Thornton Oakley
American, 1881 - 1953
He also taught and lectured about art, and for 20 years he served as head of the Department of Illustration at the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Art.
BiographyBorn in Pittsburgh in 1881, Oakley graduated from Shady Side Academy in Pittsburgh in 1897. He studied architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, and studied illustration with Howard Pyle. Throughout his career, he illustrated and painted for exhibition as well as publications. Industry was a consistent theme throughout his work. During WWII, he painted a series of 48 paintings of "American Industries Geared for War" and related subjects for National Geographic Magazine, which were published in 1942, 1943, and 1945.
He also taught and lectured about art, and for 20 years he served as head of the Department of Illustration at the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Art.
