Improbably beautiful covers #1 – Western Story Magazine, December 21, 1929 cover by Gayle Hoskins

Western Story Magazine, December 21, 1929 cover by Gayle Hoskins
Western Story Magazine, December 21, 1929 cover by Gayle Hoskins

Another minute, and there would have been only a red dot on the ground, so i suppose this was the more interesting moment…a very well painted one at that. Gayle Hoskins manages to give the impression of a immense herd of bison very well in the limited space for the painting’s portrait orientation, one dictated by the magazine’s orientation on the newsstand. 
I wonder if a different perspective – maybe over the hunter’s shoulder – would have worked better, though. Leave a comment with your thoughts.

2 comments

  1. I collect pulp cover paintings but I've never been able to afford the original art of Gayle Hoskins. I've had more than one offered to me but Hoskins costs more than the usual pulp art.

    I like the cover art of WESTERN STORY in the 1920's. Many of the covers are not the usual shoot 'em ups but actually show interesting scenes from a cowboy's life. In fact in 1930 Hoskins did a series of covers for WESTERN STORY showing such scenes. Then the covers were offered to readers as prints. Most were tacked up on walls and didn't survive but I managed to find a set of them in the original mailer.

  2. Definitely one of the better artists who worked for the pulps. The set of prints sounds like something to look out for; I'll start keeping an eye out for them now.

    Western Story Magazine, Adventure and Short Stories all had great covers in the 1920s.

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