Howard Chandler Christy (1873-1952) - an American illustrator
Born in Morgan County and studied at a school in Duncan Falls, Ohio. Christy came to the city from Ohio in 1890 when he was 16 years old to enter the National Academy of Design and the League of Art Students, where he studied with William Merritt Chase. But quickly ran out of money, he had nothing to pay for school and apartment, and Christy was forced to return to Ohio. Two years later, he returned to study and continued to learn from Chase, who promoted, as the main way of drawing - creativity on "plane air", i.e. on the planner. Chase did not open his own school until 1896, so these were private lessons.
Christy was only 22 years old when the first illustration of "Christy Girl" was published in «The Century», and like his contemporaries, Benda, Franklin Booth, Frank Craig, Harrison Fisher, he was a young artist in New York at the time when the magazines required such images.
At the same time, Christy's work soon began to be in demand. As a student, Christy received in 1895 an order from «The Century». Editors have always been in search of young artists, and Christy was always excellent.
A fame for Christy came after the publication of his picture "The Soldier's Dream" depicting a soldier smoking a pipe and a woman appearing in smoke, which was published in Scribners. The girl, whom he portrayed in this and subsequent paintings, was later known as "Christy Girl".
Between 1905 and the beginning of the World War I, Christy was one of America's most popular artists. His "Christy Girl" appeared in countless calendars, magazine covers, book illustrations and collectibles.
He taught at the best New York schools: the League of Humanities students, the Cooper Union, the New York School of Art and the Chase School, which was founded by his first teacher. Most of the time was spent in Ohio, where the artist lived and built a studio.
From 1921 until his death, Christy lived in New York and had his studio in the Hotel des Artistes. On the first floor of the hotel there was an artistic cafe (Cafe des Artistes), for which Christie performed wonderful frescoes with nude figures.
In the same year of 1921, at the height of his fame, Christy departed from the commercial illustration, tried to change his style and concentrated on painting the portrait.
His popularity is evidenced by the fact that Christy painted portraits of presidents, beginning with Franklin Roosevelt and ending with James Garfield, notable actors and politicians Will Rogers, Eddie Rickenbacker and Benito Mussolini.
His most famous portrait painting is the portrait of the pilot Amelia Earhart, was completed in 1932 and later published by the magazine «Town & Country», as a cover, on February 1, 1933. This was the only exception to Christy's decision not to make commercial pictures.
Shown at Christy's personal exhibition "Portraits of Celebrities" at the Baltimore Museum of Art in January 1936, this painting was stolen from the exposition and was found only in the late 1990s.
The depression of the 1930s prevented Christy from leading the life of "bon vivant", but even during these years the artist worked constantly - either on an order or for himself.
His frescoes adorn the building of the Ohio state legislature, and his most famous painting is the huge "Scene of the Constitution of the United States", which hangs in the National Capitol.
In 1952 Christy died. In 1980 his name was included in the Hall of Fame of the Society of Illustrators.
