Plummer, William Kirtman

William Kirtman Plummer (April 21, 1919 - December 26, 2015) was a commercial artist, illustrator, and painter active in the mid-late 20th century. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Plummer sketched frequently as a child and was destined for a career in art, attended the Philadelphia Museum School of Art, and graduating in 1941 with a degree in advertising design. Immediately after graduating, Plummer joined the U.S. Navy, serving throughout the Second World War and being discharged in 1946. His work in the Navy drew on his artistic training, and he spent his service designing posters, and drawing maps and graphs. After his military service, Plummer briefly studied at the Brighton School of Art in England before returning to Philadelphia and working as a commercial artist, and also exhibiting paintings at galleries and competitions in Philadelphia. Plummer gained widespread recognition in the early 1950s through his grand Americana-style oil paintings, later translated to print, that graced the covers and appeared in the pages of the magazines Collier's, Coronet, Holiday, and Farm Journal. In 1954, he married Nancy Elizabeth Woltemate (1924 - 2002), who was also an artist specializing in the design of children's magazine covers. The couple left Philadelphia and moved to Barto in Berks County, where the couple worked out of a converted barn studio. Though residing in Barto, Plummer was for many years a faculty member at his alma mater, the Philadelphia Museum School of Art.