Born in Little Falls, MN on Dec. 1, 1901. Harting studied at the University of Minnesota as an engineering major and then transferred to the arts. His continued at the Minneapolis School of Fine Arts, AIC, and the Grand Central School of Art in NYC. Over the years he was an art director for Walt Disney Studios and was associated with Brown & Bigelow, manufacturers of calendars. The U.S. Air Force commissioned him on five occasions to paint scenes in the Far East. He is best known for his western compositions of cowboys and Indians, wintery Midwest farm scenes, and the California missions in both watercolor and oil. He died in Orange County, CA on Oct. 17, 1974. In: U.S. Air Force collection.

Lloyd Harting was born in Little Falls, Minnesota, on the first of December in 1901. He attended the College of Engineering at the University of Minnesota, and then studied at the Minneapolis School of Fine Arts. He continued his artistic training at the Chicago Art Institute in Illinois, the Grand Central Art School in New York City, and even attended various art schools in Los Angeles, California throughout his artistic career.

An illustrator, Harting mostly did calendar and direct mail illustration, as well as the more traditional magazine and motion picture illustration. He worked as an illustrator for Brown and Bigelow in St. Paul, Minnesota for thirty years. However, Harting also illustrated for the motion picture industry in both advertising and production. He worked for both 20th Century Fox and Walt Disney Studios for a little over four years each. He illustrated for Disney during the 1940's, and was one of the Art Directors for Disney's 1942 acclaimed animated film, Bambi.

Harting was a member of the Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles, California. He was also commissioned to paint three works for Richard Pourade's book, Anza Conquers the Desert: The Anza Expeditions from Mexico to California and the Founding of San Francisco: 1774-1776. David J. Weber, Book Review Editor for the Journal of San Diego History noted that "Generally accurate in detail, [the works] help bring the period alive."


Reference:
The Air Force Art Collection (www.afapo.hq.af.mil), www.sandiegohistory.org

Lloyd Harting was an illustrator, animator, and watercolorist who specialized in scenes of the Old West.

Harting was born in Little Falls, Minnesota and enrolled in the College of Engineering at the University of Minnesota before deciding on a career in art. He attended the Minneapolis School of Fine Arts, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Grand Central School of Art in New York.

Harting created advertising and calendar illustrations for the printing giant, Brown & Bigelow, for thirty years. He also painted movie advertisements and worked in movie production at 20th Century Fox and Walt Disney Studios for a total of about nine years. He is credited as an art director for Disney's Bambi, released in 1942. He was commissioned by the United States Navy to paint in the Far East, and in the early 1960s, the United States Air Force sent him to paint at various locations around the world. Near the end of his life, Harting painted illustrations for two books on Spanish Colonial history in California.

Harting worked primarily in watercolor and had a detailed, realistic style that owes equally to Charlie Russell and to popular illustration of the 1930s. His favorite subjects were action scenes of the Old West including Indians, cowboys, prospectors, railroads, and wagon trains. He also painted wintry scenes of his native Midwest, and historical views of the Spanish missions of California.