Earle Thomas Raine

1911 (Penns Grove, NJ) - 2005 (Wisconsin)

Earle Thomas Raine is an important early Wisconsin Artist who garnered numerous awards during a prolific career beginning in the 1930s and spanning more than five decades.

Earle Raine attended the Layton School of Art in Milwaukee and took up residence in the Mequon/Thiensville, Wisconsin area. In the 1930’s, Raine made a living as an artist, producing artwork for Collier’s Magazine covers and cartoons.  He was an accomplished artist with the WPA: New Deal Federal Arts Project, spanning the 1930s-1950s. As a painter of the “American Scene”, he turned out landscapes, portraits, and urban-scapes of everyday life in Wisconsin. 

Raine served as a medic in World War II, and continued to paint during his service in France and elsewhere. Upon returning home, he attended Marquette University, took a job as a surveyor and started a family. Raine continued to paint professionally and contributed heavily to the metro-Milwaukee and Ozaukee County art scene. He was the head of the Ozaukee County Art Show, one of the oldest art shows in Wisconsin. Mr Raine was a frequent exhibitor with The Wisconsin Painters and Sculptors at the Milwaukee Art Museum during the Regionalist period.