The Orange County Museum of Art collection includes John Altoon’s Jazz Players, c. 1950, Oil on Masonite. In the mid 1950s Altoon created another painting, Untitled (Ode to Thelonious), c. 1956-1957, Oil, sand, and mud on linen, private collection. Both works were included in the exhibition, John Altoon, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2014. The Laguna Art Museum exhibition, John Altoon – drawings and prints, 2014, included Untitled (jazz band), c. 1957, Ink on board, Collection The Rich Family Trust.
Jazz Players (1950) suggests that Altoon at age 25 had an appreciation and knowledge of the art form as practiced by black and white musicians. Jazz was beginning to blossom in Los Angeles in the late 1940s and early 1950s when Altoon was discharged from the Navy. Jazz was also flourishing in New York during Altoon’s tenure there in the early 1950s. Walter Hopps’ rambling remembrance of Altoon for the exhibition catalogue, John Altoon⎪Drawings and Prints, The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1971, mentions a visit to a club called Jazz Gallery where Art Blakey’s group was performing.1 Jazz was part of John Altoon’s personal and professional life.
This post explores the background of the artist, his jazz album covers, and his commercial work for several magazines in the mid 1950s as he emerged as a major artist on the West Coast art scene.
John Armen Altoon was the second son born to Jacob K. Altoon and Pearl (Azhderian) Altoon on November 5, 1925. Jacob and Pearl were natives of Turkey (Armenia) who emigrated to the United States in the early 1900s. The Fifteenth Census of the United States [1930] recorded that the family was living at 1125 West 36th Place in Los Angeles near the USC campus and the Los Angeles Coliseum. The family of five included Benjamin (Benny), John’s older brother by two years, and Mary, his little sister who was aged 2½. Jacob Altoon dropped his full Armenian name, Altoonian, upon arrival in the United States.
Altoon’s artistic talent was discovered in grade school where he won an award when he was nine years old. He attended Dorsey High School at 3537 Farmdale Avenue, Baldwin Hills/Crenshaw. John Altoon entered an Armenian art festival competition during his junior year in high school and won a scholarship to study art at the Otis Art Institute under Ralph Holmes. After six months at Otis he returned to Dorsey High School to complete his senior year and graduate. John Altoon is kneeling in the first row (second from left – circled in red) from this summer 1943 photo at Dorsey High School. Artist Robert Irwin and jazz musician Eric Dolphy also attended Dorsey, although not concurrent with John Altoon.
John Altoon joined the U. S. Navy in the fall of 1943. He received training as a radar technician and saw action in the Pacific during nine major campaigns against the Japanese during World War II. The Los Angeles Times published a pencil drawing that Altoon sent to his mentor at Otis while he was serving in the Pacific.
Lad From Otis Institute Now in Navy Keeps Up His Art
Typical of work being done in the armed forces by young artists whose schooling has been interrupted by the war is this drawing of a sleeping sailor. It was sent with other pencil drawings to Ralph Holmes, instructor at Otis Art Institute, by John Altoon, seaman 2nd class, of 3038 Victoria Avenue, one of Holmes’ former pupils who has been in the Navy for two years and still is at sea.
The picture at left, with its serious, careful draftsmanship, is done in the spirit of these words from his letter:
“I don’t think I’ll ever regret joining the Navy. I’ll never forget the expressions on the faces of the guys on their guns, sweating, excited and a little scared waiting for the word to commence firing . . . their happy, jubilant faces when the enemy is seen to go down in flames.”
Altoon attended Dorsey High School where, as at Otis, he was outstanding in art.2
John Altoon resumed studies at Otis Art Institute (1947-1949) after his discharge from the Navy using funds from the G. I. Bill. He left Otis in late 1949 to study at Art Center School. During this period (1949-1950) he began to achieve some success as a commercial illustrator. Altoon switched schools again in 1950 when he enrolled at Chouinard Art Institute.3
John F. and Anna Lee Stacey, Chicago artists, established a scholarship fund in their memory to be awarded annually to aspiring artists. The 1950 awards included John Altoon in third place with an award of $500.00.4 Altoon moved to Santa Barbara to work fulltime on his art and shared a studio with Donald Brewer. Altoon’s brief sojourn in Santa Barbara landed his first one-man exhibition of paintings and drawings in the Santa Barbara Museum’s Upstairs Gallery No. 1 in July of 1951. John Sowaal noted the exhibition in the Santa Barbara Star, Hanging By A Nail.
Of all the young Californian painters I have met, John is easily the most enthusiastic. He spent several months in Santa Barbara last fall. People swarmed around his studio to watch him work and listen to him talk. Most of what went on might be seen in almost any city but not often enough in Santa Barbara.
Everything he talked about revolved around the need to work and how it could be pursued without destroying the joy involved. As common as the topic may be, it is never trite, especially when a young artist discusses it and you can feel and see the productive force of such work.
But that was last fall. John took his talent and excellent California-acquired training to New York City. We lost an artist but Gotham didn’t gain one. Things are just as tough for a painter in the East. However, they could offer “work” in the diluted form that the advertising agency permits. They want sharp, young men and were glad to hire John.
As a friend of John, I cannot very well disguise my bias. His paintings are not yet masterpieces, but the seeds for more mature work are everywhere evident.5
John Altoon moved to New York in 1951. His commercial illustration work appeared in a variety of magazines including Seventeen, Harpers, and Esquire. But more importantly, living in New York exposed Altoon to the work of Jackson Pollack, Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko, Franz Kline, and Arshile Gorky — an exposure that that was pivotal in his development.
Altoon experienced the struggles alluded to by John Sowaal, but managed to secure two exhibitions during his time in New York. The first was at the Artists Gallery, 851 Lexington Avenue, a one-man exhibition, December 5-19, 1953.
The Art News review:
There are two styles of painting here; one in which the scenes, Androcles and the Lion, Chicken Thief, Mother and Child with Birds, are carefully worked out in composition and color. Lately however, he has turned from what has been described as “easel painting” to the use of plasterer’s tools and the surfaces of Nudes; Tired, Skinny and Mean are rough and cement-like. These later works are more interesting, not only because they are more adventurous, but also because they show the artist’s personality asserting itself abruptly. The work were listed from $50 to $450.6
The show was reviewed in Art Digest:
The other canvases in the show are in a lighter vein and are especially notable for the artist’s ingenuity in extracting pleasing new effects from pigments with a plastic base. This medium is a new arrival on the market, and in the hands of Altoon, a promising one.7
The second exhibition, a year later, was at Ganso, a commercial gallery located at 125 East 57th Avenue. The exhibition, November 29 through December 18, 1954, was reviewed in Art News:
John Altoon took his stand creditably in respect to both form and color, in the latter of which he displays special taste: secondaries softened with white, tertiated reds mainly his layout is the hallowed Cubist block-building of nature’s forms, patchwork style. Tamayo haunts Altoon’s space without lending it his dramatization. A sketchily futuristic bull fights for life, little aided by specific Cubist density, while scratched or penciled-on animals in the smaller temperas seem amusing phantoms of weathered walls. Prices unquoted.8
Art Digest reviewed his second one-man show as well:
Here is an artist who properly speaking belongs to that category that has been called “emerging talent.” While his work has been seen in group shows and he has won one of the Emily Lowe Competition awards, it has not been seen before so that one could make a judgment of his direction nor an evaluation of the body of work he has produced up to this time. The present show provides this opportunity, and the pictures do exhibit emerging talent. Altoon has been caught up in the abstract expressionist style; even while there still remains in his forms figurative components they are in the process of dissolution. The figurative components are based both on the human figure and animal forms and landscape motifs. Some recent works are a compromise between free forms and others that are in the clutch of geometric shapes, but the most recent works indicate a breakthrough, not only in the formal aspects of the work but in the free use of color that becomes non-local. He seems to be making perceptible headway on various levels of painting.9
The commercial ad agency work allowed Altoon to squirrel away enough funds to finance a sojourn in Europe, de rigueur for aspiring artists. Altoon submitted work to a competition sponsored by the Joe & Emily Lowe Foundation. The award money buoyed the planned three month stay to over a year and enabled travel beyond Denmark to France, Spain, and Majorca. Altoon embarked on the “Stavangerfjord” – Tourist Class – on January 27, 1955, bound for Copenhagen, Denmark.10
George Herms remembered that according to Altoon, Picasso — whom Altoon had met on the island of Majorca looked at Altoon’s work and liked his drawings but not his paintings.11 Altoon suffered a mental breakdown while in Europe. Benny brought him back to Los Angeles in 1956. Altoon stayed with his father at 3038 Victoria Avenue to get his bearings and stabilize his psyche. He then joined the faculty at Art Center School teaching drawing, a position he held through 1960.12
Future curator and museum director Walter Hopps, then a Stanford graduate school dropout, and artist Edward Kienholz joined forces and with the aid of the poet-publisher Bob Alexander created the Ferus Gallery. Their aim was to open an alternative space that would showcase young cutting-edge artists particularly from Los Angeles. The gallery opened at 736A North La Cienega Boulevard on March 13, 1957, with an exhibition of West Coast abstract expressionism that was given the Duchampian title, Objects on the Landscape Demanding of the Eye. The exhibition included works by John Altoon, Billy Al Bengston, Jay DeFeo, Roy DeForest, Richard Diebenkorn, Ellsworth Kelly, Craig Kauffman, Ed Kienholz, Frank Lobdell, Ed Moses, Hassel Smith, and Clyfford Still.13
Walter Hopps account of the artists included in the opening exhibition is at odds with the account above.
In March, 1957, Ferus Gallery opened up with a show called “Objects on the New Landscape Demanding of the Eye.” We had the extraordinary Clyfford Still painting that Hassel Smith had been keeping in his barn — the first time a Still painting was shown in Southern California — as well as work by Sonia Gechtoff, Julius Wasserstein, Frank Lobdell, James Kelly, Jack Jefferson, Jay DeFeo, Hassel Smith, and other San Francisco artists. The only Southern Californians were Craig Kauffman and Gilbert Henderson. The Still painting was later bought by the Hirshhorn for more than $3 million; back then, we couldn’t sell it to anyone for $125,000. All the work in that show was there on consignment; we didn’t own anything. There was a tremendous turnout for the opening. Still and Diebenkorn were there; the artists John Altoon and Billy Al Bengston showed up.14
Edward Kienholz recalled meeting Altoon: I first met him in ’57 at the old Ferus Gallery. He walked in and opened with, “Hey man, what’s happening?” Within a week Walter and I had seen his work and he was a pivotal member of the gallery. He helped everyone. He was enthusiastic. His passion was art. John could usually render an illustration or sell a record cover, and we would all celebrate with a beer at Barney’s.15
William Claxton’s association with the art milieu of Los Angeles in the mid 1950s might have evolved via his friendship with Pauline Annon who had established a considerable reputation in art circles through her awards for advertising art in the 1940s and 1950s.16 She studied at Chouinard and most likely got to know John Altoon around the same time that he was working in advertising agencies in Los Angeles in the early 1950s. Pauline Annon’s artwork for Pacific Jazz preceded Altoon’s and the West Coast Artist series. Her sketch of a Parisian pissoir adorned the cover of Gerry Mulligan Quartet – Paris Concert, PJ-1210, (1955). The cover of The Bud Shank Quartet featuring Claude Williamson, PJ-1215, (1956), displayed her line facility and adept calligraphy. The latter gift was displayed again on the cover of Jazz Canto, Vol I, an anthology of poetry and jazz, WP-1244, (1958)and Ritual, PJM-402.
John Altoon’s commercial illustrations for Escapade and Eve magazines occurred when Ray Rich worked in the Art Department as Director or Associate Director. The October 1956 issue of Escapade featured an illustration that ran across the gutter of the magazine for Stanton Hall’s Fill My Empty Bed.
Ray Rich was the Art Director when the January 1957 issue was published. John Altoon is not credited on any illustrations in this issue, but two drawings on pages 50 and 51 have a marked resemblance to Altoon’s style and line.
John Altoon’s pastel drawing that was used as the cover of a Jazz West Coast anthology titled Solo Flight, JWC 505, was noted by William Claxton as the 8th release in the West Coast Artist Series that debuted on Pacific Jazz album covers in March of 1956. John Altoon’s covers for Pacific Jazz were all commissioned in 1957. The matrix numbers assigned to each of the five albums indicate that they followed one another closely in the production schedule: Solo Flight, JWC 505 [666-667]; Jazz Guitar: Jim Hall, PJ-1227 [670-671]; Chet Baker Big Band, PJ-1229 [674-675]; Quartet: Russ Freeman Chet Baker, PJ-1232 [680-681]; and Ritual The Jazz Messengers featuring Art Blakey, PJM-402 [686-687].
The Astonishing Works of John Altoon, Monacelli Press, 2014, with contributions by Tim Nye, Robert Creeley, Walter Hopps, Klaus Kertess, and Dr. Milton Wexler paid tribute to Altoon’s cover for the Chet Baker Big Band, PJ-1229.
The February 1957 issue of Escapade magazine featured two illustrations that accompanied a fiction piece, Awake To Evil, by Richard Harper. Ray Rich was the Art Director of the magazine and the color illustration was included in the exhibition ephemera at the Laguna Art Museum exhibition, John Altoon – drawings and prints, in 2014.
A four page pictorial, Some Artists and a Model, was published in the May 1957 issue of Escapade. The article did not credit an author, but it was most likely the brainchild of the Art Director, Ray Rich. A group photo of the artists and photographers who were regular contributors to Escapade placed them below the nude model, Marguerite Empey, seated above them with her arms crossed modestly. The page opposite the group photo included a “key” to identify the artists and photographers plus several photos of the artists in action drawing the model in the classroom. One photo caught John Altoon and Marguerite sharing a sandwich. The following two pages presented eight artists: Jack Leynnwood, George Johnson, Burt Shonberg, Emil Peché, Harry Garo, Petro, Ed Kysar, and John Altoon with their vision of the model.
Caper, Escapade, and Eve routinely included articles devoted to jazz during this period in the mid 1950s. The June 1957 issue of Escapade featured an extended article with Bobby Troup, Jack Teagarden, Ziggy Elman, Howard Rumsey, Jack Costanzo, and Johnny Otis. Troup acted as discussion moderator and directed questions to each of the panel members that covered various aspects of the music: past, present, and future. Liberty Records produced a tie-in album with the artists that was advertised heavily in Escapade and Caper. The June issue included a survey of jazz record covers designed by David Stone Martin, who had an illustration published in the previous issue of Escapade to accompany a William Saroyan short story, and a John Altoon illustration on page 25.
John Altoon had two illustrations in the July 1957 issue of Escapade that accompanied a short story by William Saroyan, A Favor For A Friend.
When the Laguna Art Museum presented John Altoon – drawings and prints, June 29 through September 21, 2014, the exhibition included ephemera from the Ray Rich Family Trust. The marquee for the exhibition used Altoon’s painting of a jai alai player. The painting and a drawing version were published, uncredited, in the August 1957 edition of Caper magazine.
A woman’s magazine for men called Eve was published briefly in the early 1950s. A new magazine with the same name debuted in April 1958. The new Eve was a women’s magazine for women. Ray Rich was the Art Director for the new venture, and most likely the reason that John Altoon graced its pages in the first two issues. The premiere issue also featured photographic coverage of the new Jazz Concert Hall by William Claxton. John Altoon had four illustrations in the April issue of Eve.
The second issue of Eve, June 1958, included an article written and illustrated by John Altoon, Everyone Makes His Own Scene, and a series of illustrations that accompanied an article by Joe Knefler, Is There A Beat Generation? Altoon’s first illustration for Betty Andrews Blunts’ Two By Two ran across the gutter of the magazine. The second illustration for the short story appeared on page 50. His final contribution to this edition of Eve on pages 46 and 47 was a series of drawings in the sand at Playa del Rey to accompany John Hinshaw’s Night Fishing. The drawings were photographed before being erased by the incoming tide.
John Altoon’s artwork appeared on Norman Granz’s Verve Record covers in 1958-1960. The work included color work for the covers as well as pen and ink drawings on the back liner.
Altoon’s album covers for Capitol Records strayed into the classical music realm, Ludwig Beethoven and Modest Moussorgsky.
David Stuart’s recollection in Statements by Altoon & Friends suggested that Altoon designed some covers for him:
I met John when I was in the jazz recording business. He produced several album covers for the company. Later, when I returned to the fine art business, John came with the gallery. His first exhibition was of May-June 1964.17
The un-named company that Stuart refers to might have been Les Koenig’s Good Time Jazz label during the late 1940s and early 1950s before Altoon left for New York. The author welcomes comments from readers who might have knowledge of Altoon’s artwork for Good Time Jazz.
John Altoon died February 8, 1969, of a heart attack.
The Cool School, a film by Morgan Neville, is highly recommended for anyone interested in John Altoon and the Los Angeles art scene that evolved at Ferus.
John Coplans curated a group show, West Coast 1945-1969, at the Pasadena Art Museum in the fall of 1969 that included John Altoon and many of his contemporaries associated with Ferus Gallery. Coplans knew many of these artists during his tenure as Director of the University Art Gallery, 1965-1969, at the University of California, Irvine, when Tony DeLap, Craig Kaufman, John Mason, Robert Irwin, Vija Celmins, Robert Morris, Edward Moses, and Kenneth Price held teaching positions.
Walter Hopps’ recollection of John Altoon’s funeral service from the Whitney catalogue:
John’s funeral, in their biggest facility high atop Forest Lawn, was the largest gathering of artists in Southern California I ever expect to see, one time one place. As funerals go, it was really fine. Milton Wexler did a good job of getting a lot of people to stand up and talk without it being too damned uncomfortable. I didn’t and I still think of all the things I might have said. Had the sense of everybody being there except Ed Kienholz (who hates funerals), whom I really missed since it was Ed who first had introduced me to John in early ’57, although anyone hanging around art in Southern California after the war had at least vaguely heard of Altoon, if they hadn’t met him.18
John Altoon’s flush grave marker at Forest Lawn:
- Walter Hopps, Elke Solomon, John Altoon⎪Drawings and Prints, The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1971, page 10. ↩︎
- Los Angles Times, February 11, 1945, page 2. ↩︎
- Brigid S. Barton, JOHN ALTOON, De Saisset Museum, University of Santa Clara, Santa Clara, California, 1980, A Biography of John Altoon, page 37. ↩︎
- 1950 Stacey Awards Made, Los Angeles Times, August 27, 1950, Part IV, page 4. ↩︎
- Santa Barbara Star, July 19, 1951, page 6. ↩︎
- Art News, December 1953, page 45. ↩︎
- Art Digest, December 1, 1953, page 22. ↩︎
- Art News, January 1955, page 50. ↩︎
- Art Digest, December 1, 1954, page 26. ↩︎
- List of Outward-Bound Passengers, US Dept of Justice, NY, NY 1.27.1955 ↩︎
- Joan Agajanian Quinn presents: Friends of John Altoon, George Herms segment, youtube [04:02]. ↩︎
- Carol S. Eliel, John Altoon, LACMA, DelMonico Books, 2014, page 56. ↩︎
- Gagosian Gallery, FERUS, Rizzoli, NY, 2002, page 14. ↩︎
- Walter Hopps, Deborah Treisman, Anne Doran, The Dream Colony, Bloomsbury, 2017, page 68. ↩︎
- Brigid S. Barton, JOHN ALTOON, De Saisset Museum, University of Santa Clara, Santa Clara, California, 1980, page 15. ↩︎
- Pauline Annon Gets Three Ad Art Awards, Hollywood Citizen News, February 6, 1948, page 2. ↩︎
- Brigid S. Barton, JOHN ALTOON, De Saisset Museum, University of Santa Clara, Santa Clara, California, 1980, page 16, ↩︎
- Walter Hopps, Elke Solomon, John Altoon⎪Drawings and Prints, The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1971, page 7. ↩︎
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