for ...

, who worked with Watson for Argosy." After the depression, once again Watson's work appeared in slick magazines, such as ''

'', and during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Watson created several wartime posters as well as 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 ...

''. His art includes covers for ''Adventure'', ''American Legion Weekly'', ''Argosy'', ''Big Chief Western'', ''Capper’s Farmer'', ''Colliers'', ''Detective Dime Novels'', ''Detective Fiction Weekly'', ''Double Detective'', ''Everybody's'', ''Farmer's Wife'', ''Good Hardware'', ''Judge'', ''Leslie's'', ''Liberty'', ''Life'', ''National Home Monthly'', ''Parents’ Magazine'', ''People's Popular Monthly'', ''Phantom Detective'', ''Progressive Grocer'', ''Railroad Stories'', ''Red Star Detective'', ''Saturday Evening Post'', ''Star Western'', ''Thrilling Adventures'', and '' Toronto Star Weekly''. In addition, he drew magazine interior art and advertisements; hunting, fishing, and camping scenes for calendars for

Brown & Bigelow Brown & Bigelow is a company based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, that sells branded apparel and promotional merchandise. History The company was founded in 1896 by Herbert Huse Bigelow and Hiram Brown. On June 24, 1924, Bigelow was convicted fo ...

; and illustrations for book jackets.

Personal life

Watson married Marguerite Marie Elliott in the

Church of the Transfiguration The Church of the Transfiguration (, ) is a Franciscan church located on Mount Tabor in Israel. It is traditionally believed to be the site where the Transfiguration of Jesus took place, an event in the Gospels in which Jesus is transfigured upo ...

on July 18, 1921. Their son Emmett St. Clair Watson III was born in 1922 and daughter Marguerite in 1925. The Watsons lived for many years in

Scarsdale, New York Scarsdale is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The Town of Scarsdale is coterminous municipality, coextensive with the Village of Scarsdale, but the community has opted to operate ...

Death

Emmett Watson died on May 7, 1955.

Gallery

File:Buick Bulletin Nov-1916.jpg, Buick Bulletin
Nov 1916 File:Man and Woman at Dinner.jpg, Man and Woman
circa 1919 File:ESW sheet music cover.jpg, Sheet music cover
circa 1920 File:Leslie's Magazine Feb 12, 1921.jpg, Leslie's Magazine
Feb 12, 1921 File:Female Aviator.jpg, Female Aviator
circa 1924 File:American Legion 10-23-1925.jpg, American Legion Weekly
Oct 23, 1925 File:EW-RougeBouquet-restored.jpg,

Rouge Bouquet Rouge Bouquet is a part of the Forêt de Parroy near the village of Baccarat, France. It was the site of a German artillery bombardment of American trench positions on 7 March 1918 at 15:20 on the Chausailles sector of the Western Front during ...

File:EW-Tiger.jpg, Tiger in hunter's shadow File:EW-HisMan.jpg, His Man File:EW-Lion.jpg, Lion File:EW-BreadnJelly.jpg, Bread 'n' Jelly File:EW-FindersKeepers.jpg, Finders Keepers

References

External links

*
The Illustrations of Emmett Watson
- Short documentary about his life and work. {{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Emmett 1893 births 1955 deaths 20th-century American illustrators United States Army personnel of World War I United States Army soldiers Military personnel from Richmond, Virginia