Douglass Crockwell
American, 1904 - 1968
Douglass Crockwell was born in Columbus, Ohio. His father was a civil engineer and his mother was the daughter of a lawyer. The family moved to St. Louis in 1907 where they remained until 1932. Crockwell earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Washington University (1922-1926) followed by time at the American Academy of Art in Chicago. From 1927 to 1931 Crockwell studied at the St. Louis School of Fine Arts and earned a European Traveling Fellowship to study in France in 1930-1931. He also was a prize winner at the St. Louis Artists Guild in 1930-1931. From 1929 to 1933, he created the award winning series "Men at Work". In 1932 Crockwell moved to Glens Falls, New York where he lived the rest of his life.
Crockwell was quickly distinguished as a fine artist, receiving an honorable mention in the first Treasury Mural competition. He went on to have three state mural commissions. Crockwell supported himself as a commercial illustrator, having commission work from General Electric, General Motors, Standard Oil, General Mills, Coca Cola, American Tobacco Co., and more. Crockwell illustrated eighteen "Saturday Evening Post" covers, in addition to providing illustrations for the magazines "Life", "Look", and "Esquire".
Crockwell was also an experimental animator who pioneered numerous animation techniques, including direct manipulation animation using paint and wax on glass and clay stop motion animation. His work was often abstract and surreal. Titles include "Glens Falls Sequence" (1937-1946) and "Simple Destiny Abstractions" (1937-1940), which were both included in the recent DVD anthology "Unseen Cinema-Early American Avant-Garde Film 1894-1941".
Crockwell was on the Board of Trustees of The Hyde Collection from 1952-1968 and was the Acting Director of The Hyde Collection from 1964-1968.
Crockwell was quickly distinguished as a fine artist, receiving an honorable mention in the first Treasury Mural competition. He went on to have three state mural commissions. Crockwell supported himself as a commercial illustrator, having commission work from General Electric, General Motors, Standard Oil, General Mills, Coca Cola, American Tobacco Co., and more. Crockwell illustrated eighteen "Saturday Evening Post" covers, in addition to providing illustrations for the magazines "Life", "Look", and "Esquire".
Crockwell was also an experimental animator who pioneered numerous animation techniques, including direct manipulation animation using paint and wax on glass and clay stop motion animation. His work was often abstract and surreal. Titles include "Glens Falls Sequence" (1937-1946) and "Simple Destiny Abstractions" (1937-1940), which were both included in the recent DVD anthology "Unseen Cinema-Early American Avant-Garde Film 1894-1941".
Crockwell was on the Board of Trustees of The Hyde Collection from 1952-1968 and was the Acting Director of The Hyde Collection from 1964-1968.