Dean Cornwell
(American, 1892–1960)
Biography
Cornwell’s illustrations appeared in popular magazines such as the Saturday Evening Post, Cosmopolitan, and Harper's Bazaar alongside the work of authors including Pearl S Buck, Ernest Hemingway, and W Somerset Maugham. He also worked as a commercial artist for several prominent brands, among them Coca-Cola, Lucky Strike, and Palmolive.
In 1927 Cornwell travelled to London to study mural painting under Frank Brangwyn, assisting on a number of projects including one at the House of Lords. Following his return to the US, Cornwell's fame as a muralist (which had earned him the nickname ‘the Norman Rockwell of muralists’) led to commissions for notable locations such as the Los Angeles Public Library and the New York City Court of Appeals.
Cornwell was President of the National Society of Mural Painters from 1953–57 and was inducted into the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame in 1959. He died on December 4, 1960.
Cornwell’s painting Portrait (oil on canvas) was sold for a record-breaking price of $245,700 at auction.
Dean Cornwell Artworks
Dean Cornwell
STORY ILLUSTRATION. DISTAUGHT MOUNTIE &..., 1919
Sale Date: May 2, 1992
Auction Closed
Dean Cornwell
STORY ILLUSTRATION. MAN MEETING JAPANESE WOMAN, 1923
Sale Date: May 2, 1992
Auction Closed
Dean Cornwell
NURSE AND ANGELS ABOVE WORLD WAR I SOLDIERS, 1918
Sale Date: November 2, 1991
Auction Closed
Dean Cornwell
MAN SITTING IN CHAIR OF A SPANISH HOME, 1921
Sale Date: November 2, 1991
Auction Closed
Dean Cornwell
Shirley had been very quiet during the..., 1922–1922
Sale Date: June 23, 1987
Auction Closed