Arthur Ray McCowen (July 29, 1893 – October 14, 1959) was an American

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

who drew magazine covers between 1920 and 1959. He also made illustrations for

pulp magazine Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 to the late 1950s. The term "pulp" derives from the cheap wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed. In contrast, magazine ...

s, including five covers for

Liberty magazine Liberty magazine may refer to: * ''Liberty'' (1881–1908), a political magazine published from 1881 to 1908 by Benjamin Tucker * ''Liberty'' (general interest magazine), published from 1924 to 1950 * ''Liberty'' (libertarian magazine), publis ...

between 1932 and 1933. He also produced covers for ''American Detective, True Romance, Liberty,

True Detective ''True Detective'' is an American anthology crime drama television series created and written by Nic Pizzolatto. The series, broadcast by the premium cable network HBO in the United States, premiered on January 12, 2014. Each season of the ...

, Physical Culture, Love & Romance'' and ''Satire Presents.''

Biography

McCowen was born in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, Oregon, on July 29, 1893, to Arthur and Carrie McCowen. His father worked as a grocer in Portland. In 1910, McCowen and his father were living in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, California, where McCowen worked as an assistant bookkeeper at Blake, Moffit & Town, a paper company. In 1917, McCowen joined the

U. S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

and went to war, as a 2nd Lt. in the Yuma National Guard. By 1920, McCowen was living in Manhattan, working as commercial artist. During this period, McCowen produced hundreds of magazine covers and Illustrations for popular pulp magazines. In 1956 McCowen retired and he moved to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. McCowen died on October 14, 1959, at age 66 at

Bay Pines Veterans Hospital The Bay Pines Veterans Administration Home and Hospital Historic District is a U.S. historic district located at 10000 Bay Pines Blvd. in Bay Pines, Florida. The district contains prehistoric aboriginal sites and fourteen Mediterranean Revival s ...

, in Bay Pines, Florida.

List of Published Illustrations

Liberty Magazine, issue 33, August 13, 1932
* Liberty Magazine, issue 38, September 17, 1932

* Liberty Magazine, issue 37, September 16, 1933 * Liberty Magazine, issue 35, November 11, 1933

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCowen, Baloy Magazine illustrators 1893 births 1959 deaths American magazine illustrators