''You Are an Artist'' is a television series, which first aired on NBC flagship station WNBT-TV in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and "a small network of stations on the East Coast" on November 1, 1946, and then continued on the

NBC Television The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

network until 1950

Gulf Oil Gulf Oil was a major global oil company in operation from 1901 to 1985. The eighth-largest American manufacturing company in 1941 and the ninth largest in 1979, Gulf Oil was one of the Seven Sisters (oil companies), Seven Sisters oil companies. ...

began sponsoring ''You Are an Artist'' in December 1946. In February 1950 the show moved to CBS, originating from

WCBS-TV WCBS-TV (channel 2), branded CBS New York, is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside Riverhead, New York–lic ...

. It was sponsored by

Doubleday Doubleday may refer to: * Doubleday (surname), including a list of people with the name Publishing imprints * Doubleday (publisher), imprint of Knopf Doubleday, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House * Doubleday Canada, imprint of Penguin Random ...

Versions

''You Are an Artist''

The program was designed to teach people how to draw. Artist

Jon Gnagy Jon Gnagy (January 13, 1907 – March 7, 1981) was a self-taught artist most remembered for being America's original television art instructor, hosting '' You Are an Artist'', which began on the NBC network and included analysis of paintings fro ...

would create drawings, describing his methods in lay terms. In later episodes, he added analysis of a famous painting on each episode. The program briefly reverted to a New York City local show before a final three-week run on NBC in 1950.

''The Warren Hull Show''

Warren Hull John Warren Hull (January 17, 1903 – September 14, 1974), known professionally as Warren Hull, was an American actor, singer and television personality active from the 1930s through the 1960s. He was one of the most popular serial actors in t ...

became host of the program in January 1950, and the title changed to reflect his role as star. The format changed to a talk show, focused on the output of show sponsors, book publishers Doubleday and Company. In each episode, Hull talked about a new book from Doubleday and interviewed the author. Hull was host for a month, before

Ben Grauer Benjamin Franklin Grauer (June 2, 1908 – May 31, 1977) was an American radio and television personality, following a career during the 1920s as a child actor in films and on Broadway. He began his career as a child in David Warfield's productio ...

replaced him.

''The Ben Grauer Show''

Once more, the title was changed to indicate a new host. Grauer continued Hull's format of talking about books and interviewing authors. His program also plugged Doubleday book clubs that offered discounted versions of books. Grauer's version of the show ran from February 1950 through June 1950.

References

External links