Fred Ludekens
Encyclopedia
Fred Ludekens was an American artist
and illustrator
. He was born in Hueneme
, California on May 13, 1900, and grew up in California. He worked on fishing boats for a while, and then moved to San Francisco
at the age of 20. Although he had no formal training in art, he found work as a billboard painter. He joined the advertising agency
of Lord & Thomas in 1931, and transferred to the company's New York City
office in 1939. He returned to San Francisco in 1945, and remained there until his death. Ludekens worked in a variety of media, often depicting rural scenes such as fruit ranches, coastal scenes, and the Indians of the Southwest. He produced story, article and cover illustrations for magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post
, The American Magazine, Good Housekeeping
, The Country Gentleman, Fortune
and True
. During the 1950s he produced a series of paintings to be used in advertisements for the Weyerhaeuser Timber Company
. These paintings were of wildlife scenes as well as some depicting famous foresters such as Aldo Leopold
and William B. Greeley. He also illustrated many books over the course of his life, and was a member of the founding faculty for the Famous Artists School
.
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
and illustrator
Illustrator
An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...
. He was born in Hueneme
Port Hueneme, California
Port Hueneme is a small beach city in Ventura County, California surrounded by the city of Oxnard and the Pacific Ocean. The name derives from the Spanish spelling of the Chumash wene me, meaning "Resting Place". The area was discovered by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo in the mid 16th century...
, California on May 13, 1900, and grew up in California. He worked on fishing boats for a while, and then moved to San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
at the age of 20. Although he had no formal training in art, he found work as a billboard painter. He joined the advertising agency
Advertising agency
An advertising agency or ad agency is a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients. An ad agency is independent from the client and provides an outside point of view to the effort of selling the client's products or services...
of Lord & Thomas in 1931, and transferred to the company's New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
office in 1939. He returned to San Francisco in 1945, and remained there until his death. Ludekens worked in a variety of media, often depicting rural scenes such as fruit ranches, coastal scenes, and the Indians of the Southwest. He produced story, article and cover illustrations for magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post is a bimonthly American magazine. It was published weekly under this title from 1897 until 1969, and quarterly and then bimonthly from 1971.-History:...
, The American Magazine, Good Housekeeping
Good Housekeeping
Good Housekeeping is a women's magazine owned by the Hearst Corporation, featuring articles about women's interests, product testing by The Good Housekeeping Institute, recipes, diet, health as well as literary articles. It is well known for the "Good Housekeeping Seal," popularly known as the...
, The Country Gentleman, Fortune
Fortune (magazine)
Fortune is a global business magazine published by Time Inc. Founded by Henry Luce in 1930, the publishing business, consisting of Time, Life, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated, grew to become Time Warner. In turn, AOL grew as it acquired Time Warner in 2000 when Time Warner was the world's largest...
and True
True (magazine)
True, also known as True, The Man's Magazine, was published by Fawcett Publications from 1937 until 1974. Known as True, A Man's Magazine in the 1930s, it was labeled True, #1 Man's Magazine in the 1960s. Petersen Publishing took over with the January 1975, issue...
. During the 1950s he produced a series of paintings to be used in advertisements for the Weyerhaeuser Timber Company
Weyerhaeuser
Weyerhaeuser is one of the largest pulp and paper companies in the world. It is the world's largest private sector owner of softwood timberland; and the second largest owner of United States timberland, behind Plum Creek Timber...
. These paintings were of wildlife scenes as well as some depicting famous foresters such as Aldo Leopold
Aldo Leopold
Aldo Leopold was an American author, scientist, ecologist, forester, and environmentalist. He was a professor at the University of Wisconsin and is best known for his book A Sand County Almanac , which has sold over two million copies...
and William B. Greeley. He also illustrated many books over the course of his life, and was a member of the founding faculty for the Famous Artists School
Famous Artists School
Famous Artists School has offered correspondence courses in art since it was founded in 1948 in Westport, Connecticut, U.S.A. The idea was conceived by Albert Dorne as a result of a conversation with Norman Rockwell...
.
External links
- The American Artists Bluebook - Fred Ludekens (retrieved August 4, 2006)
- http://www.fulltable.com/VTS/w/we/lud/p.htm