Painting of the Day, December 4, 2011

By Donna Poulton

Credit: Heritage Auctions.com

William D. Koerner (1878-1938), Shoveling Out, [Saturday Evening Post story illustration] 1924, oil on canvas, 26 x 36 in.

William Koerner painted during the end of the “Golden Years of Western Illustration.”  His considerable talent as a draftsman landed him jobs with Harper’s, Good Housekeeping, Colliers and Saturday Evening Post during the 1920s and 30s. And like other illustrators working to fuel the media craze for pictures of the West, his images came to represent western life for Americans in the East and for many Europeans who were fascinated with West. 

For more information on Koerner you might be interested in this post about another of his paintings:

Painting of the Day, November 17, 2011

By Donna Poulton

After being hired by the Saturday Evening Post, in 1919, to illustrate several articles with Western themes, William H. D. Koerner threw all of his interest and considerable talent into learning everything possible about the West.  He made numerous trips to Montana to study the details of ranch and mountain life and the mannerisms of the lively personalities that populated the region. Over eighteen hundred of his images were featured in the most popular magazines of the day and he illustrated for authors such as Zane Grey. Koerner’s Riding the Open Range, was featured in the Saturday Evening Post.

Credit: FineArt.ha.com

William Koerner (1878-1938), Riding the Range, oil on canvas 30 x 24 in.