Wilhelm Heinrich Detlev "Big Bill" Körner (November 1878 – August 11, 1938), also known as Wilhelm Heinrich Dethlef Koerner, William HD Koerner, WHDK, or W.H.D. Koerner,Horton, Scott. ''Harper's Magazine''
The Illustrated President
/ref> was a noted illustrator of the American West whose works became known to new audiences when his painting, nicknamed '' A Charge to Keep'', was used as the cover image for the ghostwritten biography by the same name by

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

. This painting, which hung in the

Oval Office The Oval Office is the formal working space of the president of the United States. Part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, it is in the West Wing of the White House, in Washington, D.C. The oval room has three lar ...

during the Bush presidency was of special interest to journalists due to the interpretation given by Bush of the painting's meaning in light of the meaning and title attached to the painting by the artist.

Life and career

Koerner was born in

Lunden Lunden is a municipality in the district of Dithmarschen, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated on the Eider river, about 16 km north of Heide. It is part of the '' Amt Kirchspielslandgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") of Eid ...

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

. His parents immigrated to

Clinton, Iowa Clinton is a city in and the county seat of Clinton County, Iowa, United States. It borders the Mississippi River. The population was 24,469 as of 2020 United States census, 2020. Clinton, along with DeWitt, Iowa, DeWitt (also located in Clinto ...

when he was three years old. Although he had little art training as a youth, his raw talent was always obvious to his parents and to everyone who viewed his sketches. At the age of twenty, Koerner was hired by the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' as a staff artist at $5 per day. Shortly thereafter, he married and accepted a job as art editor for a brand new newspaper, the '' United States Daily''. When the paper folded, he and his wife moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, where he was hired by '' Pilgrim Magazine'' to cover the 1904 St. Louis Exposition. He enrolled at the

Art Students League The Art Students League of New York is an art school in the American Fine Arts Society in Manhattan, New York City. The Arts Students League is known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may study f ...

for a two-year program during 1905–07 under

George Bridgman George Brant Bridgman (November 5, 1864 – December 16, 1943) was a Canadian-American Painting, painter, writer, and teacher in the fields of anatomy and figure drawing. Bridgman taught anatomy for artists at the Art Students League of New Yor ...

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 ...

's teacher. A student colleague later persuaded Koerner to apply to

Howard Pyle Howard Pyle (March 5, 1853 – November 9, 1911) was an American illustrator, Painting, painter, and author, primarily of books for young people. He was a native of Wilmington, Delaware, Wilmington, Delaware, and he spent the last year of his life ...

's illustration school in Wilmington. Koerner's exposure to Howard Pyle was significant, but his student colleagues also had much to offer and he shared techniques and styles with the likes of N. C. Wyeth,

Harvey Dunn Harvey Thomas Dunn NA, also known as J. Harvey Dunn (March 8, 1884 – October 29, 1952), was an American painter and teacher. During World War I, Dunn was an artist-correspondent with the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe. Most of Du ...

Frank Schoonover Frank Earle Schoonover (August 19, 1877 – September 1, 1972) was an American illustrator who worked in Wilmington, Delaware. A member of the Brandywine School, he was a contributing illustrator to magazines and did more than 5,000 paintin ...

and Stanley Arthurs. While still a Pyle student, he rented a studio adjacent to Anton Otto Fischer and William Foster and the interaction between these talented students proved mutually invaluable. Howard Pyle died in 1911, and Koerner published a tribute in the '' New Amstel Magazine''. A year later, the first exhibition by Pyle's students was presented to the public, and Koerner's works figured prominently. In 1919, the ''

Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine published six times a year. It was published weekly from 1897 until 1963, and then every other week until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely circulated and influ ...

'' art editor invited Koerner to illustrate two articles with Western themes, which proved to be a major turning point in his life. The articles "The Covered Wagon" and "Traveling the Old Trails" entailed many Western frontier scenes, which up to that point he had not experienced. Koerner began researching, and the West captured his imagination. Koerner soon became one of the best-known artists of the old West, travelling to the area for further research. From 1922 onwards, Koerner illustrated more than two hundred and fifty stories with Western themes and painted over six hundred pictures for periodicals. He illustrated a number of books that later were made into films based on his illustrations, including those by author

Zane Grey Pearl Zane Grey (January 31, 1872 – October 23, 1939) was an American author and dentist. He is known for his popular adventure novels and stories associated with the Western genre in literature and the arts; he idealized the American frontier ...

(''The Drift Fence'' ilm: '' Drift Fence">ilm: ''Drift Fence''and ''Sunset Pass'' [three films, all titled '' Sunset Pass''">Sunset Pass (disambiguation)">Sunset Pass'' and Eugene Manlove Rhodes' classic, ''Paso Por Aqui'' (film: '' Four Faces West''). It is estimated he completed nearly two thousand illustrations of which about eighteen hundred were done for magazines, as well as advertisements for

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Grape-Nuts Grape-Nuts is a brand of breakfast cereal made from flour, salt and dried yeast, developed in 1897 by C. W. Post, a former patient and later competitor of the 19th-century breakfast food innovator Dr. John Harvey Kellogg. Post's original product ...

and

Postum Postum () is a powdered roasted grain beverage popular as a coffee substitute. The caffeine-free beverage was created by Post Consumer Brands, Post Cereal Company founder C. W. Post in 1895 and marketed as a healthier alternative to coffee. Post w ...

cereals.

Maxfield Parrish Maxfield Parrish (July 25, 1870 – March 30, 1966) was an American painter and illustration, illustrator active in the first half of the 20th century. His works featured distinctive saturated hues and idealized neo-classical imagery. The ...

influenced Koerner's bold use of color. Parrish illustrated "The Great Southwest" articles by Raymond Stannard Baker which appeared in ''

Century Magazine ''The Century Magazine'' was an illustrated monthly magazine first published in the United States in 1881 by The Century Company of New York City, which had been bought in that year by Roswell Smith and renamed by him after the Century Associat ...

''. A prolific and versatile artist-illustrator, "Big Bill" Koerner's work gained considerable visibility through his cover and story illustrations for the ''

'', '' The Ladies' Home Journal'', ''

Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the United States. ''Harper's Magazine'' has ...

'', ''

McClure's Magazine ''McClure's'' or ''McClure's Magazine'' (1893–1929) was an American illustrated monthly periodical popular at the turn of the 20th century. The magazine is credited with having started the tradition of muckraking journalism ( investigative, wat ...

'', ''

American Magazine ''The American Magazine'' was a periodical publication founded in June 1906, a continuation of failed publications purchased a few years earlier from publishing mogul Miriam Leslie. It succeeded ''Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly'' (1876–1904), ...

'', ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...

'' and ''

Redbook ''Redbook'' is an American women's magazine that is published by the Hearst Communications, Hearst magazine division. It is one of the "Seven Sisters (magazines), Seven Sisters", a group of women's service magazines. It ceased print publicatio ...

''. At the time of his death in 1938 at fifty-eight, the artist had received commissions for over 500 paintings and completed drawings for more than 200 western-themed stories. Each week he produced at least one full oil, a head, and a vignette. During the last three years of his life, Koerner was seriously ill and unable to paint. Koerner's illustrations are compared with those of

Frederic Remington Frederic Sackrider Remington (October 4, 1861 – December 26, 1909) was an American painter, illustrator, sculptor, and writer who specialized in the genre of Western American Art. His works are known for depicting the Western United Sta ...

, Charles M. Russell, Philip R. Goodwin, and

. They are known for his bold brushwork with a vibrant color palette which enabled his vigorous depictions of the "Great American West", emblematic images of those untamed territories.

Comic strip

Körner also made the short-lived comic strip '' Hugo Hercules'', which was drawn in 1902, but it was terminated after only five months. Despite its short length, it is widely considered to be the first

superhero fiction Superhero fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction examining the adventure fiction, adventures, personalities and ethics of costumed crime fighters known as superheroes, who often possess Superpower (ability), superhuman powers and battle si ...

comic.

References

External links

WHD KOERNER (1878-1938) - American Artist of the WestKoerner, Wilhelm Heinrich Detlev
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Koerner, Wilhelm Heinrich Detlev American illustrators 20th-century American painters American comics artists 1878 births 1938 deaths People from Clinton, Iowa Artists from Iowa People from Dithmarschen Emigrants from the German Empire to the United States