Howard L. Fogg

Margot Fogg and Howard Fogg. 1990 photo by Richard Fogg.

Howard Lockhart Fogg (April 7, 1917 – October 1, 1996) was an American artist specializing in railroad art.

Early life

Howard Fogg was born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in Wilmette, Illinois. It was at the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad station that, at age four, Howard sketched his first railroad subject.[1] Fogg graduated from New Trier High School in 1934, and with honors from Dartmouth College in 1938 with a B.A. in English Literature. Intending to pursue a career in political cartooning,[2] he enrolled in the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts in the fall of 1938, graduating in the spring of 1939. Shortly afterward, he worked as a passenger information clerk for the Union Pacific Railroad. In 1941, Baldwin Locomotive Works hired him as an apprentice engineer.

Fighter Pilot

In 1941, while working as an apprentice engineer, he was drafted into the Army. Howard was assigned to the 4th Armored Division at Watertown in upper New York State. But the Army Air Corps needed pilots, so Howard requested a transfer. He received basic flight training at Parks Air College in St. Louis, primary training at Vance Army Air Base in Enid, Oklahoma, and finished his schooling at Foster Field in Victoria, Texas.

Commissioned as a second lieutenant with pilot's wings in November 1942, Howard’s first flight assignment was at Westover Field in Springfield, Massachusetts. There, he flew P-47 Thunderbolts under the leadership of Lt. Col. Avelin P. Tacon, Jr.[3]

The Westover assignment allowed Howard to travel regularly to New York City, where he courted Margot Dethier, daughter of the Belgian classical violinist Edouard Dethier.[4] On April 10, 1943, Howard and Margot were married at the Madison Avenue Church in New York City. On October 1, 1943, he traveled to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey to await his transfer overseas.

With the 359th Fighter Group,[5] USAAF Station 133 in East Wretham, Howard flew bomber escort and strafing missions[6] first with P-47s, and then with the long range P-51 Mustang named "Moose Nose". As chronicled in the book Fogg in the Cockpit,[7] his wartime diary offers a unique and personal perspective into the life of a fighter pilot with the Army Air Forces during World War II.

Howard completed his combat tour of 76 missions in September 1944, and received an honorable discharge in August 1945. He was awarded the Air Medal with three clusters and the Distinguished Flying Cross with one cluster.

Association with ALCO

In 1945, Howard met with a family friend, famed pollster Elmo Roper, who introduced him to Duncan Fraser, President of the American Locomotive Company (ALCO),[8] and Fraser made the decision that launched Howard’s artistic career, hiring him as company artist.

At an ALCO gala[9] at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, Lucius Beebe,[10] a journalist with the New York Herald-Tribune, sought out Howard. Beebe was considering leaving New York to pursue writing and publication of railroad books. A long-term relationship was born, with Beebe buying a number of paintings over the years and commissioning new paintings for use in his books. In 1947, Beebe’s book, Mixed Train Daily, was the first of many to use a Fogg painting on the cover.[11] Over the next 40 years, many other railroad authors also commissioned cover art from him.[12]

John W. Barriger III arranged for a large display of Fogg's art at the St. Louis Union Station. A lifelong customer of Fogg's artwork, Barriger gave away numerous paintings and prints.

With an ever increasing number of commissions from railroads, authors, individuals and industrial firms Fogg ended his formal agreement with ALCO in 1957, although he continued to receive commissions from them for a number of years.

Move to Colorado and his later career

In 1955, Howard, his wife Margot, and their three sons moved to Boulder, Colorado, where he would spend the remainder of his life. Fogg received numerous commissions from railroad companies (Union Pacific, MKT, Monon, PL&E), industrial firms (Union Tank Car Company, Miner Enterprises), and individuals.

He established a close relationship with Leanin' Tree Publishing [13] and created more than 70 paintings for their line of greeting cards. He worked with another Boulder company, Owl Records, and produced four records of steam locomotives using recordings he made between 1955 and 1969.

Many railroad catalogs [14] and magazines featured Howard and his work.[15] Limited edition prints were issued. Jigsaw puzzles, porcelain plates and mugs, playing cards, post cards[16] calendars, and greeting cards featured his art. His illustrations graced the covers and contents of multiple railroad books. In later years, books were written about him and his artwork, including Fogg and Steam by Frank Clodfelter,[17] Howard Fogg and the Diesel Image by John J. Scala,[18] and The Railroad Artistry of Howard Fogg by Ronald C. Hill and Al Chione.[19]

Whereas his earlier work was almost exclusively in watercolor and primarily for corporations, in later years he worked in both watercolor and oil, with individuals becoming his primary source of commissions. As his fame and reputation grew he had a waiting list measured in years, and he continued to paint until his death in 1996.

Howard Fogg is often referred to as the dean of American railroad artists. He came from a railroading family and his love of railroads is reflected in his art. Many of the artists that preceded him used exaggerated colors and proportions to emphasize the power and drama of a locomotive. Fogg broke with that tradition and became known for his startling detail and accuracy. He had an extensive library of railroad books and would research his subject matter to ensure that every detail was correct, yet his work lost none of the drama and excitement of his predecessors.

Howard Fogg's ashes were scattered along the Union Pacific railroad tracks at Sherman Hill in Wyoming by his sons Richard, Peter, and Howard III. A high-speed freight train thundered through soon after.

References

  1. ↑ Sketch at age four: http://fogginthecockpit.blogspot.com/2011/08/howard-fogg-master-railroad-artist.html.
  2. ↑ Example of Howard Fogg's political cartoons: http://fogginthecockpit.blogspot.com/2012/02/it-wont-be-long-now.html
  3. ↑ Lt. Col. Avelin P. Tacon Jr.: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avelin_P._Tacon,_Jr.
  4. ↑ Edouard Dethier: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89douard_Dethier
  5. ↑ 359th Fighter Group, 1943-1945, https://www.facebook.com/pages/359th-Fighter-Group-1943-1945/120987634620533
  6. ↑ The 359th Fighter Group during World War II: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/359th_Fighter_Group#World_War_II
  7. ↑ Fogg, Richard and Janet, Fogg in the Cockpit - Master Railroad Artist, World War II Fighter Pilot (2011, Casemate Publishing ISBN 1612000045) http://fogginthecockpit.blogspot.com/
  8. ↑ ALCO: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Locomotive_Company
  9. ↑ ALCO gala http://fogginthecockpit.blogspot.com/2013/07/alco-and-mixed-train-daily.html
  10. ↑ Lucius Beebe: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Beebe
  11. ↑ Beebe, Lucius and Charles Clegg. Mixed Train Daily. 1947. (New York: E. P. Dutton & Co.). Fogg also has paintings in other Beebe books. See Beebe, Lucius and Clegg, Charles, "Steamcars to the Comstock," (1957, Howell-North)(2 paintings); Beebe, Lucius, "20th Century" (1962, Howell-North)(jacket illustration); Beebe, Lucius and Clegg, Charles, "The Trains We Rode, Volume 1" (1965, Howell-North)(5 paintings); Beebe, Lucius and Clegg, Charles, "The Trains We Rode, Volume 2" (1966, Howell-North)(2 paintings); Beebe, Lucius, "Two Trains to Remember: The New England Limited and the Air Line Limited" (1965, Privately printed)(1 painting); Beebe, Lucius and Clegg, Charles, "When Beauty Rode the Rails" (1962, Doubleday & Co.)(jacket illustration).
  12. ↑ See, e.g., Hilton, George W., "The Ma & Pa: A History of the Maryland & Pennsylvania Railroad," (cover)(1963, Howell-North); Crossen, Forest, "The Switzerland Trail of America" (cover and four illustrations)(1962, Pruett Press); Wagner, F. Hol, "The Colorado Road," (1970, National Railway Historical Society); Collias, Joe. G., "The Search for Steam" (cover)(1972, Howell-North Books)(ISBN 0831070927); Gjevre, John A., "Saga of the Soo: West From Shoreham," (frontispiece for 1973 and 1990 editions)(privately published); Rosenberg, Ron and Archer, Eric H., "Norfolk & Western Steam The Last 25 Years)," (cover)(1973, Quadrant Press)(ISBN 0915276003); Stagner, Lloyd E., "Steam Locomotives of the Frisco Line," (cover)(1976, Pruett Publications)(ISBN 0871080974); Wagner, F. Hol, "Union Pacific Motive Power 1968-77," (cover)(1978, Motive Power Services); Wood, Charles and Wood, Dorothy, "The Great Northern Railway," p.427 &493 (1979, Pacific Fast Mail); Stagner, Lloyd E., "Rock Island Motive Power, 1933-1955," (cover)(1980, Calvert Systems)(ISBN 9780965027205); Walker, Chard, "Chard Walker's Cajon: Rail Passage to the Pacific" (cover)(1985, Trans-Anglo Books); Grenard, Ross G., "Requiem for the Narrow Gauge" (cover)(1985, Railhead Publications); Worley, Howard V. and Poellot, William N., "The Pittsburgh & West Virginia Railway: The Story of the High and Dry," (cover)(1989, Withers Publishing). He also contributed an introduction to Ronald G. Hill's "Rails in the Northwest: A Contemporary Glimpse," (1978, Colorado Railroad Museum).
  13. ↑ Leanin' Tree Publishing http://www.leanintree.com/
  14. ↑ The Pacific Fast Mail Catalog, 12th Edition features a watercolor of Tenshodo's GN "F-8" 2-8-0 locomotive steaming through the mountains. Pacific Fast Mail supplied high end brass model locomotives.
  15. ↑ Flanary, Ron. "Howard Fogg: 1917-1996" Trains Magazine, December 1996. Rose, Ted. "Howard Fogg: (1917-1966)" Railfan and Railroad, January 1997. Schur, Zeke. "Top Train Artist on Right Track," The Denver Post, March 8, 1983.
  16. ↑ Examples of P&LE postcards by Howard Fogg: http://www.silogic.com/trains/P&LE%20Postcards%20by%20Howard%20Fogg.html
  17. ↑ Clodfelter, Frank, Fogg and Steam (A Regional Look At Steam In North America) Pruett Pub Co, May 1978 ISBN 978-0-87108-522-1,
  18. ↑ Scala, John, Howard Fogg and the Diesel Image: A Color Compilation of Choice Diesel Locomotive Renditions from Americas Foremost Railroad Illustrator. Weekend Chief Pub Co May 1987 ISBN 978-0-9612814-1-0
  19. ↑ Hill, Ronald, and Chione, Al, The Railroad Artistry of Howard Fogg Cedco Publishing Company Sept 1999 ISBN 978-0-7683-2112-8

External links

Bibliography

  • Clodfelter, Frank, Fogg and Steam (A Regional Look At Steam In North America) Pruett Pub Co, May 1978 ISBN 978-0-87108-522-1
  • Fogg, Richard & Janet, Fogg in the Cockpit: Howard Fogg-Master Railroad Artist, World War II Fighter Pilot. Casemate Publishers & Book Distributors, July 2011 ISBN 978-1-61200-004-6
  • Hill, Ronald, and Chione, Al, The Railroad Artistry of Howard Fogg Cedco Publishing Company Sept 1999 ISBN 978-0-7683-2112-8
  • Scala, John, Howard Fogg and the Diesel Image: A Color Compilation of Choice Diesel Locomotive Renditions from Americas Foremost Railroad Illustrator. Weekend Chief Pub Co May 1987 ISBN 978-0-9612814-1-0