Prompted by some strange answers from chatGPT, I googled "atomic energy artists 1940s", which led me via a [Pinterest collection][1] of images to Herbert Bayer.

Hebert Bayer provided an image for a New York Times article published on August 12, 1945 titled "We enter a new era - the atomic age":

[![enter image description here][2]][2]

Source: https://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2012/08/17/the-end-of-the-nuclear-age/

The artist, [Herbert Bayer][3], worked for General Electric and published a promotional booklet "Electronics, a new science for a new world" in 1942 containing this image:

[![enter image description here][4]][4]

Source: https://twitter.com/lett_arc/status/1373318441474605066

One page of this booklet shows some atoms with electrons in orbits of varying radius, while one atom (on the far right over the yellow planet) is the now common depiction with three orbits of equal radius:

[![enter image description here][5]][5]

Source: https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/ge-general-electric-electronics-1860813924

While there might be other earlier drawings, the booklet from a major company combined with the image in the New York Times Magazine probably helped popularize this representation of the atom. General Electric continued to use this when started to advertise its nuclear power plants years later.


  [1]: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/571253533995536187/
  [2]: https://i.sstatic.net/swX1Q.jpg
  [3]: https://www.moma.org/artists/399
  [4]: https://i.sstatic.net/r8cbh.jpg
  [5]: https://i.sstatic.net/En50G.jpg