John Alcorn (artist) facts for kids

John Alcorn (February 10, 1935 – January 27, 1992) was a talented American commercial artist and designer. He was also a well-known illustrator of children's books. Besides his work on packaging and company designs, Alcorn created the cool opening titles for several movies by director Federico Fellini. During his career, Alcorn designed many book covers. His artwork was shown in many important art shows.

John Alcorn's Life Story

Early Life and School

John Alcorn was born in Corona, Queens, New York, in 1935. His grandparents on his mother's side came from a village in Italy called Settimo Rottaro. When John was five, his family moved to Great Neck, Long Island. He went to school there.

He later studied graphic arts at The Cooper Union, a famous art school. For his first two years, he learned about drawing, fancy writing (called calligraphy), architecture, and how to arrange text (called typography). In his last year, he focused on illustration, graphic design, and advertising design.

Starting His Career

Alcorn began his career working at Esquire magazine. He also worked briefly for a company that advertised medicines. He got good training at Push Pin Studios. This was a very famous design studio started by artists like Milton Glaser and Seymour Chwast.

In 1958, Alcorn joined CBS Radio and then the CBS-TV art department. He worked with a designer named Lou Dorfsman. In 1961, Alcorn decided to leave CBS to work for himself as a freelancer. This meant he could work on many different projects for various clients.

His Work in the 1960s

In 1962, Alcorn designed and illustrated a book called Books! by Murray McCain. This book was chosen as one of the best fifty books of the year by the American Institute of Graphic Arts. He also illustrated other children's books. These included The Abecedarian Book, Where in the World Do You Live?, Money Round the World, and A Letter to Anywhere. He also illustrated books for learning languages.

In 1969, Alcorn's book Pocahontas in London won a special award. It was called the "Critici in Erba" Prize. He received it at the 6th Bologna Children's Book Fair in Italy.

Besides children's books, Alcorn designed many covers for paperback books. He also created artwork for magazines, posters, and advertisements. He worked with big publishers like Simon & Schuster, Little, Brown and Company, and Random House. In 1969, Alcorn was asked to join a group of international artists. They were chosen to create pictures for Alan Aldridge's book, The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics. Alcorn's job was to draw pictures for the song Eight Days a Week.

Alcorn also made many artworks for Morgan Press. He designed covers for their catalogs and yearly calendars from 1963 to 1971. In 1970, Alcorn received the Augustus Saint-Gaudens Award for his great work. In 1971, a Japanese magazine called IDEA featured John Alcorn's work. They said he was one of the most important American graphic designers of his time.

Time in Italy

In 1969, John Alcorn visited the village in Italy where his grandparents were born. He really loved the country and its culture. He spent two more summers traveling around Italy. In 1971, Alcorn and his family moved to Florence, Italy.

While in Italy, he started working with the Rizzoli publishing house. He helped them redesign their company logo and the covers of their books and catalogs. Alcorn also created the cool title designs for famous Italian director Federico Fellini's movies. These films included Amarcord, Ginger and Fred, and And the Ship Sails On.

Coming Back to the United States

In 1977, Alcorn moved back to the United States with his family. He continued to design book covers and illustrations for many publishing houses. Some of these included Knopf, Simon & Schuster, and Random House. He also designed materials for advertising.

John Alcorn's Family Life

After finishing art school, John Alcorn got married. In 1962, he and his wife, Phyllis, settled in Ossining, New York. They had four sons. In 1971, he moved his family to Florence, Italy. Then, in 1977, they returned to the United States and lived in Cold Spring, New York. In 1983, Alcorn and his wife moved to Hamburg Cove in Lyme, Connecticut.

Art Shows and Collections

John Alcorn's artwork was shown in many places.

Group Exhibitions

He was part of several group art shows:

• The Push Pin Style (Paris, Louvre, 1970; Milan, Castello Sforzesco, 1971).
• Experimental Graphics for Print (36th Venice Biennale, 1972).
• Stephen, Sabina & John Alcorn (University of Connecticut, 1988).
• Stephen & John Alcorn (Lustrare Gallery, New York, 1991).

One-Man Exhibitions

Alcorn also had his own art shows:

• New York Art Directors Club (late 1960s).
• Peter Cooper Gallery, New York (1970).
• John Alcorn, Hopkins Center, Dartmouth College (1970).
• Gallerie Delpire, Paris (1971).
• Centro Rizzoli, Milan (1975-1976).
• Beaumont-May Gallery & Artist in Residence, Dartmouth College (1981).

Awards and Honors

John Alcorn received many awards for his amazing work. He got awards from the New York Art Directors Club and the Society of Illustrators. He also won awards from AIGA and the Society of Publication Designers.

In 1968, he won first prize at the Bologna Children's Book Fair. He also received the special Augustus Saint-Gaudens Medal from Cooper Union, his old art school. In 1970, he was the first graphic artist to be an Artist-In-Residence at Dartmouth College. This meant he lived and worked at the college for a time. In 1987, he was also an Artist-In-Residence at the Maryland Institute College of Art.

Other awards include:

• New York Times choice of Best Illustrated Children's Books of the Year:
  • 1962 for Books!
  • 1966 for Wonderful Time

Books John Alcorn Illustrated

Most of the books Alcorn illustrated were for children. Here are some of them:

• Murray McCain, Books! (1962)
• Al Hine, Where in the World Do You Live? (1962)
• Mary Kay Phelan, The Circus (1963)
• Ogden Nash, Everyone but Thee and Me (poems for adults, 1963)
• Hine, Money Round the World (1963)
• Sesyle Joslin, The Petite Famille (French language reader, 1964)
• McCain, Writing! (1964)
• Hine, A Letter to Anywhere (1964)
• Marie Winn and Alan Miller, The Fireside Book of Children's Songs (1966)
• Phyllis McGinley, Wonderful Time (poems, 1966)
• Joslin, La Fiesta (Spanish language reader, 1967)
• Jan Wahl, Pocahontas in London (1967)
• Martin Gardner, Never Make Fun of a Turtle, My Son (poems, 1969)
• One, Two, Three, Hallmark (1970)
• The Great Book of Puzzles and Perplexities (1978)

He also designed many book covers and contributed illustrations to magazines. These included McCall's and Sports Illustrated.