Thornton Drake Skidmore (1884-date of death uncertain; variously given as 1956 and 1984) was born in Brooklyn NY. He began three years of study of naval architecture in Boston but then turned to art. He was a cartoonist for Boston newspapers The Record, The Globe, and The Traveller, serving as the latter's art editor from 1906 to 1909. He attended the Eric Pape School during those years. In 1909 he began his career in magazine illustration with commissions from major publications such as Woman's Home Companion, Liberty, Collier's, and American Magazine. In 1910, Skidmore moved to Wilmington DE to attend Howard Pyle's lectures, sharing studios with William Harndon Foster, with whom he had worked on The Traveller. He later worked from a New York City studio. In the early 1920s, Skidmore illustrated 31 stories by PG Wodehouse in Cosmopolitan.
He later worked as a cartographer for the US Navy and headed technical illustration at the McLaughlin Research Corporation in Washington DC.
Skidmore worked in two ditinct styles: that of cartoonist (which he used in his work for magazines such as Life) and that of realist illustrator.
Source:
DAM archives
