Illustration from an Earlier Age, Part 2

In his introduction to Black & White ImageS - Fifth Special Collection, Editor/Publisher Jim Vadeboncoeur writes, "The field of black and white art from my focused time period, 1870 to 1922 is, indeed, an embarrassment of riches. It often seems to be an unending, unfathomable sea of images that only gets wider and deeper the further I venture from my familiar Anglo Saxon shores.""The more I explore," writes Jim, "the more I realize how much...

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Illustration from an Earlier Age

I've got to admit, my interest in illustration doesn't really extend to the decades before WWII. I mean, I find the art of the late 19th and early 20th centuries academically interesting, but I'm not really drawn to it (if you'll pardon the pun) in the same way that I am to the post-war era. But I know many of you are. One such person is TI list member Joseph Procopio, the founder & co-publisher of Picture This Press/Lost Art Books. Joe asked...

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Cliff Roberts' Children's Books

Recently I received a note from Ariel S. Winter, who publishes a terrific blog called, "We Too Were Children, Mr. Barrie." Ariel wrote, "I wanted to let you know that I've posted a ton of Cliff Roberts art from his children's books on both my blog and my Flickr."Cliff Roberts work has been very popular here on Today's Inspiration. My post showcasing images from "The Book of Jazz" which Roberts illustrated was especially well received. Thanks to...

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Wow - 2000 Followers - and Counting!

Last week while I blinked Today's Inspiration got its 2000th follower - and the number continues to rise. As well, over 5,000 people subscribe to our RSS feed. Wow; I am always so amazed and gratified to know so many people enjoy the material presented on this blog. A heartfelt thanks to all of you for your support and encourageme...

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Greg Newbold on Don Weller

Back in August Charlie Allen shared a bunch of scans with us of "odd stuff" -- tear sheets he'd saved in his clip files. Among them were several pieces like the one below by an artist whose signature we couldn't decipher. "The name is 'Weber' or 'Weker'....don't know. A football article, and no idea from what magazine or publication," wrote Charlie.Almost immediately after that post, TI list member Greg Newbold sent me a note:"I saw some work by...

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Walter Haskell Hinton’s Calendar Pictures

By Jaleen GroveExtremely little has been written about calendar art, probably because it has been considered the exact opposite of everything thought to be artistically tasteful by modern artists and art critics of the 20th century. Furthermore, its fan base has been mostly quiet and apparently not as self-advocating as collectors of other once-derided art forms, such as comic books and science fiction art. That calendar art has remained undocumented...

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Walter Haskell Hinton’s Pulp Westerns

By Jaleen GroveIn the 1930s, one of the most widely read pulp genres was the Western, a staple of American popular culture since the mid-19th century. When Walter Haskell Hinton lost his fulltime ad agency job in 1933, he wasted no time approaching publishers Street and Smith and Ziff Davis with cover ideas. The image below is one of his earliest, and the effort he put into the foreshortened figure shows he was serious about getting to the forefront...

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Walter Haskell Hinton’s Magazine Covers

By Jaleen GroveChicago, as the advertising capital of the world before Madison Avenue in New York took over, meant that illustrators in that city were bound to find work doing commercial art. As we saw yesterday, Walter Haskell Hinton got his start doing just that, but he knew that he shouldn’t limit himself to advertising if he wanted to build serious prestige as an illustrator. He explained,"In fine art they look down upon commercial art of course,...

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Walter Haskell Hinton’s Early Advertising Career

By Jaleen Grove The advertising industry had already taken its modern shape even before World War I, as marketers came to understand the power of brand identity. Walter Haskell Hinton entered the work force in 1905 at age 18, motivated to climb to the top by the need to support himself and his mother after his father’s unexpected death.  Living in Chicago meant he was in close proximity to many manufacturers in Wisconsin, Illinois,...

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