By 1907 when this spectacular illustration (click on image to enlarge) appeared in Harper's Monthly Magazine for August, Howard Pyle's star was descending in the heavens and this featured piece stands in sharp contrast to the rest of the illustrations he did for The Ruby of Kishmoor, of which he was author as well.


These are two of the spot illustrations that were mortised within the text. They are chalky, and appear to have gotten by the usually fastidious master who usually destroyed work he felt missed the mark. Or, perhaps it was because of problems with an editor or art director. We can only speculate.
More than likely it was that there was a new star burning even brighter, Charles Dana Gibson and his "slashing and spectacular pen technique," to quote Henry Pitz. The drawing below is Gibson's fetching profile of the young actress Evelyn Nesbit which was entitled: Eternal Question.

Next: Howard Pyle's portraits of women

Thank you for your kind comment, Nancie.
Posted by: Paul Giambarba | July 23, 2005 at 01:46 PM
Great Page for a Great Artist. Thanks!
Posted by: Nancie | July 12, 2005 at 06:53 PM
Hello!
Happiness for your blog.
Luck!
Hola!
Felicidades por tu blog, estos ilustradores no se deberian olvidar nunca
Suerte!
Carlos Puerta
Posted by: Carlos Puerta | January 21, 2005 at 07:05 PM