H. Avery Chenoweth, Sr.
Colonel USMCR (Ret.)
Artist, writer, art & military historian

Study:
Born, reared, and schooled in the South, Avery Chenoweth studied at the Yale Art School, then completed his A.B. in Art & Architecture at Princeton University in 1950. After combat service in Korea in 1951 as an infantry officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, he headed the newly created Marine Corps Combat Art Team in Washington, where he also studied at the Corcoran Gallery Art School. Following two years in television, he earned a Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of Florida, working his way through graduate school by painting portraits of prominent people, including an official portrait of the president of the Florida Senate. Subsequently, he joined the faculty of the School of Journalism and Communications. He completed all Marine Corps amphibious and command and staff courses plus the Naval War College.

Career:
With a career spanning five decades, Chenoweth’s credits include many awards and recognitions in art and the related fields of television, advertising, and writing. A one-hour NBC-TV Special he produced, filmed, and edited won top honors in 1971. His definitive history of American Combat Art was published by Barnes & Noble in 2002, as is his new history of the Marines: In the Air, on Land, and Sea.

Art Credits:
Chenoweth has exhibited his artwork nationally, including one-man shows in Washington, New York, Los Angeles; Camden, Aiken, and Hilton Head, SC; Princeton, NJ; Saratoga, NY, and Middleburg and Great Meadow, VA. Many of his works have appeared on trade, specialty, and military magazine covers. He is represented in the Princeton Art Museum, the Marine Combat Art Collection, the British Royal Marine Collection, the U.S. Army and numerous corporate, institutional, and private collections in this country and abroad. In April 1987, his portrait of tennis Hall-of-Famer, Stan Smith was presented on NBC-TV at Hilton Head. In 1998 he completed a 10-ft. by 14-ft. acrylic mural for the Regency Health Club in McLean, VA. He was also commissioned to paint the 1988 official poster for the Virginia Gold Cup steeplechase race, and in 1998, the Montpelier Hunt Races.

Military & Combat Art:
In the late 1960s, he also did two short tours in Vietnam on active duty as a Marine combat artist. His portraits of four former commandants of the Marine Corps hang in the Pentagon. In addition to these and other portrait commissions, Chenoweth completed a project to commemorate the 75 th Anniversary of Marine Corps Aviation, for which he was awarded the prestigious Col. John Thomason Art Award of the Marine Corps Historical Foundation; he had previously illustrated a series on early Marine Corps aviation for the museum at Quantico. A former member of the American Society of Aviation Artists, Chenoweth won first prize in their 1989 Founder’s exhibit. To commemorate the Bicentennial of the Constitution and the Army, the U.S. Army commissioned him to paint the official poster. In 1993, he designed and installed a 9-ft. by 13-ft. stained glass window commemorating the 5 th Marine Division on Iwo Jima for the Recruit Chapel at Parris Island, SC. He also painted a 4-ft. by 5-ft. depiction of Guadalcanal for the Marine Corps University at Quantico. Other portraits of senior officers and his combat paintings of Korea, Vietnam, and the Gulf War are displayed throughout the Marine Corps. In 1999, Chenoweth designed the exhibit for the Freedom Museum in Manassas, VA. In 2004, the Marine Corps commissioned Colonel Chenoweth to design the Marine Corps’ 230 th Anniversary commemorative coin for the U.S. Mint.

Gulf War:
In 1990, Col. Chenoweth was recalled out of retirement to active duty to head the Marine Corps Combat Art Program and was sent immediately to cover Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. He visited and sketched land, sea, and air units, accompanied the 1 st Marine Division through the ground war and was one of the first to enter Kuwait City. His paintings were displayed at the Marine Museum in Washington. For his work, he was awarded the Col. Thomason Art Award for the second time as well as the Legion of Merit.

Writing:
Chenoweth’s original and definitive resource book entitled: Art of War. Eyewitness U.S. Combat Art from the Revolution through the 20 th Century was published in coffee-table, oversized format in 2002 by Barnes & Noble, NY. Barnes & Noble is publishing his second book, In the Air, on Land, and Sea: An illustrated History of the U.S. Marine Corps in Sept 2005. He has written articles for national trade publications, feature articles for newspapers and magazines, corporate business plans, military staff studies, industrial and military documentary training motion pictures and videotapes. He also edited and published a regional quarterly color magazine for a number of years in South Carolina and has several novels out for film or book considerations. He is a major contributor to Leatherneck and the Marine Corps Gazette magazines.

Range of Art:
Although Chenoweth specializes in portraiture and aviation/military art, he avidly paints foxhunting, polo, tennis, steeplechasing, and landscape subjects.

CONTACT:
The artist may be contacted at:
H. Avery Chenoweth, Sr.
19385 Cypress Ridge Terr.
RIVERBEND #121
Lansdowne VA 29176-5163
(703) 858-7621