Rufus Fairchild Zogbaum
Rufus Fairchild Zogbaum | |
|---|---|
 Rufus Fairchild Zogbaum, 1894 | |
| Born | Rufus Fairchild Zogbaum |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for | Illustration, Painting, Drawing, Journalism |
Rufus Fairchild Zogbaum (August 28, 1849 – October 22, 1925) is primarily known as an illustrator for late 19th century news magazines, but he was also a journalist and author. His works were regularly featured in Harper’s Weekly Magazine.[1]
Early life
Zogbaum was born in Charleston, South Carolina. He was educated at the Art Students League in New York City from 1878-1879, and during 1880-1882 studied under Léon Bonnat in Paris.[2]
Career
Harper's Weekly normally hired freelance illustrators; nevertheless, for a time Zogbaum was on the magazine's art staff and was sometimes given the assignment to redraw submissions by freelance illustrators. In the 19th century news magazine world, redrawing illustrations was the equivalent of editing writers’ works. Two of the most famous artists who made illustrations for Harper’s were Winslow Homer and Frederic Remington, whose first few illustrations for Harper’s were redrawn by staff artists, including Zogbaum.
Like Rockwell, Zogburn was a member of the New Rochelle Art Association, organized in 1912, and part of the well known 'Art Colony' that had developed in New Rochelle in the early 1900's.[3]
By 1912, Remington had died (1909) and Zogbaum became so well-known that no less than Rudyard Kipling included references to him in a poem about a friend who had died:
Admiral [Robley D.] Evans[4]
Zogbaum draws with a pencil, / And I do things with a pen. / And you sit up in a conning tower / Bossing eight hundred men. //
Zogbaum takes care of his business / And I take care of mine. / And you take care of ten thousand tons, / Sky-shooting through the brine. //
Zogbaum can handle his shadows / And I can handle my style. / And you can handle a ten-inch gun / To carry seven mile. //
"To him that hath shall be given." / And that's why these books are sent / To the man who had lived more stories / Than Zogbaum or I could invent.
Specialization and influence
Zogbaum specialized in several areas of illustration. During his lifetime, his drawings and paintings of horses and military themes (U.S. Army and Navy) were almost as well-known as Remington’s, although he was older than Remington and his works had actually influenced the younger artist.[5] As did Remington, during the Spanish-American War, Zogbaum served as an on-the-scene artist-correspondent.
Afterward
His son, Rufus F. Zogbaum, Jr., became an admiral in the U.S. Navy, and his grandson, Wilfred Zogbaum[6] (1915-1965), was a well-respected painter and sculptor who had teaching stints in several universities, including the University of California at Berkeley.
Links to illustrations
- The March Out, by Rufus Zogbaum (1885), used on the Ft. Davis National Historic Site website
- The Prairie Mail Box, by Rufus Zogbaum (1887), on the ‘’Nevada Observer’’ website
- Montana Cowboy by Rufus Zogbaum (1885) used to illustrate his article, A Day's Drive With Montana Cowboys in Harper's Magazine, July 1885, Volume 71, Issue 422
- Sailors Buying Souvenirs, 1892, by Rufus Zogbaum (1897) in All Hands: Pictures of Life in the United States Navy, 1897, from the The Mariners' Museum Research Library and Archives website
- Article by Rufus Zogbaum, Across Country with a Cavalry Column (1885), showing four illustrations
References
- ^ Rufus Zogbaum’s entry on AskArt.com
- ^
Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1889). Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ NRAA - Fouder's Exhibit; A. G. Heaton
- ^ Poem by Rudyard Kipling referencing Zogbaum
- ^ Peggy & Harold Samuels, Frederic Remington: A Biography, Doubleday & Co., Garden City, NY
- ^ Smithsonian American Art Museum biography of Wilfred Zogbaum
