Gerard Curtis Delano
Born Massachusetts, 1890
Died Colorado, 1972

Gerard Curtis Delano was born in Marion, Massachusetts. He began his art studies in New Bedford Massachusetts and in 1910, studied under George Bridgman at the Art Students League. He went on to study at the Grand Central School of Art under Dean Cornell, Harvey Dunn and N.C. Wyeth.

Delano was a successful commercial artist and illustrator in New York City during World War I. He first visited the West in 1919 where he found work as a hand on a Colorado Ranch. In 1920, he filed claim to a homestead on Cataract Creek, first living in a tent and later building his log cabin studio. He continued to commute to NY for commercial art assignments but permanently settled in Colorado in 1933.

Delano earned his reputation as an illustrator for many popular national magazines of the 1930s and 1940s. He sold Western Story Magazine a series of illustrated articles on the development of the West. Delano was among the first Western artists invited to submit paintings to be published on the front cover of Rotogravure section of the Denver Post. From 1947-1973, his works were viewed by thousands in the Sunday edition of the Denver Post causing widespread recognition and popularity.

In 1949 Delano married Orah McCowan of Denver. In the mid 1950s, she fell critically ill and passed away. Later in 1961, Delano married Blanche Ebert of Opdyke, Illinois. The couple remained in Denver where they raised their children and grandchildren.

Further Reading: Who Was Who in American Art 1564-1975: 400 Years of Artists in America, Vol. 1. Peter Hastings Falk, Georgia Kuchen and Veronica Roessler, eds.,Sound View Press, Madison, Connecticut, 1999. 3 Vols.; The Illustrated Biographical Encyclopedia of Artists of the American West, Peggy and Harold Samuels, Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, New York, 1976.; Artists of the American West: A Biographical Dictionary, Vol. 1, Doris Ostrander Dawdy, Swallow Press, Chicago, 1980. 3 Vols.

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