Wilhelm Heinrich Detlev Körner

Koerner,[1] was a noted illustrator of the American West whose works became known to new audiences when his painting, nicknamed A Charge to Keep, was used as the cover image for the ghostwritten biography by the same name by George W. Bush.

When the paper folded, he and his wife moved to New York City, where he was hired by Pilgrim Magazine to cover the 1904 St. Louis Exposition.

Koerner's exposure to Howard Pyle was significant, but his student colleagues also had much to offer and he shared techniques and styles with the likes of N. C. Wyeth, Harvey Dunn, Frank Schoonover and Stanley Arthurs.

In 1919, the Saturday Evening Post art editor invited Koerner to illustrate two articles with Western themes, which proved to be a major turning point in his life.

It is estimated he completed nearly two thousand illustrations of which about eighteen hundred were done for magazines, as well as advertisements for C. W. Post's Grape-Nuts and Postum cereals.

They are known for his bold brushwork with a vibrant color palette which enabled his vigorous depictions of the "Great American West", emblematic images of those untamed territories.