Joel Iskowitz was born in The Bronx, New York on August 15, 1946. At a young age, Iskowitz developed a desire and great talent in the arts. In 1964, he graduated from the New York High School of Music and Art. After high school, he continued his studies at Hunter College in New York, and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1968. During a summer session, Joel attended ivy-league Yale University on scholarship and enrolled in multiple fine arts courses, enhancing his skills as an artist. However, the Yale professors were focused on abstract art, while Iskowitz was more interested in the traditional and realistic arts, which is what he would excel at throughout his career in producing countless pieces of art. He initially had an interest in medical illustration and later branched into a number of different fields in art.
Early in his career in the 1970s, Joel Iskowitz took up a teaching course at Yale and worked as a substitute teacher in mathematics and arts up until 1977. Around that time, he moved to San Francisco for about a year working as a portrait artist before returning back to New York City. Once back in New York, Iskowitz then worked in the music industry designing album covers and received work as an illustrator, submitting freelance line drawings and visual reviews for new albums in the rock music industry publication: "Changes". Joel continued his career in the arts by designing book covers and illustrations for young adult and romance novels. Even though he considered his artwork to be very realistic, he called these romantic works "glorified Hollywood clinch scenes".
While Joel Iskowitz attended Hunter College, he served as an apprentice under Richard Claude Ziemann and was also exposed to the fields of etching and engraving. These printmaking skills lead to developing his "gravure" art style, which is used for many of the stamp designs that Iskowitz produced. Before producing coins, Joel Iskowitz produced over 2000 stamps for 40 different nations, an astounding number of high quality philatelic artworks. His first stamp designs depicted endangered animals that were sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund for Sierra Leone. In the years following, his stamp designs featured Heads of State, flora, fauna, historical events and a wide variety of topics. Joel Iskowitz has been noted for his various philatelic works depicting the British Royal Family. He became an internationally recognized illustrator and artist quite early in his career.
When Iskowitz had a project to work on, he said each work required in-depth research in order to be finely detailed and accurate. He frequently visited the New York Public Library and the historical and scientific archives to gather information and study the subject matter. Iskowitz, a self-described bibliophile, explained: "Many hours were happily spent searching through the miles of books at Strand book store in lower Manhattan." During one of his philatelic designs, he once said the designs: "must be super accurate and well documented, for if you get so much as an animal's tuft of fur out of place on a philatelic design you will hear from someone critical of your design."
Iskowitz has always considered himself to be a Narrative Artist, using highly realistic artwork to tell a story. It takes years of training and also highly detailed research on a specific subject to get the realism just right on a particular piece of art. In 2014 during a lecture, he has said that the purpose of his art is "to distill and advance the subject's story." The great illustrators of the Golden Age of American Illustrations have always been an inspiration to him. He is also inspired by the great art masters such as Leonardo and Michelangelo of the Renaissance Era, whose works were also inspired and driven by the narratives. One of his favorite artistic history movements is the Baroque (1600-1750), a highly ornate and often extravagant style of art. Iskowitiz has said that the great artist Rembrandt and his works, where highly influential upon his own works and artistic style. In an interview, he is quoted as saying: "In one's lifetime as an artist, there is a visual and spiritual conversation that connects all artists in a colloquy that defies temporal, national and cultural barriers."
In 2005, Joel Iskowitz applied for the United States Mint Artist Infusion Program, a program in which private artists could submit designs for US coins. He applied on the last day and immediately won acceptance. He remained in the US Mint's Artist Infusion Program (AIP) as a prominent artist up until March 15, 2018, and then parted ways. He earned the title of "Master Designer of the United States Mint", and his artwork and coin designs were highly desired by the US Mint. From 2005 through 2018, the US Mint has selected 54 designs produced by Joel Iskowitz to be used for the minting of US coinage and medals, more than any other US coin designer and artist in history. Many of the everyday, modern coins in your pocket, bear the artwork created by Joel Iskowitz.
Some of his earlier works for the US Mint involved the 50 States and Territories Washington Quarters, a coin program that began in 1999 and lasted through 2009. The coin features William Cousin's design of the Washington bust as the common obverse of the coin used each year, and on the reverse is featured a different and unique design for each of the 50 US States and territories. Near the end of the 50 State Quarters Program, Joel Iskowitz is responsible for designing the original artwork for the reverses of the 2008 Arizona Quarter and 2009 District of Columbia Quarter:
After the 50 States and Territories Quarters Series concluded, the new America the Beautiful Quarters Program started in 2010 and will run until 2021. This series features a State Park, Historical Site or Monument for each of the 50 States and Territories. Only 5 States are featured each year. The designs for these quarters are also used for the America the Beautiful 5 Ounce Bullion Coins. These coins bear the same design as the quarters, but are much larger silver bullion coins produced just for collectors. The larger coin shows off much more details of the beautiful designs. Joel Iskowitz designed the artwork for a number of these coins:
In 2009, the US Mint commemorated the 200th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln's birth and also the 100th anniversary of the Lincoln Cent, which was first produced in 1909 and has been minted ever since. The 2009 Lincoln Bicentennial Cents Program features 4 different designs on the reverse of the coin. Every 3 months, a new design was minted and the pennies were released to the public. Each design featured a theme in Abraham Lincoln's life, starting from his childhood up until his Presidency. Iskowitz is responsible for designing the Lincoln's "Professional Life" theme, the 3rd coin in the bicentennial series, honoring who is widely considered the greatest President in American history. Joel Iskowitz has said that having his design chosen is the "biggest honor" of his career. Over 650 million of these pennies have been produced and put into circulation across America.
Another major US coin program that Iskowitz was involved in, is the Presidential Dollar Coins program, which started in 2007 and ran until 2016. This golden-colored coin series features Don Everhart's design of the Statue of Liberty as the common reverse used each year, and on the obverse is featured a different and unique design for the bust of each US President. Only 4 Presidents were featured each year and the coins were produced chronologically in order based on when each President entered office. Nearly every US President is featured (only those who have passed away), with the last coin featuring President Ronald Reagan in 2016. Shown below are the coins that were designed by Joel Iskowitz:
The first of the Presidential Dollars were released to the public on February 15, 2007 in honor of President's Day. However, a few days later on February 19th, a related coin series called the First Spouse Gold Coin Series was initiated. These coins are half-ounce solid gold coins featuring the spouse for each US President. There is also a bronze medal version of these coins as well. Like the Presidential Dollar, only 4 of these coins were produced each year. They are minted only for collectors and are very rare. The coin series features a unique obverse featuring the bust of each First Lady, beginning with Martha Washington up until Nancy Reagan. The reverse of the coin is also a unique design featuring a major accomplishment or theme that the First Lady was involved in during her time in office. Throughout the entire series, Joel Iskowitz designed a large number of these gold coins:
The American Eagle Platinum Proof Coin Program is another major coin series in which Joel Iskowitz has contributed many designs for. The Platinum Eagle coins were first produced in 1997 as bullion uncirculated coins and proof coins of varying denominations and weights. The common obverse features John Mercanti's Statue of Liberty design. The common obverse is used in each year, but has changed in 2018 to begin featuring unique designs. The reverse of the burnished uncirculated and bullion coins featured the flying eagle common reverse used every year up until 2008, while the proof coins featured a unique design on the reverse used only once per year. Starting in 2009, only the 1-ounce $100 denomination Platinum American Eagle proof coins were produced by the US Mint, with a unique design each year. Joel Iskowitz created many of these unique designs for the proof Platinum Eagles.
Joel Iskowitz also designed a number of commemorative silver and gold coins for the US Mint. Collectors likely recognize some of these as they are considered some of the most popular and enduring commemorative US coins, featuring designs that honor our US military, individuals who made great contribution to our country, and honorable US institutions:
In addition to US coins and commemoratives, Joel Iskowitz also created the artwork and designs for many Congressional Gold Medals. In fact, the US Mint selected 17 of his designs, more than any other artist in US history. Congressional Gold Medals are awarded by Congress and are considered the highest civilian awards in America. They are awarded to people who have performed an achievement that has impacted American history and culture. Since the American Revolution, Congress has commissioned and awarded gold medals as it's highest expression of appreciation for distinguished accomplishments and contributions. The very first Congressional Gold Medal was awarded to George Washington in 1776 by the Second Continental Congress.
These are just the coin designs that the US Mint has already selected. At the time of this writing in 2018, Iskowitz had already submitted more designs to the US Mint to be reviewed, and will likely have even more coins bearing his work in the future. His design for the Dolley Madison First Spouse Gold Coin was displayed in the East Room of the White House, and the design for the District of Columbia Quarter was displayed at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History.
Not only did Joel Iskowitz produce designs for coins, stamps and books, he is also one of the very few living artists to have paintings and artwork displayed at the Pentagon, White House and Capitol building. Joel is an active artist with the United States Air Force and has a number of his oil paintings within the USAF Permanent Collection. He also has a painting documenting the events of D-Day, which is housed in the permanent collection of the Historical Association of Carentan in Normandy, France. Another Iskowitz mural depicting the history of aviation technology, is housed at Wright–Patterson United States Air Force Base. More of his work is displayed at The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum, The New York Historical Society Museum, The U.S. Capitol's Emancipation Hall, and The Museum of American Illustration. Iskowitz was invited twice to document the American Space Shuttle missions and has artwork on permanent display at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Museum. This just a small sample of Joel Iskowitz's patriotic and beautiful works of art that tell a story about America, our people and some of our greatest achivements.
Our great American hero and astronaut John H. Glenn Jr. himself, was so impressed with Iskowitz's work that he personally nominated him for the National Medal of the Arts. The medal is an award created by the United States Congress for the purpose of honoring artists and patrons of art. It is one of the most prestigious American honors, the highest honor given on behalf of the people to an individual artist for achievement in the arts. In John Glenn's letter of recommendation, he wrote: "The coins and medals that he has designed for the United States will symbolize our culture for centuries to come. The paintings that he has donated to the United States Air Force Art Program inform, inspire and enrich our understanding and appreciation of our military missions worldwide. As a former United States astronaut, I am especially proud of the work Mr. Iskowitz has done to honor our nations astronaut's and America's space program."
Iskowitz's unique and high quality work has been featured in international journals and magazines, including: Smithsonian Profiles, American Artist Magazine, Watercolor Magazine, CoinAGE Magazine, Exhibit Builder Magazine and more. He is also affiliated with The Abraham Lincoln Association (honorary), The American Numismatic Society (ANS), The American Numismatic Association (ANA), The American Medallic Sculpture Association (AMSA), Fédération Internationale de la Médaille d'Art (FIDEM), Illustrators Partnership of America, New York Numismatic Club, and Society of Illustrators. Joel still presents his artwork at various universities and professional organizations, including those mentioned above.
Throughout his career, Joel Iskowitz has won many awards as a highly distinguished, master artist. These awards and honors include: NEA Designated Master Designer - US Mint, Hunter College Hall of Fame, UK's Stamp of the Month, NOAA Space Philately Award, COTY awards: The United States nominee for 2008, Most Artistic Design, 8 USAF citations, Portfolios.com Award, New York Festivals Award and countless other distinctions. This is in addition to the 54 winning coin and medal designs chosen by the US Mint, making Joel Iskowitz the most successful US coin and medal designer in history. Iskowitz is a legendary American artist considering his amazing pieces of art and treasure that are permanently on display in some our greatest institutions and museums. Joel Iskowitz has already left a permanent mark on our American currency and culture with over a billion coins bearing his historical works of art, coins that every American in the country has likely held in their hands at one point or another.
More Information: Joel Iskowitz speaking on C-SPAN regarding designing Congressional Gold Medals
Joel Iskowitz's personal website: The Mountain Studio