Thomas Vroman Mid century Illustrator

Born in Olean, New York, Thomas Vroman went on to attend the Beaux Art School in Paris, graduated from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and began a career of painting, which has won him numerous awards from art organizations around the world. In 1974, along with Norman Rockwell, he was chosen as one of the thirteen leading contemporary artists in the United States. Here’s some illustrations he did for Colliers Magazine in 1956.

During World War II, Tom applied his artistic talents to highly unique projects needed to fulfill the direct requirements of General Eisenhower, General Bradley, General John Lee and others. He was a member of an elite team assigned to the Intelligence Unit of the European Theatre Headquarters. Tom’s paintings have been selected by the U.S. Information Agency State Department to tour Russia in exhibitions, and his work has been exhibited in France, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. He has taught at the University of the Arts and Temple University. Here are a few of his children’s book covers.

One of his best known books is ‘A Very, Very Special Day’ from 1963.

Here’s a taste of some more of Tom’s original work, found selling as a job lot on ebay !

These christmas themed ones have a feel of Heinz Edelmann‘s ‘blue-meanies’  for the Yellow Submarine cartoon for The Beatles.

Five daughters have inspired Tom’s illustrations and the texts for delightful children’s books, and his intricately detailed paintings have appeared in The Saturday Evening Post, Holiday, McCall’s, Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping, Venture and many others. He has co-authored a book entitled Design Sources and Resources. He has had many feature articles published in graphic art publications and he continues to work for leading industries.  By far his most well loved book has to be that of ‘Alexander’ the naughty, imaginary horse that arrives to teach a lesson.

As an artist, designer and businessman, Tom worked in New York City for many years early in his career. He founded Thomas Vroman Associates as a Design and Marketing Communications firm. Striving to find a unique creative environment, Tom relocated the business to the bucolic setting of Gaines, PA. He housed the firm in a quaint barn-like building, updating it with the latest equipment and technology. He fulfilled his vision of being able to offer clients high quality design and communication support on a cost effective basis. Using sophisticated technology, Tom eliminated the barriers of distance and time to support the needs of clients, regardless of their locations.

Here’s an interesting article from the Olean Times Herald from back in 2009, and many thanks to The Stowaway Star site for their info on Thomas.