Walter Appleton Clark

Clark, like many of his generation, began as a student in New York City at the Art Students League. His professor, H. Siddons Mowbray (1858-1928), stressed the importance of drawing while his good friend, James Montgomery Flagg (1877-1906), introduced the young Clark to the wonders and pleasures of the nation's largest city. Clark was a precocious learner and in 1897 he embarked on his short but active career, first employed by "Scribner's" magazine. At 23 he returned as an instructor at the League, but then a year later he decided to return to work full time as an illustrator. His covers and cartoons were featured prominently in "Harper's Weekly" and "Collier's". Art historians have written that his final work, pen and ink drawings, black and white watercolors, or his infrequent oil paintings, shows the confidence of a master and the heart of a poet. He died of typhoid fever at 30, thus tragically robbing the world of illustration of one of its most talented artists.