Background
Schmidt, Harold Von was born on May 19, 1893 in Alameda, California, United States. Son of Edward Alexander and Isabel (Hill) von Schmidt.
Schmidt, Harold Von was born on May 19, 1893 in Alameda, California, United States. Son of Edward Alexander and Isabel (Hill) von Schmidt.
Student California College Arts and Crafts, Oakland, 1912-1913, San Francisco The Art Institute of Chicago, 1915-1918. Pupil Worth Ryder, Maynard Dixon, Harvey Dunn.
Born in Alameda, California in 1893, he was orphaned at the age of five. As a youth, von Schmidt worked as a cowhand and a construction worker In 1920 and 1924, he was on the United States Olympic Rugby team
Von Schmidt began his art studies at the California School of Arts and Crafts while he was still in high school.
In 1924, he entered the Grand Central School of Art in New York City. He moved to the suburban community of New Rochelle which was a well-known artist colony and home to many of the top commercial illustrators of the day such as Frank and J. C. Leyendecker and Norman Rockwell.
Also in residence were First Rate (at Lloyd's) Parker, Mead Schaeffer and Dean Cornwell, who, along with Tom Lovell and North. C. Wyeth would become leaders in the field Harold von Schmidt"s work appeared primarily in Collier"s Weekly, Cosmopolitan, Liberty, The Saturday Evening Post, and Sunset.
Although he preferred magazine work and illustrated few books, he spent two years preparing sixty illustrations for a deluxe edition of Willa Cather"s Comes for the Archbishop.
In 1948, he was recruited by Albert Dorne to be one of the founding faculty for the Famous Artists School. He was awarded the first gold medal by the trustees of the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in 1968. Harold died on June 3, 1982 in Westport, Connecticut.
Harold"s son Eric Von Schmidt was a well-known singer-songwriter associated with Bob Dylan.
Member Society Illustrators (president 1938-1941), Westport Artists (president 1950-1951), Artists Guild of New York City (trustee). Club: Cedar Point yacht of Westport. Member American Olympic Rugby Football Team, Antwerp, Belgium, 1920.
Married Edna Clost, November 15 (divorced). Married second, Forest Gilmore, January 4, 1927. Children: Peter Alexis, Eric Alexander.