This biography from the Archives of AskART:
|  Gregor Keane Duncan (1910–1944)
Born in Seattle, Washington, Duncan grew up in Sausalito, California, the son of Charles and Constance Duncan. Charles Duncan wore many hats during his career, working as a designer and illustrator, as well as the press agent for Joseph Strauss, the chief engineer on the Golden Gate Bridge. Constance Duncan, the sister of famed Western painter Maynard Dixon, was trained as a pianist. While Gregor Duncan received no formal art training from his famous uncle, he did work in his San Francisco studio as a "water boy", cleaning brushes, changing the water, etc. Duncan left Tamalpais High School before graduating, and started on the staff of the Sausalito News when he was 17 years old. Soon after, he moved across the bay to San Francisco to do sports and courtroom drawings for the San Francisco Call Bulletin. Duncan commuted from Sausalito to San Francisco, maintaining a small studio in the Montgomery Block in San Francisco.
The 23-year-old Duncan relocated in New York in 1933 and was soon hired by the original Life humor magazine. Duncan drew mostly political cartoons for Life, incorporating ink, litho crayon and watercolor. Most of Duncan's cartoons were very pro-FDR and the New Deal, until the political tone of the magazine changed, forcing him to change the tenor of his work. The early Life ceased publishing in 1936, but Duncan continued working for many other magazines, including Judge, Literary Digest, Reader's Digest, Look, Collier's, Cosmopolitan and For Men Only. In addition, Duncan did illustrations for PM newspaper from its initial publication in 1940. Even while serving in the Army Air Corps, Duncan continued supplying PM with writings and illustrations.
Books he illustrated from 1939 to 1942:
The Devil and the Doctor, by David H. Keller. 1940. Simon & Schuster.
Hail to Yesterday, by Mara Millar. 1941. Farrar & Rinehart.
The Melforts Go to Sea, by Geraldine Pederson-Krag. 1941. Holiday House.
None But the Brave, by Rosamond Van Der Zee Marshall. 1942. Houghton-Mifflin Company.
Pardon Me for Pointing, by Arthur Kober. 1939. Simon & Schuster.
Run! Run! An Adventure in New York, by Harry Granick. 1941. Simon & Schuster.
Table for Four, by Jack Iams. 1939. Simon & Schuster.
Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson. 1939. Published by Pocket Books, Inc.
Wacky the Small Boy, by Fred Schwed, Jr. 1939. Simon & Schuster.
During World War II, Duncan was drafted into the Army Air Corps in July 1942. He did his basic training in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and then worked in the office of Public Relations, spending time at Lowry Field in Colorado, Tarpon Springs, Florida, and Chanute Field in Illinois. His work consisted of drawings for manuals, public dissemination, and cartoon illustrations for military publications. Duncan joined the staff of Stars and Stripes on December 14, 1943, and was shipped to Algiers to work on the Mediterranean edition of the military paper. His work in Stars and Stripes consisted of everything from field studies to comic strips and included numerous courtroom drawings from the war crimes trials of the Vichy Government. Duncan was sent to Naples, Italy in March 1944, where he befriended Bill Mauldin, who wrote about Duncan in his 1972 memoir, The Brass Ring. In May 1944, Duncan was sent to Anzio, to work in the Stars and Stripes office under illustrator Ed Vebell. Duncan and Sgt. Jack Raymond left for the Anzio beach head on May 29, to gather material for a new series of drawings. With Duncan behind the wheel, the Jeep was struck by a German 88 shell, and Duncan was killed.
Source:
wikipedia.oreg
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This biography from the Archives of AskART:
|  Born in Seattle Washington in 1910, he grew up in Sausalito, California, the son of Charles S. and Constance Duncan. Gregor was a pupil of his uncle, Maynard Dixon, for several years. He began his art career on the staff of the Sausalito News and at age 17 moved across the bay to San Francisco where he worked for the Call Bulletin as an illustrator of sports subjects. In 1933 he moved to New York where he continued doing newspaper work and freelancing.
Pen-and-ink drawings were his metier; however, he also worked with oil, charcoal, and crayons. Duncan enlisted in the Army Air Force at the outbreak of WWII and was on an art assignment for the Army newspaper Stars & Stripes when killed in action on May 29, 1944 in Italy. | Source:
Edan Hughes, "Artists in California, 1786-1940"
SF Chronicle, 6-3-1944 (obituary). | | Nearly 20,000 biographies can be found in Artists in California 1786-1940 by Edan Hughes and is available for sale ($150). For a full book description and order information please click here. |
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