The Brandywine School of Art taught illustration from the late 19th Century to the first part of the 20th Century. It was during a time when illustrations flourished for books, magazines and newspapers. Many notable illustrators graduated from the school. Some names are familiar, such as: N.C. Wyeth, Norman Rockwell and Maxfield Parrish.
There were many others whose fame diminished for a variety of reasons just as happens in every art movement. In this case, the artist was Walter Hunt Everett (1880-1946). Yet, Everett's illustrations were well-known in his time and highly prized by publishers. So, why is it we know so little about him now?
Although he was in high demand, his temperament and perfectionism caused him to miss deadlines. Everett was far more interested in mastering his craft. He shaped his brushes, designed his own easel, and sought perfection. This made his illustrations change over time as his style evolved until it was more about art than illustration. Finally, he quit making the art required by publishers.
He was so obsessed with perfecting his talent that he even forgot to pay rent and other bills. It led to his wife leaving him and taken their son with her.
At the peak of his career in the 1930s, a kind of madness came over him and he burned all his illustrations and disappeared!
The question of what happened to him isn't certain. There is speculation that he suffered from depression and possibly another mental illness.
After his death from emphysema, his son found about 30 rolled-up oil paintings hidden in the corner of a barn on Everett's property. Eventually and in a manner of speaking, Everett was resurrected.
In 2014, the Society of Illustrators welcomed Everett's illustrations into the Hall of Fame with comments such as, "based on the evidence he left behind, the man was a genius." Worthy praise for a story too often told posthumosly in an artist's search for personal expression.
(Some of his colored illustrations were submitted too late for plates to be printed, so the publishers would print in black and white.)
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