The case of the unknown artists, or Who did the early covers for Blue Book?

A couple of weeks ago, as I was going through the May 1907 issue of Blue Book, I realized that the cover was signed but unidentified. Indeed, the FictionMags Index did not have artists attributed for the first few years of the magazine’s existence. From 1912 onwards, the magazine credited the cover artist in the… Continue reading The case of the unknown artists, or Who did the early covers for Blue Book?

Rafael DeSoto covers on my new illustrator spotlight blog

Started a new blog on illustrators sometime ago but haven’t found time to do more posts :-). Hopefully this post makes up for the gap between posts. https://illustratorspotlight.blogspot.com/2020/01/rafael-desoto-art-teacher-illustrator.html

J.C. Leyendecker exhibition of illustrations

Wondering what to do as vacation time approaches? Go to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, of course, and find out what these two are looking at. A new exhibition at the Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Leyendecker and the Golden Age of American Illustration, includes 42 original paintings and 101 Saturday Evening Post covers from the… Continue reading J.C. Leyendecker exhibition of illustrations

Crazy Cows and Horrified Horses – The western art of George Harrison Wert

I like pulp covers, but i have to confess that most of the people portrayed on the covers had a total lack of expression comparable to the Great Stoneface, Buster Keaton himself. They could be dealing with a rogue elephant, a runaway stagecoach or a snarling man eating beast, and they would serenely confront them,… Continue reading Crazy Cows and Horrified Horses – The western art of George Harrison Wert

Artist Robert G. Harris – article in Arizona Highways

From 1934-37, Robert G. Harris painted more than 70 covers for pulp magazines. Almost two-thirds of those were for Street and Smith’s Wild West Weekly, and a few more western covers for the Thrilling magazine group. David Saunders’ Pulp Artists site has a nice biographical article on him here. This article by Amy Abrams about… Continue reading Artist Robert G. Harris – article in Arizona Highways

John Philip Falter – biographical article about the artist

John Philip Falter was a fine artist who did a few covers for the pulps, all western themed. He is better known for having done more than 100 covers for the Saturday Evening Post between 1943 and 1971. His pulp covers (images taken from the FictionMags Index): Western Story Magazine, November 7, 1931 cover by… Continue reading John Philip Falter – biographical article about the artist