Description: Howard Chandler Christy's home, located on the Muskingum River about 35 miles south of Zanesville, Ohio. Christy was a prominent American artist in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He was born January 10, 1873, in Ohio and spent his youth on his parents' farm near Duncan Falls and the Muskingum River. In 1890 he moved to New York City, where he enrolled at the Art Students League. He soon ran out of money and moved back to Ohio, but he returned to New York in 1892. Christy studied under William Merritt Chase, who encouraged his students to paint their subjects in a realistic manner. The young artist adopted this realistic style and became a successful illustrator for books and magazine articles. He also painted portraits and landscape scenes. During the Spanish-American War, Christy accompanied American soldiers into battle, and his drawings of the battlefields were featured in such leading magazines as "Scribner's," "Harper's," "The Century," and "Leslie's Weekly." After the war he became famous for his artwork depicting a young woman who became known as the "Christy Girl." Christy used her image in books, magazines, calendars, and even patriotic posters. During the next decade he emerged as one of America's most popular artists and illustrators. He returned to his childhood home in Ohio and opened his own studio. His fame continued to grow during the 1910s. He returned to New York and opened a studio in 1915. During World War I he drew posters encouraging his fellow Americans to support the war effort. Once again the "Christy Girl" figured prominently in his artwork. After the war Christy turned to portraiture. During the 1920s he painted the portraits of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover, and Eddie Rickenbacker, among other famous subjects. His popularity briefly declined during the Great Depression, but when he resumed painting women and landscape scenes, his celebrity status returned. He created commemorative paintings of historical events. His most famous painting from this era, which portrays the signing of the United States Constitution, hangs in the Rotunda of the United States Capitol. Two of Christy's works from this period also hang in the Ohio Statehouse. Christy died in 1952 in New York City. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL05940
Subjects: Christy, Howard Chandler, 1873-1952; Cultural Ohio--Art and Artists
Places: Muskingum County (Ohio)