Stevan Dohanos (1907-1994) is an American and local artist best known for his Saturday Evening Post magazine covers from the 1940’s and 50’s. He produced over 100 of them and was second only to his friend Norman Rockwell in the amount published.
Before he began painting covers for The Saturday Evening Post, he was selected in 1939 to paint six large Barefoot Mailman murals that are still on display in a post office in West Palm Beach.
Dohanos painted the murals at his home in Westport, CT, completing them in 1940. He then rolled them up and shipped them to Florida.
He went on to design 40 postage stamps for the United States Postal Service, war posters for the government during WWII. Among the extensive list of companies he worked for were Coca Cola, Gulf Oil, Life Savers, Pan American Airways, Caterpillar, One-A-Day Vitamins, Seiberling Tires, Stanley Tool, Evervess Sparkling Water, Maxwell House Coffee, Travelers Insurance, and so on.
Dohanos, chose Easton Congregational Church across from Greisers’s General Store as the cover for a Red Cross Poster he was commissioned to draw in 1947.
Dohanos’s art focused on chronicling the American dream. His documentation of Westport scenes was extensive, choosing common places around town, featuring actual residents.
He also captured local heroes. In 1950, his painting of the Fairfield Fire Department made the cover of The Saturday Evening Post.
He loved capturing people in places of enjoyment and recreation like Putnam Park in Redding and Compo Beach in Westport.
Dohanos was also a faculty member of the renowned Famous Artist School in Westport, CT, founded in 1948. The original faculty included twelve artists, including Dohanos and Norman Rockwell.
The school offered courses in illustration and design, with students completing assignments that were critiqued by faculty. The curriculum expanded to include fine art, cartooning, photography, and writing.
Learn more about Stevan Dohanos and The Famous Artist School by watching this video:
The Cultural Easton 