ARTHUR SHILSTONE, b. 1922 When legendary sportsman Ed Gray, founder of Gray's Sporting Journal, wanted to select an artist to illustrate his definitive book on fly fishing, Flashes in the River, he chose Arthur Shilstone. An artist with a long and distinguished career as a watercolor painter and illustrator, Shilstone created illustrations, which have appeared in more than 30 magazines, including National Geographic, Life, Sports Illustrator, New York Times Magazine and Smithsonian. He also did a series of illustrations for The Boys' Life Book of Mystery Stories, and was an official artist for NASA, doing a series of paintings of the Space Shuttle, beginning with her maiden voyage.
For his skill in painting and drawing and for the themes he depicted, Shilstone is regarded by some reviewers as creating artwork which has gone a long way toward defining how Americans have seen historic events. He is an award-winning member of the American Watercolor Society and the Society of Illustrators. For much of his life, he worked from his home and studio in Redding, Connecticut.
Shilstone's career has spanned over 50 years. After graduating from high school, he enrolled at Pratt Institute but, when the United States entered World War II he enlisted in the Army. After a short time, he was assigned to the 603rd Engineer Camouflage Battalion, which specialized in deceiving the enemy through special effects and deploying regiments of inflatable rubber 93-pound M4 tanks. Hollywood is now making a movie about this remarkable Battalion, and Shilstone is acting as consultant.
After World War II, he was discovered by Life magazine and went on many important assignments, including coverage of the Sam Shepard Murder Trial, the funeral of Senator Joseph McCarthy, an investigation of the sinking of the Andrea Doria, and school integration argued before the Supreme Court
Over the last 25 years, when the Smithsonian Institution wanted someone to capture the story of important military events for their magazine, from the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the Invasion of Normandy to coverage of air lift operations (especially the evacuation of wounded soldiers during the Korean war), they called on Arthur.
About 20 years ago, Arthur began painting outdoor sporting scenes for himself including scenes from the Adirondack lake country, salmon running the Maramachi, Chesapeake marshes, the Alaskan tundra and lush Connecticut waterways.