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Howard Terpning (born November 5, 1927) is an American Painting and illustrator best known for his paintings of Native Americans.
After leaving the Marines he enrolled at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts in their two-year commercial art program using the G.I. Bill to pay his tuition. To further his study he attended the American Academy of Art in Chicago for six months where he honed his life drawing and painting skills.
After art school a family friend introduced Terpning to Haddon Sundblom, a successful and highly regarded illustrator of that time. Based on the recommendation and the strength of Terpning's drawings, Sundblom hired Terpning to work at his Chicago studio as an apprentice for $35 per week. Initially, Terpning ran errands, cut mats, built crates, and cleaned brushes. After about a year and a half he began to work on his own commissions. In 1955, he moved to a Milwaukee studio where he stayed for three years before relocating to New York where he was hired by a major Chicago studio. By 1962, he was working as a freelance artist using an agent to facilitate the business side of his craft. As a result, Terpning was able to work from his home studio eliminating the long commute into New York City. During 25 years as an illustrator he created magazine covers, story illustrations and advertising art for publications such as Reader's Digest, Time, Newsweek, Good Housekeeping, Field & Stream, McCall's, Redbook, and Ladies' Home Journal.McGarry, Southwest ArtDedera, Southwest Art
In addition to illustrating for magazines Terpning completed over 80 movie posters starting with The Guns of Navarone in 1961. Other examples include Cleopatra, Doctor Zhivago, The Sound of Music, The Sand Pebbles, and the 1967 re-release of Gone with the Wind.
In 1967, in the midst of his commercial art career Terpning left his home in Connecticut and headed to Vietnam as a civilian combat artist. He was invited by the Marine Corps to document the war by living with the Marines for one month. After two weeks of training he wound up in Da Nang, South Vietnam, with camera and sketch pad going out on patrols with combat troops. Of the experience Terpning stated he was "profoundly changed" by the experience. Upon his return home he created six paintings which are now at the National Museum of the Marine Corps.Kelton, The Art of Howard Terpning
In 1985, Terpning was honored with a retrospective at the Gilcrease Museum with 38 original works on display. His work has also been displayed in Beijing, China, and the Grand Palais in Paris.Reed, The Illustrator in America 1880–1980 Descriptions of Terpning's work:
The late Fred A. Myers, director of Gilcrease Museum said of Terpning, "he is simply the best and best-known artist doing Western subjects at this point... He is among a very small group of painters of the West in the late 20th century whose art will still be hanging in museums and appreciated a hundred years from now."
In 2006, at the Coeur d'Alene Art Auction Terpning's Search for the Renegades sold for over $1.4 million, The Stragglers sold for just over $1 million.
Terpning was profiled November 30, 2008, on CBS Sunday Morning.
Terpning's work can be found in museums include the Phoenix Art Museum, National Portrait Gallery, Autry National Center of the American West, Gilcrease Museum, Eiteljorg Museum, Booth Western Art Museum, Tucson Medical Center's Healing Arts Program and The Eddie Basha Collection.
A more complete and up to date list of awards can be found at the Greenwich Workshop website.
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