Don Spaulding

1926 - 0000

Born in Brooklyn, New York, young Donald spent a lot of time on his aunt and uncle’s farm on the Housatonic River that runs through western Connecticut and Massachusetts, which made a huge impression on him. “I spent so much time on the farm that I often feel as though I have lived in the last century. Perhaps that’s why I have such a feeling for the era and why I enjoy painting 19th century life,” Spaulding recalls.

Spaulding took up drawing as a boy and was encouraged by his high school teachers to get formal training, which he did. Following high school he enrolled in the Art Students League in New York. However, his training there was interrupted by the war, when about a month later he was drafted into the U.S. Army. Spaulding returned to the Art Students League following the war, spending the next four years studying there. While he was at the Art Students League, Spaulding was invited to study with Norman Rockwell at an art school he had established near his home in Vermont. While studying there, Spaulding got a contract to illustrate more than a dozen Lone Ranger covers for Dell Comics, which Rockwell’s next-door neighbor modeled for. For the next quarter century Spaulding worked as an illustrator for a variety of publishers. Later in life Spaulding worked as a fine artist, concentrating on military and Western subjects. His military paintings are in the collections of the West Point Museum, New York; the Fort Riley Cavalry Museum, Kansas; the United States War College, Washington, D.C.; and The Pentagon.

Spaulding pays special attention to the details of dress, gear, and weapons in his paintings, relying on his personal collection of Western and military artifacts. He is especially interested in period costumes and equipment of cavalry troopers, Plains Indians, and cowboys.

Regarding his love of Western art, Spaulding says, “I’ve always been intrigued with the look of history. There is a special thrill I get handling artifacts from the Old West. It’s like holding history in my hand. I was put on the earth to paint the historical West. It’s my great love and passion.”

THE EMISSARIES Oil on Board 1984 24 x 20 ¼