John Ford Clymer (January 29, 1907 – November 2, 1989) was an American

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

and

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 ...

known for his paintings and illustrations, often featuring the American West.

Early life and education

Born in

Ellensburg, Washington Ellensburg is a city in and the county seat of Kittitas County, Washington, United States. It is located just east of the Cascade Range near the junction of Interstate 90 in Washington, Interstate 90 and Interstate 82. The population was 18,666 ...

, Clymer first studied art through an Art Instruction School correspondence course.

Career

Clymer continued to study art in Canada, where he attended the Vancouver School of Art (now Emily Carr University) and the

Ontario College of Art and Design Ontario College of Art & Design University, commonly known as OCAD University or OCAD U, is a public art university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its main campus is located within Toronto's Grange Park and Entertainment District neighbourhoods ...

's summer school. He spent eight years illustrating for Canadian magazines. In

Westport, Connecticut Westport is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. Located in the Gold Coast (Connecticut), Gold Coast along the Long Island Sound, it is northeast of New York City and is part of the Western Connecticut Planning Region, Connec ...

, Clymer continued his studies under

N.C. Wyeth Newell Convers Wyeth (October 22, 1882 – October 19, 1945), known as N. C. Wyeth, was an American painter and illustrator. He was a student of Howard Pyle and became one of America's most well-known illustrators. Wyeth created more than 3,000 ...

and the painter and teacher

Harvey Dunn Harvey Thomas Dunn NA, also known as J. Harvey Dunn (March 8, 1884 – October 29, 1952), was an American painter and teacher. During World War I, Dunn was an artist-correspondent with the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe. Most of Du ...

and established his career as an illustrator for American magazines, including '' Argosy'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

Woman's Day ''Woman's Day'' is an American women's magazine that covers such topics as homemaking, food, nutrition, physical fitness, physical attractiveness, and fashion. The print edition is one of the Seven Sisters (magazines), Seven Sisters magazines. ...

'' and ''

Field and Stream ''Field & Stream'' (''F&S'' for short) is an American magazine focusing on sport hunting, recreational fishing and other outdoor activities. It was a print publication between 1895 and 2015, and became an online-only publication in 2020. After ...

''. Clymer created over eighty covers for ''

''.Reed, Walt. ''John Clymer, an Artist's Rendezvous with the Frontier West'', Northland, 1976
While in the Marine Corps, he illustrated for ''

Leatherneck Magazine ''Leatherneck Magazine of the Marines'' (or simply ''Leatherneck'') is a magazine for United States Marines. History and profile The first ''Leatherneck'' was published Nov. 17, 1917, as a four-page newspaper. It was called ''The Quantico Leat ...

'' and the ''

Marine Corps Gazette The ''Marine Corps Gazette'' is a professional journal by and for members of the United States Marine Corps. Known as "The Professional Journal of U.S. Marines", the ''Gazette'' was founded in 1916 at Marine Corps Base Quantico by Colonel Jo ...

''. His work in advertising included paintings for White Horse Scotch Whisky, the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Chrysler Corporation. He also made easel paintings of cowboy life and portrayed the history of the American West.

Awards

In 1976, Clymer received the Prix de West from the Academy of Western Art. His oils and charcoal drawings earned him awards from the Cowboy Artists of America. He was named Western Artist of the Year by the National Wildlife Art Collectors Society. In 1988, he was awarded the Rungius Medal from the National Museum of Wildlife Art for his painting ''Late Arrivals, Green River Rendezvous''. He was made a member of the

Royal Canadian Academy of Arts The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA) is a Canadian arts-related organization that was founded in 1880. History 1880 to 1890 The title of Royal Canadian Academy of Arts was received from Victoria of the United Kingdom, Queen Victoria on 16 ...

. His work is on permanent exhibit at the Clymer Museum of Art, located at 416 North Pearl Street in Ellensburg, Washington.

Personal life

In 1932, he married his childhood sweetheart, and in the fall of 1937, the couple moved to

. Clymer died on November 2, 1989, in

Bellevue, Washington Bellevue ( ) is a city in the Eastside (King County, Washington), Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, located across Lake Washington from Seattle. It is the third-largest city in the Seattle metropolitan area, and the f ...

References

External links

John Clymer collection at the National Museum of American IllustrationThe Clymer Museum
& Gallery
National Museum of Wildlife Art: Virtual tour of Clymer Studio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clymer, John 1907 births 1989 deaths American magazine illustrators 20th-century American painters American male painters Artists of the American West Members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts People from Ellensburg, Washington 20th-century American male artists