A native of Greenwood, Massachusetts, Charles Louis Lassell studied at The Fenway Art School in Boston. When he was an established artist in 1927, he took further instruction from illustrator Harvey Dunn at The Grand Central School of Art in New York City.
By 1916, he was working as a staff artist for the Snow Advertising Agency in Boston. After service in New York State during World War I, he opened a studio in the famous Beaux Arts Building at 80 West 40th Street. Among the prestigious artists who also worked in the building at the time was J. C. Leyendecker.
Lassell's first published freelance works were pen and ink story illustrations for Boy's Life. Over his long career, he worked for many major magazines, including The Saturday Evening Post, Colliers, McCall's, and St. Nicholas Magazine. As a cover artist, he provided paintings for the Street & Smith pulp magazines, such as Sea Stories, and Western Story. In 1928, Lassell and his first wife Jane N. Lassell moved to the illustrators' colony of New Rochelle, New York; three years later, they relocated a newer, similar colony in Westport, CT.
From 1931 onward the artist signed most of his work as "LaSalle," although his legal name always remained "Lassell."
During World War II, Lassell joined Artists For Victory, a volunteer group of four hundred artists, to sketch hospitalized servicemen. The program was organized by illustrator James Montgomery Flagg.
After the war, Lassell made two more moves, first to Long Island, NY, and then to Arizona. H worked in advertising work for the Ford Motor Company, General Electric, General Motors, Listerine, Schlitz Beer, and Shell Oil. He also continued his magazine illustration, primarily for men's adventure magazines, such as True, Field & Stream, and Outdoor Life.
In 1950 his book, Drawing in Charcoal with Charles LaSalle, was published by Walter T. Foster, who produced a popular series of How-To art books.
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