Earl Oliver Hurst

 

Earl Oliver Hurst was born in Buffalo, New York, in 1898. After a stint in World War I, he took night classes at the Cleveland School of Art while working days at The Plain Dealer, where he drew political cartoons and fashion illustrations. From there he took a job as art director at a direct mail house. It was while in this position that he discovered his covers for booklets were being pirated and used on national magazines. Hurst saw this as patently unfair and on leaving the studio job, set out to make himself visible in broader markets. He reasoned that if he had time to experiment, he could put himself into a nationally prominent position, so he explored his skills in seclusion. But without the discipline of client-imposed deadlines, Hurst's work began to suffer as did his finances, so he came out of exile. But the artist was unsure of how to pick up where he had left off in his career.