Leslie Thrasher.
Item: #PA007

            Leslie Thrasher was born in Piedmont, West Virginia, on September 15,1889. His mother encouraged the artistic inclinations which surfaced when he was young and sent him to study at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1906. The Academy awarded him a traveling scholarship in 1909, and Thrasher was able to attend the Ecole de Grande Chaumiere in Paris and travel the continent for o year. Upon returning to the United States in 1910,he came to Wilmington to study under Howard Pyle, one of America's greatest illustrators and for a time shared a studio at 1305 Franklin St. with Eads Collins and Douglas Duer. When World War 1 interrupted his work, he served with the Fortieth Engineers, doing camouflage work in France along with Duer. During the conflict the artist was seriously affected by poison gas at Belleau Wood. Thrasher returned to Wilmington, married Janet Jackson of that city in 1920, and moved with her to New York City and Setauket, Long Island. They had one daughter, Audrey. His first published cover was sold to the Saturday Evening Post in 1912 for $ 50.00. By 1926 he had contracted to do covers for Liberty at $ 1000.00 each.  These covers constituted a series which depicted the life of a " typical American family", in the words of Liberty's editors. Leslie Thrasher died on December 2, 1936, several days after being rescued from his burning summer home, of pneumonia induced by smoke inhalation. Many items which could have shed light on his artistic career were also lost in the tragic fire. It is estimated that L. Thrasher produced some three hundred and sixty covers before his death. If Thrasher had lived longer, his reputation might not have ranked alongside Rockwell's. In  addition to covers, he did story illustrations and ads, some of which became quite well - known. His prodigious output was consistently lighthearted and painted in an accomplished style full of sparkle and vitality.

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