Webb, Alonzo C. (April 1, 1888 - 1974)

Alonzo C. Webb (April 1, 1888 - 1974) was an American engraver, architect, painter and illustrator. Web was born in Nashville Tennessee. He attended the Art Institute of Chicago from 1907 to 1909, then enrolled in the Stout Institute of Wisconsin in 1911 to study building and construction for one year, before attaining an architecture degree at the University of Illinois (1912 - 1913). During World War I he served with American Engineering Forces in France, falling in love with that country. After the war he studied art at the A.E.F. Art Training Center in Bellevue, France, a school set up for American soldiers. Determined to stay in Paris, he give up his architectural career, which he could not practice in France, to make ends meet doing various odd illustration jobs and making sings in English for millinery shops on Rue de Rivoli. His work gradually became more popular and frequently appeared in the French weekly periodical, L'Illustration. In the 1920s and 30s he worked multinationally, producing art and architectural illustrations for American, French, and Italian interests. Webb moved to London in the 1930, remaining there until his death in 1974.