Eric Sloane

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Eric Sloane, born Everard Jean Hinrichs on February 27, 1905, in New York City, was an American landscape painter, illustrator, and author. He wrote many illustrated books about American history, folklore, and rural life.

As a child he lived near designer Frederic W. Goudy and studied art and lettering with him. In 1925, at age 20, he left home to work as a sign painter across the country, creating distinctive hand-lettered ads. While studying at the Art Students League of New York, he changed his name on the advice of teachers who wanted his early work to stand on its own. He picked Eric from America and Sloane from his mentor.

Sloane returned to New York City and later settled in Merryall, New Milford, Connecticut, where he painted rustic landscapes in a style like the Hudson River School. In the 1950s he spent part of each year in Taos, New Mexico, painting western scenes and bright desert skies. He produced more than 15,000 paintings.

He loved the sky and weather, and he did work for the U.S. Air Force. He wrote and illustrated many books on weather, meteorology, colonial life, and Americana. He even helped start the first local weather reporting network by organizing farmers to call in weather reports.

Sloane collected old tools and wrote about colonial tools, farming, and daily life. His books were known for detailed drawings, hand-lettered titles, and his humorous, folksy voice. He befriended painter Andrew Wyeth, who called him an “artistic treasure.”

He was married seven times. His last wife was Mimi. He died of a heart attack on March 5, 1985, in New York City, at age 80, while walking to a luncheon in his honor. The luncheon celebrated the publication of his memoir, Eighty: An American Souvenir.

Among his well-known books are A Reverence for Wood, The Cracker Barrel, and Diary of an Early American Boy: Noah Blake-1805. One of his best-known paintings is the sky mural Earth Flight Environment at the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum. The Eric Sloane Museum & Kent Iron Furnace in Kent, Connecticut, preserves his art, studio, and tool collection, and his grave is on the museum grounds.