William John Heaslip

Grandfather
1897 — 1970

My maternal grandfather was born in Toronto, Canada and moved to New York City in the 1920’s. He illustrated aviation subjects for leading magazines after World War I. During World War II he illustrated war scenes for The New York Times Sunday Magazine, Wide World Syndicate and The Associated Press. His greatest commission was for the Coca Cola Company for which he illustrated all American war planes. The prints from these paintings were distributed to soda shops across the nation where they were displayed to educate citizens about our great war time aircraft. (My father, Richard Dexter Studwell, flew in a B-17 bomber as a gunner.) Several of his paintings are in exhibition at the Pentagon and the War College in Washington. He studied at the National Academy of Art and The Art students League in New York City and he was a member of the Salmagundi Club in NYC.

I remember my grandfather best when spending holidays at his 1740 stone barn which he converted into a cozy home. He was a fun loving grandfather who loved to entertain his family and friends and played Santa Clause for the town of Hackettstown, NJ.

Click images to enlarge

Heaslip Etching

Exhibited at the Salmagundi Club, Summer Exhibition, NYC
Exhibited at the Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, PA, “Directions in American Painting”, October 23-December 14,1941.

This was painted by my grandfather’s artist friend, Joseph Newman in my grandfather’s studio on 110 West 54th Street, NYC.