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Ayres Houghtelling's vibrant mid-20th-century illustrated map, titled Fly AOA to the USA - Flagship Land: Many People, One Community, showcases a rich tapestry of global cultures converging upon the United States, epitomizing the era's enthusiasm for air travel and international unity.
This engaging illustration by Ayres Houghtelling is a vivid depiction of post-war optimism and the cultural melting pot that is the United States. The map is animated with figures representing various national cultures, each performing traditional dances or activities, positioned over their respective geographic areas on a stylized map of the world. Central to the image are aircrafts, symbolizing the modernity and connectivity brought about by the airline, American Overseas Airlines.
The employment of the map utilizing the curvature of the earth is reminiscent of the work of Richard Edes Harrison. His innovative style, often employing an "oblique" or "bird's-eye" perspective, brought a three-dimensional sense to traditional two-dimensional maps. Harrison's maps were particularly well-known during the 1940s and were featured prominently in publications like Fortune magazine and several popular atlases. His work was groundbreaking in that it allowed viewers to see the world from angles and perspectives that were not common in mapmaking at the time, providing a more dynamic and visually engaging representation of geographical data.
Ayres Houghtelling was born on February 12, 1912, in Defiance, Ohio, and grew into a multifaceted artist and cartographer whose career spanned several disciplines.
As a teenager, Houghtelling moved to Palo Alto, California, where he was educated at Stanford University. Following his graduation, Houghtelling established himself in San Francisco, engaging in various artistic endeavors until the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. His skills then turned towards the war effort, where he served as a cartographer for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during World War II. This role utilized his precise artistic skills in a manner that contributed significantly to the military operations of the time.
Post-war, Houghtelling relocated to New York City, where his career oscillated among painting, architecture, and transportation design. New York's vibrant cultural scene provided a fertile ground for his creative experiments, leading him to produce an impressive array of fantasy murals, which became one of his signature contributions to the art world.
His fine art portfolio includes a notable series of paintings inspired by Shakespearean themes and religious narratives, reflecting his deep engagement with both classical literature and spiritual subjects, as well as Alice in Wonderland works.
His work was exhibited in prestigious venues such as the City of Paris in San Francisco (1931), Paul Elder's Gallery in San Francisco (1938), the Golden Gate International Exposition (1939), and the Venice Museum in Italy (1983).
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