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Home > Artists > Alex Ross (Alexander Sharpe Ross)

Alex Ross (Alexander Sharpe Ross)

Born: October 28,1908 | Died: 1990

Alex Ross (Alexander Sharpe Ross)

Biography

Born in the town of Dunfermline, Scotland, Alexander Sharpe Ross (1908-1990) moved with his family to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1911. After attending Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon University), Ross moved to New York and joined the Charles E. Cooper Studio, where he worked among such notable illustrators as Ward Brackett, Stevan Dohanos, J. Frederick Smith, and Jon Whitcomb.

Good Housekeeping magazine frequently featured Ross's artwork on their covers throughout the 1940s, while Ross was also completing commissions for some of the most popular magazines of the day, including The Saturday Evening Post, Cosmopolitan, McCall's, Collier's, Woman's Home Companion, and Reader's Digest.

During the decline of magazine illustration in the mid-1960s, Ross turned from romantic magazine illustrations to fine art using watercolor, for which he won many awards. 

 

A video featuring Alex Ross painting with watercolor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykQnxdSEZ4I&feature=youtu.be

Visit artist's website

Illustrations by Alex Ross (Alexander Sharpe Ross)

untitledSunt voluptas saepe sunt rem architecto sint at nemo distinctio Dolores alias minimahttps://www.illustrationhistory.org/illustrations/untitled-3-1
A Hectic MorningUnknownhttps://www.illustrationhistory.org/illustrations/a-hectic-morning
Getting the MailCurtis Publishinghttps://www.illustrationhistory.org/illustrations/getting-the-mail
How Sure Can You Be?Hearsthttps://www.illustrationhistory.org/illustrations/how-sure-can-you-be
The Colonel’s WifeHearsthttps://www.illustrationhistory.org/illustrations/the-colonels-wife
The ConversationUnknownhttps://www.illustrationhistory.org/illustrations/the-conversation
Interior art for “Cosmopolitan,” March 1956Hearsthttps://www.illustrationhistory.org/illustrations/interior-art-for-cosmopolitan-march-1956
Cover art for “Good Housekeeping,” March 1950Hearsthttps://www.illustrationhistory.org/illustrations/cover-art-for-good-housekeeping-march-1950

Additional Resources

  • Yesterday’s Papers

Bibliography

Downes, Randolph C. and Alex Ross. Council Fires on the Upper Ohio: A Narrative of Indian Affairs in the Upper Ohio Valley until 1795. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1969.

O'Neill, Mary and Alex Ross. Saints Adventures in Courage. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1963.

Reed, Walt. The Illustrator in America, 1860-2000. New York: Society of Illustrators, 2001.

Genres
  • Advertising
    • Corporate
    • Political and Public Service
    • Product
    • Self-Promotion
  • Books
    • Children’s Books
    • Cover Art
    • Interior Illustration
  • Cartooning
    • Advertising
    • Caricature
    • Political and Editorial
    • Sports
    • Spot
  • Comics
    • Comic Books
      • Manga
    • Comic Strips
  • Decorative & Applied Illustration
    • Info Graphics
    • Murals
    • Portraiture
  • Fantasy
    • Adventure
    • Fairy Tales and Fables
    • Mythology
  • Fashion
    • Advertising
    • Design
  • Graphic Novels
    • Fiction
    • Non-Fiction
    • Visual Memoir and Autobiography
  • Internet Illustration
    • Web Comics
    • Website Illustration
  • Magazine
    • Cover Art
    • Story Illustration
  • Moving Image
    • Animation
    • Concept Art
    • Storyboard
    • Video Game Design
  • Newspaper
  • Non-Commissioned Work
  • Poster
    • Event (Promotional)
    • Film
    • Political
    • Propaganda
    • Travel
  • Product Illustration
    • Album/CD
    • Calendars
    • DVD/VHS/Videogame
    • Greeting Cards
    • Packaging
    • Paper Dolls
    • Postage Stamps
  • Pulp Illustration
    • Pinup Art
    • Pulp Magazines
  • Science Fiction
    • Creatures
    • Outer Space
    • Technology
  • Technical
    • Anatomy
    • Archaeological
    • Architecture
    • Courtroom Drawings
    • Horticulture
    • Mechanical
    • Natural History
Global Perspectives
  • North America
  • Europe
  • Asia
RELATED ARTISTS
  • Sheilah Beckett Sheilah Beckett
  • Joe De Mers Joe De Mers
  • Stevan Dohanos Stevan Dohanos
  • J. Frederick Smith J. Frederick Smith
  • Jon Whitcomb Jon Whitcomb
  • Coby Whitmore Coby Whitmore
Related Time Periods
  • The Decade 1930-1940 The Decade 1930-1940
  • The Decade 1940-1950 The Decade 1940-1950
  • The Decade 1950-1960 The Decade 1950-1960
  • The Decade 1960-1970 The Decade 1960-1970

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Art Works. National Endowment for the Arts. arts.gov

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"The great band of illustrators have shown us to ourselves and I am proud to be among their company."
- Norman Rockwell

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