The Famous Artists School was founded in 1948 in
Westport,
Connecticut,
U.S.A. The idea was conceived by members of the New York
Society of Illustrators (SOI), but due to the Society's legal status, could not be operated by it. SOI member
Albert Dorne led the initiative to set up a separate entity, and recruited the support of
Norman Rockwell, who was also an SOI member. For the founding faculty, Dorne recruited
John Carlton Atherton,
Austin Briggs,
Stevan Dohanos,
Robert Fawcett,
Peter Helck,
Fred Ludekens,
Al Parker,
Norman Rockwell,
Ben Stahl,
Harold von Schmidt,
Jon Whitcomb, and
Dong Kingman. By 1960, annual revenue of $7 million was eight times the sales of 1950. In the 1960s, the growth continued with the addition of Famous Photographers and an especially popular course, Famous Writers. European sales grew rapidly. By 1967, one officer said "we will soon have an empire on which the sun never sets." But acquisitions unrelated to art swelled the company's indebtedness, and a savage article by Jessica Mitford ripped Famous Writers for deceptive advertising and overblown promises. In 1972 the company filed for bankruptcy. The Famous Artists School was acquired by Cortina Learning International of
Wilton, Connecticut, in 1981. In 2014 the archives were donated to the
Norman Rockwell Museum. According to a message displayed on the school's website, the school closed as of December 31, 2016. Textbooks are still offered for sale. ==Original courses==