100 Years of Illustration

Western Life by Charles M. Russell, 1905

From an an insert in Scribner's Monthly Magazine for February 1905. Text will follow. Stay tuned.

 

Photo courtesy Montanakids.com. Use this link for more about this famous "cowboy artist."

Actually there were only two pen sketches by Crawford, at the beginning (above) and at the end of the piece (below). Click on these images to enlarge them.

"The Custer Fight."

Detail

"An Old-time Hunting Party. The Blackfoot Indians when they ranged from the Saskatchewan to the Yellowstone."

"A Bad Hoss. [sic]  A cowboy riding a horse known as a 'Weaver.' "

" 'Buckaroos' from the N-N outfit on the Big Dry in Montana."

Howard Pyle and Norman Rockwell

I came across an article in a July 1994 Smithsonian Magazine by author Verlyn Klinkenborg in which he compares these two giants of illustration, in his words: totally American, yet not at all alike. 

Like me, Klinkenborg is certainly not an art historian, and, unlike me, a very learned and competent writer who appears to write about all sorts of things for The New York Times and other prestigious journals, certainly The Smithsonian Magazine being one of them. 

It's been evident from all the hits and page views this weblog receives, that both Pyle and Rockwell seem to be the most popular worldwide (most of our viewers reside in countries other than the United States.) 

 

Copyright 1959 by the Curtis Publishing Company.

Rockwell's painting, A Family Tree, appeared as the cover of the October 24, 1959 issue of the Saturday Evening Post. As homage to Pyle he says he put the initials H.P. on the treasure chest at the bottom of the painting to acknowledge his copying the galleons from Pyle's earlier work. Click on image to enlarge it.

I believe this is the chest in question, since it has remained throughout time one of the most popular of Howard Pyle's illustrations. You can see much more of his work here, and that of Norman Rockwell here.

Scroll down for each link because this portion will appear at the top.

 

Title page of the article. 

Howard Pyle in his studio, photo courtesy of the Delaware Art Museum.

Norman Rockwell in his studio, courtesy ot the Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

Oliver Herford—More

Finally, it would seem in 1910, that Oliver Herford was favored with better display in Theodore De Vinne's Century Magazine. This issue of October, 1910, featured Herford's wash technique, which is very expressive—I wish it had been reproduced in color. The mermaids might be considered a precursor to the pin-up subjects of two decades later, except for the fact that Herford was a sophisticated gent, whose restraint is evident in these examples. Click on these images to enlarge them and the text.

A full-page cartoon in The Century Magazine for May 1898, in Herford's pen and ink style and a witty play on words. 

A full-page cartoon in The Century Magazine for September 1898

More of Herford's Animal poems and illustrations. These three appeared at the back of the book in The Century Magazine for November 1901.

One of my favorite drawings.

The following illustrated poem was published in The Century Magazine for May 1902 when the country and much of the world was preoccupied with the conflict between those who insisted upon keeping our currency based on a gold standard, as opposed to others who agitated for a silver standard to reverse deflation. Here's a link to presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan Cross of Gold speech at the Democratic party convention in 1896,

And to close, this is another example of Herford's black-and-white wash technique illustrating a back-of-the book feature, Mythological Animals, in The Century Magazine. This appeared in the issue of February 1911. Click on image to enlarge it and the text.