Herbert D. Stitt was born in 1880 in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and attended West Point before going to Paris to study art. It is not known how long he was in Wilmington or exactly when, but he seems to have attended Howard Pyle’s composition lectures and criticisms. Judging from a letter Stitt wrote Gertrude Brincklé in 1920 from Hot Springs, when he was painting landscapes, he did not consider himself an illustrator; the illustrative work he did do was purely to make a living. He estimated that he had done about two hundred illustrations and covers for such magazines as People’s Magazine, Top Notch, Adventure, Romance, and the Du Pont Magazine. He also did calendar decorations.
As an easel painter he specialized in painting such famous horses as Man o’ War and Blockade. He also painted landscapes and still lifes. He died in Pikesville, Maryland, on February 17, 1943.
