John Carl Schoenherr (July 5, 1935 – April 8, 2010) 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 ...

. He won the 1988

Caldecott Medal The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Servic ...

for U.S. children's book illustration, recognizing '' Owl Moon'' by

Jane Yolen Jane Hyatt Yolen (born February 11, 1939) is an American writer of fantasy, science fiction, and children's books. She is the author or editor of more than 350 books, of which the best known is '' The Devil's Arithmetic'', a Holocaust novella. H ...

, which recounts the story of the first time a father takes his youngest child on a traditional outing to spot an owl. He was posthumously inducted by the

Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame The Museum of Pop Culture or MoPOP is a nonprofit museum in Seattle, Washington, dedicated to contemporary popular culture. It was founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in 2000 as the Experience Music Project. Since then MoPOP has organized ...

in 2015.

Life

Schoenherr was born in New York City (Manhattan) and raised in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

, "in a German-speaking household in a polyglot community", where he used drawings to communicate with speakers of other languages. He graduated from Stuyvesant High School, and studied art at the

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school at 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may stu ...

with

Will Barnet Will Barnet (May 25, 1911November 13, 2012) was an American artist known for his paintings, watercolors, drawings, and prints depicting the human figure and animals, both in casual scenes of daily life and in transcendent dreamlike worlds. Bi ...

and at

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 ...

. Schoenherr was a resident of

Delaware Township, Hunterdon County, New Jersey Delaware Township is a township in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States. Part of the township is on the Hunterdon Plateau, while the southern portions are in the Amwell Valley. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's popul ...

. He died on April 8, 2010, of

chronic obstructive pulmonary disease Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a type of progressive lung disease characterized by long-term respiratory symptoms and airflow limitation. The main symptoms include shortness of breath and a cough, which may or may not produce ...

Easton, Pennsylvania Easton is a city in, and the county seat of, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city's population was 28,127 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Easton is located at the confluence of the Lehigh River, a river tha ...

Career

Schoenherr may be known best as the original illustrator of the dust jacket art of ''

Dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...

'', a 1965 science fiction novel by

Frank Herbert Franklin Patrick Herbert Jr. (October 8, 1920February 11, 1986) was an American science fiction author best known for the 1965 novel '' Dune'' and its five sequels. Though he became famous for his novels, he also wrote short stories and worked a ...

that inaugurated a book series and

media franchise A media franchise, also known as a multimedia franchise, is a collection of related media in which several derivative works have been produced from an original creative work of fiction, such as a film, a work of literature, a television program or ...

. He had previously illustrated the serializations of the novel in ''

Analog Analog or analogue may refer to: Computing and electronics * Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable ** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals *** Analog electronics, circuits which use analog ...

'', an endeavor which secured him a 1965

Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier a ...

for Best Professional Artist. He later did the art for the ''Analog'' serialization of Herbert's ''

Children of Dune ''Children of Dune'' is a 1976 science fiction novel by Frank Herbert, the third in his ''Dune'' series of six novels. It was originally serialized in ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' in 1976, and was the last ''Dune'' novel to be serialize ...

''. In 1978

Berkley Books Berkley Books is an imprint of the Penguin Group. History Berkley Books began as an independent company in 1955. It was founded as "Chic News Company" by Charles Byrne and Frederick Klein, who had worked for Avon; they quickly renamed it Berk ...

published '' The Illustrated Dune'', an edition of ''Dune'' with 33 black-and-white sketch drawings and 8 full color paintings by Schoenherr. Herbert wrote in 1980 that though he had not spoken to Schoenherr prior to the artist creating the paintings, the author was surprised to find that the artwork appeared exactly as he had imagined its fictional subjects, including sandworms,

Baron Harkonnen Baron Vladimir Harkonnen () is a fictional character in the Dune (franchise), ''Dune'' franchise created by Frank Herbert. He is primarily featured in the 1965 novel ''Dune (novel), Dune'' and is also a prominent character in the ''Prelude to Dune ...

and the

Sardaukar Multiple organizations of the ''Dune'' universe dominate the political, religious, and social arena of the setting of Frank Herbert's ''Dune'' series of science fiction novels, and derivative works. Set tens of thousands of years in the future, ...

. Schoenherr was also very well known as a wildlife artist and children's book illustrator, with over forty books to his credit. Most of his black-and-white illustration work used the

scratchboard Scratchboard (North America and Australia) or scraperboard (Great Britain), is a form of direct engraving where the artist scratches off dark ink to reveal a white or colored layer beneath. Scratchboard refers to both a fine-art medium, and ...

technique, and he was long known as the only

commercial artist Commercial art is the art of creative services, referring to art created for commercial purposes, primarily advertising. Commercial art uses a variety of platforms (magazines, websites, apps, television, etc.) for viewers with the intent of promo ...

who specialized in it. His paintings were often

egg tempera Tempera (), also known as egg tempera, is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting of colored pigments mixed with a water-soluble binder medium, usually glutinous material such as egg yolk. Tempera also refers to the paintings done ...

, another unusual medium. Schoenherr also completed paintings for

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

. Schoenherr's knowledge of

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

was very useful in creating alien creatures. He was a member of the

American Society of Mammalogists The American Society of Mammalogists (ASM) was founded in 1919. Its primary purpose is to encourage the study of mammals, and professions studying them. There are over 4,500 members of this society, and they are primarily professional scientists ...

, the

Society of Animal Artists The Society of Animal Artists is an international organization for artists who paint, sculpt, or draw animals and wildlife, founded in 1960. The Society holds an annual exhibition, "Art & the Animal", which premieres at museum venues. A portion ...

, and the

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 ...

. Beginning in the 1960s, Schoenherr created numerous science fiction illustrations, in addition to artwork in other genres. Among the books he illustrated are ''The Wolfling'' and '' Rascal'' by

Sterling North Thomas Sterling North (November 4, 1906 – December 21, 1974) was an American writer. He is best known for the children's novel '' Rascal'', a bestseller in 1963. Biography Early life and family North's maternal grandparents, James Herve ...

, the latter a

Newbery Honor Book The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished cont ...

. Under John W. Campbell, Jr. and

Ben Bova Benjamin William Bova (November 8, 1932November 29, 2020) was an American writer and editor. During a writing career of 60 years, he was the author of more than 120 works of science fact and fiction, an editor of '' Analog Science Fiction and F ...

at ''Analog'', he also illustrated the first ''

Dragonriders of Pern ''Dragonriders of Pern'' is a science fantasy series written primarily by American author Anne McCaffrey, who initiated it in 1967. Beginning in 2003, her middle child Todd McCaffrey has written Pern novels, both solo and jointly with Anne. ...

'' stories by

Anne McCaffrey Anne Inez McCaffrey (1 April 1926 – 21 November 2011) was an American-Irish writer known for the ''Dragonriders of Pern'' science fiction series. She was the first woman to win a Hugo Award for fiction (Best Novella, ''Weyr Search'', 19 ...

, the 1967/1968 novellas "Weyr Search" and "Dragonrider" (each featured on one ''Analog'' cover as well) that were subsequently developed as the novel ''

Dragonflight ''Dragonflight'' is a science fiction novel by the American-Irish author Anne McCaffrey. It is the first book in the ''Dragonriders of Pern'' series. First published by Ballantine Books in July 1968, it was a fix-up of two novellas which betwe ...

''. Schoenherr's July 1975 cover for ''Analog'' has been cited as influential in the designs for the ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...

'' character

Chewbacca Chewbacca ( ), nicknamed "Chewie", is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. He is a Wookiee, a tall, hirsute, bipedal, intelligent species originating from the fictional planet of Kashyyyk. Chewbacca is the loyal friend and firs ...

. He also worked for paperback and hardcover science fiction publishers like

Ace Books Ace Books is a publisher of science fiction (SF) and fantasy books founded in New York City in 1952 by Aaron A. Wyn. It began as a genre publisher of mysteries and westerns, and soon branched out into other genres, publishing its first scienc ...

and Doubleday.

Awards

* 1965

for Best Professional Artist * 1988

for '' Owl Moon'' by

* 2015

References

External links

John Schoenherr
at Embracing the Child — curriculum vitae

at Spanierman Gallery (archived 2001-10-06) *
"In Memory of the Great Bear of Locktown"
(''Discover'', April 8, 2010)

at JVJ Classic Illustrator Biographies * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schoenher, John 1935 births 2010 deaths American children's book illustrators American speculative fiction artists Analog Science Fiction and Fact people Animal artists Caldecott Medal winners Hugo Award-winning artists People from Delaware Township, Hunterdon County, New Jersey Science fiction artists Stuyvesant High School alumni

Life

Career

Awards

See also

References

External links