School Days: Burne Hogarth

Cartoonist Burne Hogarth, who was born Bernard pinoza Ginsburg according to a family tree at Ancestry.com, said he founded a number of art schools. In Something About the Author, Volume 63 (1991), his career included the “...Academy of Newspaper Art, New York, N.Y., founder, 1944–46….[and the] Cartoonists and Illustrators School (now School of Visual Arts), New York, N.Y., co-founder and vice-president, 1947–50…” In between the academy and the school was a center.

Below are two articles and a photo caption which mention Hogarth but not his academy. At this time I have not found any newspaper or magazine articles referring to the Academy of Newspaper Art.

The New York Sun, March 26, 1945

Long Island Daily Press (Jamaica, New York),
April 12, 1945

Long Island Daily Press (Jamaica, New York),
April 18, 1945

I did find advertisements regarding Hogarth’s second art school which was called the “Cartoonists & Illustrators Center”, the pre-cursor to the Cartoonists and Illustrators School. Advertisements ran in the New York Post in October 1945. Presumably the Academy of Newspaper Art ended in 1945.

New York Post, October 10, 1945

LEARN CARTOONING
With One of the Leading
Cartoonists in the Field
BURNE HOGARTH
OF “TARZAN” FAME
Classes Start October 16th, Eves. & Saturdays
Write for Information NOW!
CARTOONISTS & ILLUSTRATORS CENTER
2091 Broadway, New York, 23, N.Y.

New York Post, October 12, 1945

Learn Cartooning with BURNE
HOGARTH [illegible]
[illegible]
Cartoonists & Illustrators Center
2091 Broadway TRafalgar 4-6616

New York Post, October 19, 1945

PLAN YOUR CAREER NOW
Learn Cartooning with
BURNE HOGARTH
The demand for original cartoonists grows daily.
Comprehensive course in cartooning and illus-
trating. Special courses for advanced students.
CARTOONISTS & ILLUSTRATORS CENTER
BURNE HOGARTH (of Tarzan Fame, Dir.)
2091 Broadway at 72nd St. TRafalgar 4-6616

New York Post, October 24, 1945

PLAN YOUR CARER NOW
Learn Cartooning with
BURNE HOGARTH
The demand for original cartoonists grows daily.
Comprehensive course in cartooning and illus-
trating. Special courses for advanced students.
CARTOONISTS & ILLUSTRATORS CENTER
BURNE HOGARTH (of Tarzan Fame, Dir.)
2091 Broadway at 72nd St. TRafalgar 4-6616

New York Post, October 26, 1945

LEARN CARTOONING With BURNE
HOGARTH of “TARZAN” fame. New complete
intensive course for beginners and ad-
vanced students.
Cartoonist & Illustrators Center
2091 B’way (72nd St. N.Y.C.) TR 4-6616

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle published a Cartoonist and Illustrators Center advertisement on February 10, 1946.

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, February 10, 1946

LEARN CARTOONING
With A Leading Cartoonist
BURNE HOGARTH
of “TARZAN” fame
Now is the time to get
into the cartooning field!
Learn the technique of
newspaper and magazine
panel gags — sport car-
toons — comic strips —
caricature advertising
comic illustrations.
Classes: SATURDAYS ONLY
(Mornings & Afternoons)
CARTOONISTS & ILLUSTRATORS CENTER
ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON SCHOOL
246 West 80 N.Y.C. SC 4-3232

Advertisement in Arts Magazine
February 15, 1946

LEARN CARTOONING
With A Leading Cartoonist
BURNE HOGARTH
of “TARZAN” fame
Classes: SATURDAYS ONLY (Mornings & Afternoons)
Learn the technique of newspaper and magazine

panel gags — sport cartoons — comic strips — 

caricature advertising comic illustrations.

Write for Bulletin D
Cartoonists & Illustrators Center
Robert Louis Stevenson School
246 West 80 N.Y.C. SC 4-3232 

Hogarth said the Cartoonists and Illustrators School began in 1947. The New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer and Milwaukee Sentinel, January 19, 1956, said it opened August 20, 1947. The school was mentioned in a New York Post article dated November 10, 1947.

New York Post, November 10, 1947

Classes are still forming at the Cartoonists and Illustrators School, 112 W. 89th St., it was announced by Silas H. Rhodes, director.

Nationally prominent cartoonists and illustrators, headed by Burne Hogarth, illustrator of “Tarzan,” comprise the faculty and lecturing staff.

In A Drinking Life: A Memoir, Pete Hamill recalled attending the Cartoonists and Illustrators School.

The following article may explain why Rhodes decided to rename the Cartoonists and Illustrators School.

Long Island Star Journal, January 19, 1956

The School of Visual Arts Archives website has the following statement:

The School of Visual Arts Archives serves as the final repository for the historical records of School of Visual Arts. Its primary purpose is to document the history of the School and to provide source material for administrators, faculty, students, alumni, and other members of the School community, as well as scholars, authors, and other interested persons who seek to evaluate the impact of the School’s activities on the history of American artistic, social, and cultural development. The SVA Archives is a division of the Visual Arts Foundation.

Materials in the Archives collections include posters, announcements, departmental and student publications, and other printed ephemera and artifacts, dating back to its founding in 1947. The Archives also collects administrative and departmental records, photographs, and the papers of important individuals associated with the College.

In 1947, Silas H. Rhodes and illustrator Burne Hogarth founded the Cartoonists and Illustrators School, with a faculty composed of New York City-based professionals working in the arts (a practice that continues to this day). Reflecting the belief that there is more to art than technique and that learning to become an artist is not the same as learning a trade, Silas H. Rhodes renamed the institution School of Visual Arts in 1956....

In 1970 Hogarth retired from the School of Visual Arts. His death was reported in The New York Times, February 1, 1996. Silas Rhodes’ obituary was published in the The Times, June 30, 2007.

(Next post on Monday: Phoenix Con 1970 and 1972)