A recent thrift store stop netted the source for today’s column, a look back to 1956 and an important slice of American art history, not to mention the talent of a young chicken farmer from Sebastapol, California.
For there on the thrift store shelf was a 53-year-old packet of promotional material from the Famous Artists School, along with a completed talent test never sent in for evaluation. From the looks of it, this farmer, Norman Olsen, had quite an eye for art. I’m sure he would have qualified for any of the correspondence courses offered by the school, which is still in business today.
Here’s Norman Olsen’s application and a couple examples of his art technique.
Conceived in 1948 by artist Albert Dorne, Famous Artists School was founded by 12 artists who were indeed well-known, including Norman Rockwell, Robert Fawcett, and Harold von Schmidt. Each had received hundreds of letters from people looking for artistic advice, so they figured a mail-order art school might be a profitable undertaking. Here is Dorne, followed by a picture of the dedicated faculty.
And it was successful. Courses in Painting, Illustration/Design, and Cartooning consisted of 24 lessons, which students completed at their own pace at home. In 1948, the fee per two-year course was $300 plus the cost of supplies.
Here is Norman Olsen’s optional freestyle illustration, as well as an example of his shading technique.
The courses were serious and the faculty sincere — this wasn’t a fly-by-night scam. Student work was reviewed and graded by the artist faculty, who wrote lengthy letters and provided drawn comments on tissue overlays.
Each student’s progress was tracked in an individual file, according to the brochure, and from the promotional literature you’d think the faculty often sat around in groups critiquing individual works. But with thousands of students, I’m not sure everyone got that sort of attention.
The talent test itself included topics such as composition, design sense, imagination and, of course, actual drawing skills.
Included with the test was a lavish brochure explaining not just how the courses worked, but what it would be like to be a successful artist. There are many examples of successful students and their work, along with endorsements from hiring art directors, magazine editors, and others.
Which one of the following celebrities was not a student? A – Charlton Heston, B – Dinah Shore, C – Debbie Reynolds. Go to page 2 to find out!
This article was last modified on May 17, 2023
This article was first published on August 14, 2009
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