By
Armand Cabrera
For the month of October my articles for Art and Influence will focus on past masters of pen and ink in honor of Inktober, an art challenge started by Jake Parker in 2009 that asks artists to draw and post a pen and ink drawing a day for the month. The challenge has participants from around the world that post work online. In conjunction with my articles here I will also be posting work from a different pen and ink artist every day on my Facebook page.
Orson Byron Lowell was born in Iowa in 1871. He was the son of Milton H. Lowell and landscape painter. At eh age of 16 Lowell attended the art institute of Chicago studying under J.H Vanderpoel. In his last year of school he began to receive profession work from local
magazines.
In 1893 he moved to New York to establish his career. By 1905 he was a highly sought after illustrator making enough money to purchase a house in New Rochelle an artist’s community that included Norman Rockwell, Joseph Leyendecker and Franklin Booth.
Lowell worked for all of the top magazines of the time. Primarily known for his work in pen and ink, he also worked in watercolor, Gouache and oils. He was praised for his original style and line work and a keen eye in regards to social commentary. Orson Byron Lowell died in 1956.
Bibliography
The Illustrator in America 1900-1960
Walt and Roger Reed
Reinhold Publishing 1966
The Illustrator in America 1880-1980
Walt and Roger Reed
Madison Square Press 1993
The Illustrator in America 1860-2000
Walt and Roger Reed
Collins Design 2003
200 years of American illustration
Henry Pitz
Random House 1977
Masters of American Illustration:
41 Illustrators and how they worked
Fred Taraba
The Illustrated Press 2011
