Howard Fogg: “Railroad Man with an Easel”
"Good Lord, Ben! A painting of that size terrifies me . . . but let me think about it." This was part of a telephone conversation about two years ago between Howard Fogg '38 and myself. The subject of our conversation was a 24-by-36- inch painting depicting an area both of us knew and loved. The result, "New England Autumn," is an idealized scene of the Connecticut River valley between Hanover and Norwich. The com- position, with Mount Ascutney in the distant south, the cupola of Dartmouth Hall visible through the pines, the Ledyard Covered Bridge, and the autumn foliage, should evoke nostalgia by the ton for members of the Dartmouth family. It does for me.
In "New England Autumn," a jaunty American-type locomotive of the days of wooden cars and brass-trimmed engines heads north along the Vermont side of the Connec- ticut. It is a crisp October day in 1885, but the ageless beauty of the white birches, flame-red maples, and lush pines couples with the Ledyard Bridge and the cheery whistle of old Number 38 (for the fabulous class of '3B) to transcend the years and seasons with a message rich in fond memories, happiness, and friendship.
The kind of happiness the painting evokes is the sort that conies from the sense of well-being brought on by pursuing excellence in life's endeavors. This feeling of perfection, ac- complishment, and recognition should certainly be with Howard Fogg, whose works are acclaimed internationally.
All through college, Fogg spent more time drawing trains, playing with the extensive mode! railroad set up in his dorm room, and down at the tracks along the river than he did studying. Those of us close to him urged him to quit his foolishness and get to -his books. He grad- uated with a fine record, but was soon back to what really interested him railroads and art.
Fogg had been drawing, painting, studying, praising, criticizing, and living railroads since childhood. He describes himself thus: "I am an illustrator whose first interest is railroads. I am a railroad man with an easel."
After graduating from Dartmouth with a degree in English literature, Fogg attended the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts with the thought of becoming a political cartoonist. In the spring of 1939, however, he sold his first train painting for 525, and all thoughts of a cartoonist's career went down the drain. That summer he worked for the Union Pacific Railroad in Chicago. The next winter, 1939-40, he was at home in Wilmette, unemployed but painting constantly. He sold a few works, gave several to friends, and gained a tremendous amount of experience. After spending several months in the art de- partment of Montgomery Ward in the spring of 1940 and touring the country with a college roommate that summer, he settled in Summit, N.J., and made a serious business of doing watercolors of trains. A number of these works were sold in a small gallery in New York.
Then, thanks to a friendship with a vice presi- dent of the Baldwin Locomotive Works, the young railroad artist had a chance to work as an apprentice engineer in a huge locomotive erect- ing shop. From this experience, he gained the knowledge of engines which, more than any other factor, accounts for the detail and ac- curacy in his paintings. "Those few months at Baldwin were priceless," Fogg says. "I would have worked for nothing."
__ ©* The stay at Baldwin was short, for in May of 1941, he entered the armed forces. After flying 76 missions as a fighter pilot in the Army Air Force, Fogg returned to civilian life and to his joint first loves of railroads and art.
From 1946 through 1957, Fogg worked under contract with the American Locomotive Com- pany, producing from 24 to 30 paintings a year depicting locomotive scenes for most of the ma- jor United States railroads and a half-dozen foreign countries.
In 1946 he also met Lucius Beebe and a year later was introduced to John W. Barringer 111. These two men were impressed with Fogg's work and became his most loyal boosters, clients, and friends. "I seriously doubt," says F°gg* "that I could have stayed in this screwy profession without Lucius and John."
Fogg's career was masterfully captured in a 1978 book by Frank Clodfelter entitled Foggand Steam. Published by the Pruett Publishing Company of Boulder, Colo., it is a regional look at steam locomotives, depicting a part of the American heritage that has made the country great. (The excellent performance of the steam locomotives of the 20th century, viewed in light of the looming energy crisis, may give added credence to the revitalization of steam power.)
Today, living with his family in Boulder, Colo., Fogg is a successful free-lance railroad and industrial illustrator with an impressive list of past and present clients. The artist's own words provide a fitting summary of the course of his career: "All I hope for is to keep my good health, keep on painting trains, and keep on learning and improving."
The age of steam comes alive in these paintings by Howard Fogg '3B: "New EnglandAutumn," above, and "Dominion," below. The massive gray and maroon Dominion, oneof Canadian Pacific's largest steam locomotives, was built in the late thirties andis pictured here between Lake Louise and Banff on a cold winter morning in 1947.
The age of steam comes alive in these paintings by Howard Fogg '3B: "New EnglandAutumn," above, and "Dominion," below. The massive gray and maroon Dominion, oneof Canadian Pacific's largest steam locomotives, was built in the late thirties andis pictured here between Lake Louise and Banff on a cold winter morning in 1947.
