In 1902, after returning to the United States from Europe, Kimball married and he and his wife Madeleine lived briefly in Evanston before they relocated to New York City. He was commissioned for such works by both private and corporate clients, including major publishers. While still continuing his portrait work, Kimball also became one of the nation's leading illustrators during the first two decades of the twentieth century. Between 1903 and his death in 1923, he illustrated books for many of the nation's top writers. He also produced eight front covers for
Saturday Evening Post as well covers and illustrations for assorted short stories and articles in other widely read weeklies and monthlies in the United States. Among those periodicals are ''Scribner's Magazine
, Cosmopolitan, Holland's, Collier's
, Metropolitan, Judge, The Ladies Home Journal, and "Sunday Magazine", which was a regular syndicated supplement to Sunday editions of The Boston Post, the New-York Tribune, Chicago Tribune'', and various other newspapers across the country in the early 1900s.
Paintings and illustrations Kimball's artwork exhibited unique qualities according to some reviewers of his paintings and drawings in the early 1900s. In a profile of him in the archives of
The Saturday Evening Post, comments about those qualities in 1905 by art critic H. E. Bane are quoted: Kimball produced his original works either on canvas with
oils or on illustration boards with varying combinations of
charcoal, soft and hard
pastels,
gouache, and
transparent watercolors. In a 1914 newspaper interview, he shared a few details about the "recipe" of procedures and techniques he used to achieve the distinctive, idealized appearance of the subjects in his portraits. For one, he stated, "'I first place my model in every possible light until I find the one most becoming to her, and I leave out the little shadows about the eyes and mouth, which may be there because she's tired.'" Douglas also comments on Kimball's presence in Paris at that time: "This artist has devoted all his attention to illustrating of late years and has now settled in Paris with the intention of spending most of his time painting." Kimball's portfolio of illustrations is extensive. A sampling of his pictures, which printers reproduced by
photogravure or
lithographic processes, provides some perspective on the style and diversity of artwork he furnished to publishers and to writers, many of whom were female authors. Some examples of his illustrations can be found in the short story "Pattie" written by Margaret Doane Gardiner and published in the June 1905 issue of ''Scribner's''. Others decorate pages and portray plot scenes in
Edith Wharton's 1907 novel
The Fruit of the Tree and in her short story "The Pretext", which is presented in ''Scribner's'' August 1908 issue. Additional novels and short stories illustrated by Kimball include Edith Macvane's
The Duchess of Dreams, released in 1908; "Grantham's Limitations" by
Mary Heaton Vorse for the November 1908 issue of ''Scribner's
; the 1911 novel Uncertain Irene'' by Katharine Holland Brown;
Amélie Rives Troubetzkoy's novel ''World's End
, published in 1914; the 1916 novel Kildares of Storm
by Eleanor Mercein Kelly; and the 1918 novel Camilla'' by
Elizabeth Robins. In commercial advertising, clothing became Kimball's
forte. Two examples of his work in that area are his depiction of a man fashionably attired in a 1909 newspaper advertisement for D. J. Kaufman's "The Men's Store" in Washington, D.C., and a large illustration that same year of a smartly dressed couple in a newspaper advertisement for "The Home of Quality Clothes", the King-Swanson Company of
Omaha, Nebraska. The Detroit-based business
Weil & Company, a large furniture retailer that also publicized itself as "
outfitters" for men and boys, announced in newspapers in April 1911 that "one of America's most prominent illustrators" had agreed to furnish the store a series of original artwork for its advertisements. "Mr. Kimball", Weil & Company noted, "is particularly excellent in his delineation of men, creating strong types of unique character and individuality." One more example of Kimball's commercial work is a far more elaborate, full-color 1916 advertisement that includes his painting of a young woman and her attentive male companion to promote
John H. Woodbury's facial soap. Published in
The Ladies Home Journal and in other periodicals, the "A skin you love to touch" advertisement offered readers a cake of soap with a print of Kimball's "new" painting "ready for framing" for "ten cents in stamps or coin" ($ today) '' (1915) By 1915, Kimball's commercial success as a portrait artist and illustrator had drawn the interest of executives in America's rapidly expanding motion picture industry.
Pathé, a film studio with production facilities in
Fort Lee, New Jersey, contracted Kimball to design theatrical posters for some of the company's releases and to sketch portraits of the studio's most popular female stars at the time, including
Pearl White,
Florence Reed,
Jackie Saunders,
Jeanne Eagels, and
Ruth Roland. Kimball's likenesses" of those actresses proved to be so well received by moviegoers that Pathé offered individual copies and sets of his drawings for sale. In December 1915, the New York trade publication
The Moving Picture World announced the studio's intentions: Kimball continued his work in commercial advertising in the years just prior to his death. By 1920, he and his wife Madeleine had moved from New York City to
Ohio, where they lived in downtown Cleveland in an apartment building on Euclid Avenue. In the federal census for that year, Alonzo confirms his occupation in Cleveland, simply identifying it as "Artist/Advertising".
Fashion consultant '', 1912 One other commercial by-product of Kimball's artistic training and success as an illustrator and portrait painter was the development of his reputation nationwide as an expert in
haute couture and in upper- and middle-class daily apparel for both men and women. Given his artist's eye for detail and the fact that the vast majority of the subjects in his paintings and drawings were portrayed in the most current and expertly tailored clothing, Kimball gained over the years a keen sense of style and practical experience depicting subjects of different body types in attire that he deemed the most flattering. That ability was greatly enhanced by his work in advertising, especially for large and select clothing establishments. By 1912, Kimball's fashion advice and commentaries on the latest trends in men's and women's apparel were being featured and widely quoted in newspapers and magazines. In a newspaper interview with columnist Marguerite Mooers Marshall in March 1912, Kimball shared his opinions about the basic deficiencies in the styling of women's clothing at that time, most notably in their excesses. "'The freakish fashions of today are quite indefensible'", he observed, adding "'And yet I don't know that even the
hobble is as bad as the
hoop-skirt used to be.'" Kimball also advised both men and women in 1913 to wear more white linen suits for "'artistically effective'" reasons as well as for improved comfort in the seasonal heat. "'White linens for either sex'", he explained, "'show off excellently against a background of green grass or blue ocean.'" ==Kimball imposter, 19071908==