16 Works, July 15th. is Mead Schaeffer's day, his story, illustrated with footnotes #192

Mead Schaeffer (American- 1898-1980)

Night Attack

Oil on board

11.5 x 29.5 in

Private collection

This painting appeared as in illustration for Harry Olive's Korean War story, Night Attack, Saturday Evening Post, April 12, 1952.

Mead Schaeffer (July 15, 1898 – November 6, 1980) was an American illustrator active from the early to middle twentieth century.

Mead Schaeffer (American- 1898-1980)

GEORGE WASHINGTON WITH SALLY FAIRFAX, c. 1931

Oil on canvas

32″ x 26 1/2″ 

I have no further description, at this time

As a young man, George met Sally Fairfax, wife of one of his family friends. She provided the need for schooling in the Virginia social graces including about proper behavior, how to speak to wealthy and powerful individuals and how to dance the minuet. George and Sally remained long-time friends, Sally and her husband visiting Mount Vernon many times. Washington referred to the times he spent with Sally as the happiest of his life. More on this painting

Everybody’s Washington by Alden Knipe, Dodd Mead & Company, 1931 “The Young Major visited Belvoir to see Sally Fairfax, whom he greatly admired”

Mead Schaeffer (American- 1898-1980)

John Timberlake was a Rascal, c. 1932

Redbook Magazine Interior Illustration, 1932

22.25" x 50.00

Oil on Canvas

Private collection

Schaeffer was born in Freedom Plains, New York, in 1898, the son of Presbyterian preacher Charles Schaeffer and his wife Minnie. He grew up in Springfield, Massachusetts. After completing high school, he enrolled in the Pratt Institute in 1916. At Pratt his teachers included Harvey Dunn and Charles Chapman. Dunn critiqued many of Schaeffer's early projects. While a student at Pratt, Schaeffer illustrated the first of seven 'Golden Boy' books written by L. P. Wyman. 

Mead Schaeffer (American- 1898-1980)

Colonial troops with Indian guides, c. 1921

Oil on canvas

25 x 34 in. (63.5 x 86.4 cm)

Delaware Art Museum

On September 17, 1921, he married fellow student, Elizabeth Wilson Sawyers, and for 53 years, she assisted him as photographer, travel companion, business manager, and mentor. She was, as Schaeffer touchingly phrases it, “My workmate, playmate, my love.” He and his wife were to be the parents of two daughters.

Mead Schaeffer (American, 1898–1980)

Valencia was made aware of the fact that she had attracted a new admirer , ca. 1928

Oil on canvas

75.9 x 106.7 cm. (29.9 x 42 in.)

Private collection

In 1922, at age 24, he was hired to illustrate a series of classic novels for publisher Dodd Mead. His work for Dodd Mead continued until 1930. The books that he illustrated during this period included Moby-Dick, Typee, and Omoo by Herman Melville; The Count of Monte Cristo; and Les Misérables by Victor Hugo.

Mead Schaeffer (American, 1898-1980)

Stede Bonnet faced his last fight, c. 1920

The Black Buccaneer interior book illustration

Oil on canvas

32 x 26 inches (81.3 x 66.0 cm)

Private collection

Stede Bonnet (1688 – 10 December 1718) was an early eighteenth-century Barbadian pirate, sometimes called "The Gentleman Pirate" because he was a moderately wealthy land-owner before turning to a life of crime. Bonnet was born into a wealthy English family on the island of Barbados, and inherited the family estate after his father's death in 1694. In 1709, he married Mary Allamby, and engaged in some level of militia service. Because of marital problems, and despite his lack of sailing experience, Bonnet decided he should turn to piracy in the summer of 1717. He bought a sailing vessel, named it Revenge, and travelled with his paid crew along the Eastern Seaboard of what is now the United States, capturing other vessels and burning other Barbadian ships. More on Stede Bonnet

Mead Schaeffer (American- 1898-1980)

The Black Buccaneer, c. 1920

"I shall count three, then fire"

Oil on canvas

24 1/2" x 37 1/2"

Harcourt, Brace & Co.

Mead Schaeffer (American- 1898-1980)

The Black Buccaneer, c. 1929

The Black Buccaneer by Stephen Warren

Oil on canvas

29.125 x 42.5 in.

The Kelly Collection of American Illustration Art

Mead Schaeffer (American- 1898-1980)

Tom Cringle's Log, c. 1927

Oil on canvas

Private collection

Michael Scott (30 October 1789 – 7 November 1835) was a Scottish author and autobiographer who wrote under the pseudonym Tom Cringle.

In 1806 he went to Jamaica, first managing some estates, and afterwards joining a business firm in Kingston. The latter post necessitated his making frequent journeys, on the incidents of which he based his best known book, Tom Cringle's Log. More on Michael Scott

Mead Schaeffer (American- 1898-1980)

Tom Cringle’s Log, c. 1927

Oil on canvas

25 x 30 in.

Private Collection

Mead Schaeffer (American- 1898-1980)

The Count of Monte Cristo, c. 1928

Oil on canvas

I have no further description, at this time

In his paintings for the 1928 edition of The Count of Monte Cristo, he distinguished himself with his carefully composed shapes of tonal values, his handling of light, and his treatment of color.

The artist’s life was almost as exciting as those he created on canvas, His assignments took him all over the world to capture the correct costumes and moods for his wonderful paintings. From the 1930’s until the 1940’s, Schaeffer decided to stop painting buccaneers, Captain Blood, and titled Europeans, and to focus on real people in real settings, saying “I suddenly realized I was sick of painting dudes and dandies…I longed to do honest work, based on real places, real people and real things."

Mead Schaeffer (American- 1898-1980)

Head Tide, c. 1932

Oil on Canvas

38.25" x 28.00"

Private collection

This particular illustration for Head Tide depicts a critical moment in the Republican caucus, organized to nominate a candidate for the House of Representatives and to elect delegates to the state convention. Grouped in front of a monumental American flag are the key members of the Four Corners establishment: with his signature grey beard, powerful Joel "Judge" Dean, the town's leading attorney and the chairman of the Republican committee; earnestly leaning toward Dean, Cornelius Haven, the local bank cashier and committee secretary; and seated, venerable Manasseh Eldredge, the wealthy shop owner. Flanking these central figures are other members of the Four Corners Republican guard, whose distinction and influence Schaeffer emphasizes in their formal suits and upright stature. Nonetheless, the group expresses collective worry at this moment, as a caucus member from the working-class South Side challenges their proposed list of delegates and threatens to foil their political victory: "The tumult and disorder spread, and after a whispered consultation with Cornelius Haven, Judge Dean rose and pounded with his gavel. 'A moment,' he shouted. 'Mr. Haven has a word to say. Will you grant him the courtesy of silence?'" (M. Schaeffer, Head Tide, New York, 1932, p. 236). More on this painting

Schaeffer turned his attention to real people depicted in real settings. During the 1930s and 1940s he received commissions from magazines including Good Housekeeping, McCall's, the Saturday Evening Post, The Ladies Home Journal, Country Gentleman, and Cosmopolitan. He produced 46 covers for the weekly Saturday Evening Post.

Mead Schaeffer (American- 1898-1980)

Forbidden Lover

 The Ladies' Home Journal, c. July 1932

Oil on canvas

34 x 32 in.

Private collection

Mead Schaeffer (American, 1898–1980)

Woman speaking to two men in interior , c. 1936

Oil on Canvas

63.5 x 111.8 cm. (25 x 44 in.)

Private collection

Mead Schaeffer (1898-1980)

The Blue Roadster, c. 1941

Oil on Canvas

63.5 x 111.8 cm. (25 x 44 in.)

Society of Illustrators

Caption, “Joe,” she said, “I’ve got to talk to somebody. Can I talk to you?”|Illustration for “Blue Roadster” by Corey Ford in The American Magazine (May 1941)

The action in this illustration takes place at a gas station. Schaeffer positions the handsome man moving purposefully toward the blond-haired woman with his back to us. This device helps us to move into the painting’s space with him, and because his facial expression is not revealed, makes him appear slightly menacing.

 The blond leans against a blue convertible. Despite the story’s title, the car is not a roadster (a two-seater car that has no roof, side or rear windows). If it were then there would be no need for the snapped canvas cover at the rear of the vehicle. The blond wears a tan rain-coat over a red dress, and plain pumps on her feet. With her curled hair falling forward over the right side of her face she appears sultry, classy, and just a bit coy. Her body leans against the car with her left foot lifted and resting against the car’s running board with her right hand holding the door pull. In the 40s automobiles were higher off the ground than they are today, so the running board served as a step to provide safe entry into the vehicle. More on this painting

At the outset of World War II, Mead Schaeffer and Rockwell, set out together from Arlington, Vermont, where they had their studios, to Washington, D.C. to see how they could contribute to the National effort. Rockwell brought some sketches for the proposed Four Freedoms, and Schaeffer had a handful of sketches of our fighting men in action. No funds were available for the projects in Washington so they stopped in Philadelphia, en route home, to see Ben Hibbs of the Post. He liked their ideas and commissioned them to develop the paintings for magazine covers. 

 Mead Schaeffer (American- 1898-1980)

Woman's Choice for Distinguished Clientele

Packard Advertisement Logo

Oil on Canvas

26.00" x 24.00"

The Illustrated Gallery

 Mead Schaeffer (American- 1898-1980)

Advertisement for Duncan Fyfe in Country Life, c. 1930

Oil on canvas

Height: 26.75 in. (67.95 cm), Width: 22.00 in. (55.88 cm)

Private collection

Duncan Phyfe (1768 – 16 August 1854) was one of nineteenth-century America's leading cabinetmakers.

Although he did not create any new furniture style, he interpreted fashionable European trends in a manner so distinguished and particular that he became a major spokesman for Neoclassicism in the United States, influencing a whole generation of American cabinetmakers. More on Duncan Phyfe 

Schaeffer’s research and careful attention to detail, combined with his command of the medium, instinctive sense of balance, light, texture, and above all, the tension captured in the action combined to make an outstanding Armed Forces Commemorative series. Fourteen paintings in all, they all appeared as covers on The Saturday Evening Post and the originals were shown in over a hundred cities alongside Rockwell’s Four Freedoms to stimulate sales of War Bonds.

MEAD SCHAEFFER (American 1898 - 1980)

Christmas 1776, c. , January 1940

The American Magazine illustration

Oil on canvas

28 x 38 in.

Private collection

 

This illustration was featured in Beverly Smith's story, Christmas, 1776, in the January 1940 issue of The American Magazine

This was an important day in history because there was hope, after a long battle, for the successful completion of the war by George Washington, and so the Red and Blue Coats together, celebrating. The women models in this painting were said to be Mead's wife, Elizabeth, standing, and Mary Rockwell, Norman Rockwell's wife, seated. More on this painting

He lived for a time in New Rochelle, New York, but for most of his career lived in Arlington, Vermont, where his studio was in a barn. Norman Rockwell was a good friend, and Schaeffer and his family often posed as models for Rockwell's Saturday Evening Post illustrations and paintings.


In retirement, Schaeffer lived in Vermont, where Rockwell was a neighbor. Schaeffer died in New York City from a heart attack on November 6, 1980. More on Mead Schaeffer

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