Men of Iron

Howard Pyle was born March 5, 1853 in Wilmington, Deleware. He was a renowned artist, writer and teacher. Pyle founded the Brandywine School of Painting and was extremely influential in the world of American illustration. Pyle was a Quaker and attended the Friends School in Wilmington. At the age of sixteen he began studying under the Belgian artist Van der Weilen. This systematic training provided a solid foundation for his particular drawing technique. His earlier work was published in Scribner’s Monthly. In 1876 Pyle moved to New York, where he was associated to some extent with the Art Students’ league of New York City during 1876-77. His early illustrations, short stories and poems appeared in the leading New York periodicals in 1876-79. He was a well known artist and writer for Harpers Weekly. In 1910, Howard Pyle relocated his family to Florence, Italy where he hoped to study and pursue the painting of murals - drawing on the expertise of the Old World. It was his second trip abroad. In November of 1911, he suddenly became ill and died of a kidney infection at the age of 58. His ashes were interred there.