Harold Von Schmidt

Orphaned at the age of five, von Schmidt was raised in California by his grandfather, a former '49er who filled his head with tales of adventure in the old West. He received training at the San Francisco Art Institute and the California College of Arts and Crafts. In addition to his art studies, von Schmidt worked as a cowboy, freight handler and lumberjack. He is praised for his non-Hollywood depiction of Western subjects. Despite ending his days in Westport, CT, von Schmidt was a true Westerner, and his art depicted that life.

EXTENDED BIO

Harold von Schmidt (May 19, 1893 – June 3, 1982) was an American illustrator who specialized in magazine interior illustrations. Born in Alameda, California in 1893, he was orphaned at the age of five. After a year in an orphanage, he went to live with his grandfather, who had been a forty-niner. As a youth von Schmidt worked as a cowhand and a construction worker. In 1920 and 1924 he was on the United States Olympic Rugby team. Although the United States team won the gold medal both years, von Schmidt did not play in the only game in 1920, and was sidelined by an injury in the final practice in 1924.

Von Schmidt began his art studies at the California School of Arts and Crafts while he was still in high school. In 1924 he moved to New York City and entered the Grand Central School of Art. In 1927 he married and moved to Westport, Connecticut. Harold von Schmidt's work appeared primarily in Collier's Weekly, Cosmopolitan (magazine), Liberty (magazine), The Saturday Evening Post, and Sunset (magazine). Although he preferred magazine work and illustrated few books, he spent two years preparing sixty illustrations for a deluxe edition of Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop. In 1948 he was recruited by Albert Dorne to be one of the founding faculty for the Famous Artists School. He was awarded the first gold medal by the trustees of the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in 1968.

Harold died on June 3, 1982 in Westport, Connecticut.

Harold's son Eric Von Schmidt was a well-known singer-songwriter associated with Bob Dylan.

REFERENCES

Rugby at the Olympics - retrieved July 31, 2006

Biography of Harold von Schmidt - retrieved July 31, 2006

The Illustrated Gallery - Harold von Schmidt - retrieved July 31, 2006

The Rugby History Society