Mead Schaeffer was Norman Rockwell’s contemporary and his Vermont neighbor. They became very close friends and Schaeffer and his family even served as Rockwell’s model for a number of paintings. Born in Freedom Plains, New York, Schaeffer grew up in Springfield, Massachusetts with the express goal of becoming an illustrator. After high school he enrolled at Pratt Institute and was considered one of their most outstanding students in 1920, reputed to be their best class ever. While at Pratt he was influenced by Harvey Dunn who occasionally critiqued the student’s work and was impressed with Schaeffer’s projects. While still a Pratt student he illustrated his first of seven ‘Golden Boy’ books authored by L.P. Wyman.
At the age of 24, he was hired by the publisher Dodd, Mead & Company to illustrate a series of books much like NC Wyeth had done for Scribner’s Classics. Among the titles were Herman Melville's Moby Dick, Typee and Omoo, Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Christo, and Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables. He also illustrated Adventures of Remi, The Wreck of the Grosvenor, The Cruise of the Cachalot, and King Arthur and His Knights. These book illustration commissions began in 1922 and continued for the next number of years, culminating in 1930. When this first phase of his career ended, his illustrations of classic novels also ended. It was during this period that he met Dean Cornwell, possibly in 1926, and decided he needed further painting instruction and went in a different direction with his career.
From the 1930’s until the 1940’s, Schaeffer decided to stop painting buccaneers, Captain Blood, and titled Europeans, and to focus on real people in real settings. Perhaps, due to the influence of Rockwell or perhaps the shocking revelations of World War II, he was quoted as saying “I suddenly realized I was sick of painting dudes and dandies…I longed to do honest work, based on real places, real people and real things.” In fact, he traveled several times out West with Rockwell and they shared many exciting experiences on these trips. They both felt that there was too much of New England in their paintings and entered a phase of intense searching for subject matter elsewhere. Schaeffer found commissions pouring in from Good Housekeeping and McCall’s, while Rockwell continued his strong contacts with the Post. Perhaps due to Rockwell’s contacts, Schaeffer was introduced to the Saturday Evening Post’s art director and started to receive assignments from that most prestigious magazine. Next came commissions from Ladies’ Home Journal, Country Gentleman, and Cosmopolitan.
During the course of his career, Mead Schaeffer’s work was clearly divided into three distinctive segments: the first were the classic novels mentioned above, second was to document contemporary American scenes for current magazine publication, and third was comprised of his depictions of the American military. This last period occurred after his exposure in reporting military actions. Mead Schaeffer could not be called "prolific", for his execution was methodical and, at times, even plodding. Consequently, his armed forces paintings were considered to be the most authentic paintings done during WWII.
Schaeffer retired to his air-conditioned Vermont barn with a trout stream in sight of his studio window and died in 1980.
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