Henry Richard Van Dongen (August 20, 1920 - February 27, 2010), often professionally known as H.R. Van Dongen, was an American artist best known for his science fiction magazine and book covers.

Career

Born August 20, 1920, in

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

, to son of Henry van Dongen Sr., he had an older brother, Charles. He graduated from

Irondequoit High School Irondequoit High School (IHS) is a public high school in the town of Irondequoit, a major suburb of Rochester, New York. History Irondequoit District Number 3 renamed their original ''Irondequoit Union Free School'' as Irondequoit High School in 1 ...

, and then attended the local Mechanics Institute (now

Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a private university, private research university in the town of Henrietta, New York, Henrietta in the Rochester, New York, metropolitan area. The university offers undergraduate and graduate degree ...

). He also studied art at the Phoenix School of Design in New York City. He found employment as graphic artist at Hart-Conway, a local advertising agency. Van Dongen enlisted in the

U.S. Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

in September 1942. He served as a

B-24 The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models des ...

gunner with the

Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Force ...

during World War II and spent 11 months as a prisoner of war after being shot down. His first science fiction magazine cover was for the September 1950 issue of ''

Super Science Stories ''Super Science Stories'' was an American pulp science fiction magazine published by Popular Publications from 1940 to 1943, and again from 1949 to 1951. Popular launched it under their Fictioneers imprint, which they used for magazines, payin ...

''. His work impressed

John W. Campbell John Wood Campbell Jr. (June 8, 1910 – July 11, 1971) was an American science fiction writer and editor. He was editor of ''Astounding Science Fiction'' (later called ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'') from late 1937 until his death ...

, editor of ''

Analog Science Fiction and Fact ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' is an American science fiction magazine published under various titles since 1930. Originally titled ''Astounding Stories of Super-Science'', the first issue was dated January 1930, published by William C ...

'', and he soon became one of the magazine's premiere artists. His first cover was for the August 1951 issue. He often alternated with

Kelly Freas Frank Kelly Freas (August 27, 1922 – January 2, 2005) was an American science fiction and fantasy artist with a career spanning more than 50 years. He was known as the "Dean of Science Fiction Artists" and he was the second artist inducted b ...

as the cover artist for ''Analog''. Van Dongen did more than 40 covers for the magazine. Van Dongen stopped working in science fiction in the early 1960s. In 1976,

Lester del Rey Lester del Rey (June 2, 1915 – May 10, 1993) was an American science fiction author and editor. He was the author of many books in the juvenile Winston Science Fiction series, and the editor at Del Rey Books, the fantasy and science ...

convinced him to return to the genre to paint covers for

Ballantine Books Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann in 1998 and remains ...

. He stayed with Ballantine until his professional retirement in 1987.

Personal life and death

Van Dongen married Eleanor Bertha Leister on December 18, 1945. He preferred landscape painting in his spare time. H.R. Van Dongen died on February 27, 2010, in Canandaigua, New York.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Dongen, Henry Richard 1920 births 2010 deaths 20th-century American illustrators American prisoners of war in World War II Analog Science Fiction and Fact people American fantasy artists American science fiction artists Shot-down aviators