John Langley "Lang" Howard (1902–1999) was an American artist, known as a

Social Realist Social realism is work produced by painters, printmakers, photographers, writers, filmmakers and some musicians that aims to draw attention to the real socio-political conditions of the working class as a means to critique the power structures ...

muralist, printmaker and illustrator.

Biography

John Langley Howard was born in Upper Montclair,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, on February 5, 1902, the son of architect

John Galen Howard John Galen Howard (May 8, 1864 – July 18, 1931) was an American architect and educator who began his career in New York before moving to California. He was the principal architect at several firms in both states and employed Julia Morgan early ...

and Mary Robertson Bradbury. His siblings included Henry Temple Howard (1894–1967),

Robert Boardman Howard Robert Boardman Howard (September 20, 1896 – February 18, 1983) was an American artist. He is known for his graphic art, watercolors, oils, and murals, as well as his Art Deco bas-reliefs and his Modernist sculptures and mobiles. An online facs ...

(1896–1983), Charles Houghton Howard (1899–1978), and Jeanette Howard Wallace (1905–1998). The family moved to California in 1904. They settled in Berkeley, where John Galen Howard was hired to supervise the erection of the

Hearst Memorial Mining Building The Hearst Memorial Mining Building at the University of California, Berkeley, is home to the university's Materials Science and Engineering Department, with research and teaching spaces for the subdisciplines of biomaterials; chemical and electr ...

at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

. John Langley Howard attended

and studied engineering and English for one semester, leaving in 1922. He switched to study art and initially enrolled in

California College of Arts and Crafts The California College of the Arts (CCA) is a Private university, private art school in San Francisco, California. It was founded in Berkeley, California in 1907 and moved to a historic estate in Oakland, California in 1922. In 1996, it opened ...

and later at

Art Students League of New York 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 ...

with

Kenneth Hayes Miller Kenneth Hayes Miller (March 11, 1876 – January 1, 1952) was an American painter, printmaker, and teacher. Career Born in Oneida, New York, he studied at the Art Students League of New York with Kenyon Cox, Henry Siddons Mowbray and with Willia ...

. He painted one of the

Coit Tower Coit Tower (also known as Coit Memorial Tower) is a tower in the Telegraph Hill, San Francisco, Telegraph Hill neighborhood of San Francisco, California, overlooking the city and San Francisco Bay. The tower, in the city's Pioneer Park, San Franc ...

murals, ''California Industrial Scenes''. The mural was designed as a result of the atrocity of 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 ...

, and featured

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

imagery which caused controversy when it was unveiled. From 1953 until 1965, Howard illustrated many covers for

Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it, with more than 150 Nobel Pri ...

magazine. He also created illustrations for

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

magazine. Howard was married three times Adelaide Scofield Day Howard (in 1925); Blanche Phillips (in 1949); and Mary McMahon (in 1980). He died on November 15, 1999, in his home in the

Potrero Hill Potrero Hill is a residential neighborhood in San Francisco, California. It is known for being one of the sunniest neighborhoods in the city and having view of the skyline, Sutro Tower, Twin Peaks, and the bay. A working-class neighborhood unt ...

neighborhood of San Francisco, California.

References

External links

Oral history Interview with John Langley Howard and Mary Howard, 1991 Sept. 5
from

Archives of American Art The Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 20 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washing ...

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

Blanche Phillips Howard and John Langley Howard papers, 1947-1981
from Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution {{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, John Langley 1902 births 1999 deaths 20th-century American illustrators American muralists Artists from San Francisco Artists from Montclair, New Jersey American social realist artists University of California, Berkeley alumni California College of the Arts alumni Art Students League of New York alumni