Irwin Crosthwait (June 24, 1914 – September 15, 1981), was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

best known for his role as a

fashion illustrator Fashion Illustration is the art of communicating fashion ideas in a visual form that originates with illustration, drawing and painting and also known as Fashion sketching. It is mainly used by fashion designers to brainstorm their ideas on pape ...

Biography

Early life and education

Irwin "Bud" Crosthwait was born on June 24, 1914, in

Creston, British Columbia Creston is a town in the Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia, Canada. By road, Creston is roughly equidistant between Cranbrook ( to the east) and Castlegar ( to the west) along the Crowsnest Highway. The town is approximately nort ...

, the son of Lealand Crosthwait (1870-1944) and Ellen Johnson Crosthwait (1892-1944), owners of a farm in Creston. Throughout Irwin’s childhood, he was exposed to the artwork of his father. Henry Crosthwait, a native of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, worked for the

Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company P&O (in full, The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company) is a British shipping and logistics company dating from the early 19th century. Formerly a public company, it was sold to DP World in March 2006 for £3.9 billion. DP World c ...

prior to arriving in Canada and had sketched and painted his travels aboard the company’s ships. Following the separation of Irwin Crosthwait’s parents in 1928, Irwin and his brother, Tom, moved to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

and lived under the care of their uncle. Between the years of 1934 and 1938, Crosthwait was educated at

Sir George Williams College Sir George Williams University was a university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It merged with Loyola College to create Concordia University on August 24, 1974. History In 1851, the first YMCA in North America was established on Sainte-Hélène ...

in Montreal, where he studied Fine Arts, and the

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York. It has a satellite campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The school was ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. After completing his studies, Crosthwait returned to Montreal and spent several years mentoring under Herman Heimlick, a local artist.

Career

Crosthwait continued producing artwork while employed as the principal advertising artist for Henry Morgan & Company, a chain of Canadian department stores. In 1944, Irwin was awarded the Jessie Dow prize for his watercolor painting and later enlisted with the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack s ...

. While aboard HMCS Ontario and

HMCS Warrior A warrior is a guardian specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracy, class, or caste. History Warriors seem to have been pr ...

in the years of 1945 and 1946, he served as an official naval artist, painting the ships and their sailors. In August 1947, Crosthwait accompanied HMCS Warrior to the United Kingdom, where he was granted his discharge from the Royal Canadian Navy. Crosthwait relocated to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

in September of that year and began his career as a

. He sketched and illustrated collections belonging to designers such as Yves Saint Laurent,

Dior Christian Dior SE (), commonly known as Dior (stylized DIOR), is a French Luxury goods, luxury fashion house controlled and chaired by French businessman Bernard Arnault, who also heads LVMH, the world's largest luxury group. Dior itself holds ...

, and

Givenchy Givenchy (, ) is a French luxury fashion and perfume house. It hosts the brand of haute couture and ready-to-wear clothing, accessories, perfumes and cosmetics of Parfums Givenchy. The house of Givenchy was founded in 1952 by designer Hubert de ...

, as well as those of his personal friends Emilio Pucci and Marc Vaughan. In the subsequent years, Crosthwait’s fashion illustrations were predominantly featured in

Harper’s Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the st ...

. During his years in Paris, Crosthwait also worked on sets for the Paris Ballet and pursued other means of artistic expression, most notably abstract painting. Crosthwait’s abstracts were shown with contemporary artists that included

Serge Poliakoff Serge Poliakoff (January 8, 1900 – October 12, 1969) was a Russian-born French modernist painter belonging to the 'New' Ecole de Paris (Tachisme). Biography Serge Poliakoff was born in Moscow in 1900, the thirteenth of fourteen children. Hi ...

Hans Hartung Hans Hartung (21 September 1904 – 7 December 1989) was a German-French painter, known for his gestural abstract style. He was also a decorated World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, ...

, and

Nicolas de Staël Nicolas de Staël (; January 5, 1914 – March 16, 1955) was a French painter of Russian origin known for his use of a thick impasto and his highly abstract landscape painting. He also worked with collage, illustration and textiles. Early life ...

Death

In 1979, Irwin Crosthwait suffered a serious injury resulting from a fall in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. He later died in Montreal on September 15, 1981, at the age of 67.

Sources

Biography from the Irwin Crosthwait official website

References

External links

irwincrosthwait.cairwincrosthwait.comirwin-crosthwait.fr
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crosthwait, Irwin 1914 births 1981 deaths Artists from British Columbia Fashion illustrators