Saturday, December 19, 2015

Max Altekruse (1921-2015)

Max Lavern Altekruse was born on August 16, 1920, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, to William P. and Ola B. (Wyrick) Altekruse. His father was an electrician and his mother a housewife. As a child Altekruse enjoyed copying Norman Rockwell's cover illustrations for the Saturday Evening Post. Decades later he returned to Rockwell-like scenes in his work for makers of collector plates.

At North Side High School in Fort Wayne, Max Altekruse, nicknamed "Blondy," was a member of the Camera Club and won a scholarship in art. After graduating high school in 1938, he attended the Fort Wayne Art School, where he studied under Homer Davisson (1866-1957) and Forrest F. Stark (1903-1977).  He then got a job as a commercial artist at the Bonsib Advertising Agency under Louis William Bonsib (1892-1979).

In the summer of 1942, Altekruse married Mary Jane "Kathy" Long and enlisted in the United States Army. Returning stateside after three years in the South Pacific, he attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts at his wife's urging. He went on to study at the Art Students League in New York City under Frank J. Reilly (1906-1967).

Altekruse spent fifty years as a commercial illustrator. His clients included Eli Lilly, Ford, Chrysler, Goodyear, the Franklin Mint, the Collectors Studio, and others. For many years he worked at McNamara and Associates, a Detroit advertising agency. He also taught illustration and composition at the Center for Creative Studies in Detroit. 

After retiring in 1995, Altekruse returned to painting. His awards over the years included first prize at the Scarab Club Annual Watercolor Show (Detroit, 1962 and 1963), the Annual Merit Award from the Society of Illustrators (1980), and inclusion in the National Parks Academy of the Arts Annual, Top 100 Paintings (1998) and Top 200 paintings (2004). 

A resident of Franklin, Michigan, Altekruse was president of the Franklin Historical Society. During his tenure, Franklin became the first city in Michigan to be listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Max Altekruse died on February 21, 2015.

The Broughton House, a drawing in pencil by Max Altekruse from circa 1980.


Two illustrations by Altekruse from the August 1983 issue of Ford Times.

Max Altekruse served in the U.S. military during World War II. Forty years later, in 1995, he provided this illustration for the cover of the book Weapon Systems.

Altekruse was also known for his illustrations for collector plates. This one is called "Walking in the Rain" and is from the Wonders of Childhood Plate Collection from The Collectors Studio.

Max Altekruse appears to be an undiscovered artist. Considering his fifty-year career, I think there is a lot of his art out in the world, yet little of it seems to have found its way into books or onto the Internet. I would like to correct that oversight. If anyone has art or images by Altekruse, I would like to see them and post them here.

Updated August 9, 2020.
Text and captions copyright 2015, 2020 Terence E. Hanley

12 comments:

  1. I have a pic for you,but i dont know how to get it to you?

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    1. Jeff,

      Do you mean that you have a digital image you would like to send to me? If so, I would be glad to receive it at info@hoosiercartoonists.com.

      Terence Hanley

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  2. I have all 12 plates for months of the year

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    1. Hi, Unknown,

      Are you able to make high quality, high-resolution photographs of your twelve plates? If so, I would like to see them. I'm sure others would, too.

      Thanks for reading and for writing.

      TH

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  3. I have a portrait of Alan Alda, it has your signature on it. Just would like to know if you drew him.

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    1. Hi, Unknown,

      I've never drawn a picture of Alan Alda that I remember. Are you asking if Max Altekruse drew it? If so, you should know that Mr. Altekruse died almost five years ago, in 2015. I don't know who are his survivors or heirs, so I don't know whom you might ask about the picture you have. Good luck in your quest.

      Terence Hanley

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    2. I believe I do recall Max doing an illustration of Alan Alda. If you can show me the image I can confirm. My email is tboden1@hallmark.com.

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    3. The last comment was from Tim Bodendistel. I worked with Max.

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  4. I have 1 antique plate exactly like in the picture, if anyone is interested to see the picture, please contact me

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  5. I have a picture from Max Altekruse looks like an advertisement For Case farm tractor. Called Power Heritage circa 1946.

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  6. I have 2 large (30 x 24") travel posters done for a S&H Greenstamps travel giveaway. One is for Great Britai , the other is for Scandinavia. Just wondering if anyone has any supplementary info.

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  7. I had the privilege of working with Max for almost 10 years at McNamara and associates in Detroit. He was the most talented figurative illustrator I ever worked with as well as being very kind and helpful. It was a privilege to have known him.

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