Charles Gates Sheldon (b. 1889 / d. 1960)

Charles Sheldon was born in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1894.

He spent most of his life in Springfield. In high school, he contributed to the artwork in the yearbook.

Sheldon studied at the Arts Students League. He then studied under Alphonse Mucha in Paris. He started working for Ladies Home Journal doing artwork of hats, gloves and fashion work.

Sheldon moved into advertising doing creative advertising for clients such as, Fiberloid hair brushes, Fox Shoe Company, La Vogue lingerie and Gainsbourough. The ads had many stars features such a Zigfeld Follies. By 1921, Sheldon was working for high fashion companies.

In 1924 and 1925, Sheldon created cover art for the Christmas issue of Colliers and a Halloween issue cover for Saturday Evening Post. By the late 1930's, magazines started to moving towards photography for their covers. However, Sheldon continued to produce his his delicate, dreamy, pastel portraits for the Breck Shampoo Company.

Sheldon retired in the late 1950's. In 1960, he died at his home is Springfield. When his home was torn down in 1978, a hidden room was found full of "artwork by his contemporary illustrators such as J.C. Leyendecker, Howard Chandler Christy, Maxfield Parrish, and Charles Dana Gibson".

Sources Include:
www.grapefruitmoongallery.com
www.artofillustration.com