Albert Dorne (February 7, 1906 - December 15, 1965) was an American illustrator and entrepreneur, and was co-founder of

correspondence school Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually in ...

s for aspiring artists, photographers, and writers. Dorne was co-founder of the Code of Ethics and Fair Practices of the Profession of Commercial Art and Illustration.

Biography

Dorne was born in the slums of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

's East Side, and had a troubled childhood plagued with

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

and heart problems.Watson, E.W. (May 1943). "Albert Dorne," ''American Artist'', vol. 7, #5, p. 13. He would cut classes to study art in the museums, eventually quitting school altogether to support his family. After numerous jobs such as managing a newsstand and acting as an office boy,Dorne entry
AskART.com. Accessed June 19, 2015. as well as a short professional boxing career, Dorne began working in advertising. He apprenticed as a

letterer A letterer is a member of a team of comic book creators responsible for drawing the comic book's text. The letterer's use of typefaces, calligraphy, letter size, and layout all contribute to the impact of the comic. The letterer crafts the comi ...

with then-letterer and future prominent illustrator Saul Tepper before beginning a five-year stint at the commercial art studio of Alexander Rice. He left the studio to begin a freelance career and soon his illustrations started appearing in such magazines as ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...

'', '' Collier's'', and ''

The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely ...

'', and by 1943 was featured on the cover of ''American Artist'' magazine, recognized as "one of the best and highest paid in the field of advertising illustration." He frequently worked for the Johnstone and Cushing advertising agency. Dorne was president of the New York

Society of Illustrators The Society of Illustrators is a professional society based in New York City. It was founded in 1901 to promote the art of illustration and, since 1959, has held an annual exhibition. History Founding The Society of Illustrators was founded on ...

in 1947–48. In 1948, he conceived the idea of a

for art, and recruited eleven other well-known artists and illustrators affiliated with the Society of Illustrators, including

Norman Rockwell Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) was an American painter and illustrator. His works have a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of Culture of the United States, the country's culture. Roc ...

, to found the

Famous Artists School Famous Artists School is an art correspondence course institution, in operation since 1948. The school was founded by members of the New York Society of Illustrators, principally Albert Dorne and Norman Rockwell. History The Famous Artists S ...

. In 1961, he helped found the Famous Photographers School and the

Famous Writers School The Famous Writers School was an educational institution that ran a correspondence course for writers in the 1960s and 1970s. Founded in 1961 by Bennett Cerf, Gordon Carroll, and Albert Dorne, it became the subject of a scandal after a 1970 exposé ...

, based on similar principles. All three schools were based in

Westport, Connecticut Westport is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, along the Long Island Sound within Connecticut's Gold Coast. It is northeast of New York City. The town had a population of 27,141 according to the 2020 U.S. Census. History ...

, and by 1963, boasted more than 50,000 students in the U.S. and 54 foreign countries, with a gross income of $10 million. Dorne influenced the work of artists including John Buscema Al Avison,Alfred Avison
at Ask Art - The American Artists Bluebook. . and

Arthur Suydam Arthur Suydam (born May 18, 1953) is an American comic book artist known for his work on Marvel Zombies, Deadpool, Black Panther, and KISS Zombies. He has done artwork for magazines including '' Heavy Metal'', ''Epic Illustrated'' and '' National ...

. Caragonne, George (Ed.; November/December 1994). "Suydam", ''

Penthouse Comix ''Penthouse Comix'' was an American mass-market, magazine-sized comic book, published by Penthouse International/General Media Communications from spring 1994 through July 1998. Founded and initially edited by George Caragonne and Horatio Weisfel ...

'' #4, pp. 85, 86 and 89. In 1956, Dorne donated his pictorial resource file of over 500,000 items to the

Westport Public Library The Westport Library is a public library in the town of Westport, Connecticut, established on February 4, 1886, by members of the Westport Reading-Room and Library Association. Morris Ketchum Jesup, born in 1830 to a country doctor, amassed a ...

. The collection is still in use today. In 1964, the

University of Bridgeport The University of Bridgeport (UB) is a private university in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The university is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education. In 2021, the university was purchased by Goodwin University; it retain its own ...

Department of Art endowed the Albert Dorne Professorship in Drawing.Almind, Gert J
Albert Dorne biography
Juke-Box.dk. Retrieved July 29, 2006.

Awards

* 1953: New York Art Directors Club — Gold Medal for "distinguished career" * 1958: Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts,

Adelphi College Adelphi University is a private university in Garden City, New York. Adelphi also has centers in Manhattan, Hudson Valley, and Suffolk County. There is also a virtual, online campus for remote students. It is the oldest institution of higher ed ...

* 1963: Horatio Alger Award for Achievement, American Schools and Colleges Association, Inc.

References

General references

* Reed, Walt. ''The Illustrator in America - 1900-1966'' (Reinhold Publishing Company, New York, 1966).
Albert Dorne, Master Illustrator
Auad Publishing, 2013.

Inline citations

External links

Albert Dorne posters
hosted by th
University of North Texas Libraries Digital Collections

American Art Archives website {{DEFAULTSORT:Dorne, Albert American illustrators American art educators 1906 births 1965 deaths Presidents of the Society of Illustrators