Robert Gibson Jones was born on October 5, 1889 in Toledo, Ohio. His father was Ambrose Jones, a traveling salesman from Ohio. His mother was M. Belle Jones, who was also born in Ohio. He had an older brother, Stanley, and a younger sister, Gussie.
By 1900 the family had moved to Dayton, Ohio, and lived at 427 South Jefferson Street.
By 1910 the family has moved to 522 Oakdale Street in Chicago, Illinois. From 1910 to 1914 he studied at a Chicago art school. After his training he began to work as a commercial artist at Vogue Studios, an advertising agency located at 21 East Van Buren Street.
On June 5, 1917 he reported for the draft registration and was recorded to be of medium height and build, with brown eyes and hair. He was also described with the disability of a "Heel partly severed. Frequently lame. Lump on right cheek." His mother and sister are listed as dependents.
He continued to work as a commercial artist in an advertising agency during the 1920s.
By 1936 he had moved to 155 East Ontario Street. He began to work as a staff artist at the A. W. Swan Studios at 540 North Michigan Avenue.
On April 27, 1942 he reported for the draft registration during WWII. At fifty-two years of age, he was not selected for military service.
He continued his career as a commercial artist during the war. His first pulp magazine cover appeared on the January 1943 issue of Fantastic Adventures. He was soon painting many covers for this title as well as for Amazing Stories, Mammoth Adventure, Mammoth Detective, and Mammoth Western, all of which were produced in Chicago by the Ziff-Davis Publishing Company.
In the 1950s he painted covers for Other Worlds Science Stories, and Universe Science Fiction.
Robert Gibson Jones died in Chicago at the age of seventy-nine on July 8, 1969.
© David Saunders 2009 |
