14 Facts About Rolf Armstrong

Rolf Armstrong was an American commercial artist specializing in glamorous depictions of female subjects.

Rolf Armstrong is best known for his magazine covers and calendar art.

Rolf Armstrong was born John Scott Armstrong in Bay City, Michigan.

Rolf Armstrong's father owned the Boy-Line and Fire Boat Company, comprising fire boats and passenger ships on the Great Lakes, including one that served the Chicago World's Fair in 1893.

Around 1930 they moved to Bayside, Queens, where Rolf Armstrong had recently designed and built a house on an inlet of Little Neck Bay.

Rolf Armstrong had learned to sail as a child and kept as many as eight sailboats at this property.

In 1939 Rolf Armstrong moved back to Manhattan, taking up residence for the next twenty years in the Hotel des Artistes.

The great majority of Rolf Armstrong's magazine covers show the head only, and the originals that are known are relatively small works.

The earliest known calendar featuring an Rolf Armstrong image is from 1915.

Many if not most of Rolf Armstrong's covers and early calendar images were reused for sheet music, postcards, and all manner of advertising items.

Rolf Armstrong prided himself on the fact that he worked almost exclusively from live models, as opposed to photographic references.

Rolf Armstrong became so well known during the war, although more as a famous face than by name, that a serviceman's letter addressed simply as "Jewel Flowers, New York City" was delivered correctly.

Rolf Armstrong left a large proportion of his personal wealth to Flowers.

Rolf Armstrong created approximately 50 to 60 works using Flowers as the model.