eLecture- The Golden Age of Illustration

Life, "In A Position To Know" (1921), Cole Phillips

Illustration is defined as a picture or diagram that assists in making something clear or attractive (Merriam-Webster OnLine). The earliest forms of illustration are pre-historic cave paintings, although complete comprehension of them is impossible, they are seen now as telling stories through images. Before printing presses were invented books were illustrated by hand. Woodcuts, etching and engraving are the early ways used to reproduce illustrations. The invention of lithography allowed for better reproduction of illustrations. I am keeping the focus on American Illustration, because it is very abundant and adding other cultures would be too overwhelming for one lecture.

Self Portrait, George Catlin

George Catlin is an early American Illustrator who traveled through the west creating portraits of Native Americans. He published a series of books and created two major collections of paintings in his attempts to record the appearance and customs of America’s Natives in order to educate those who were unable to travel and discover for themselves.

The Golden Age of Illustration began in the late 19th century and continued until shortly after World War I, when images could be reproduced with a combination of photography and halftone engraving. Artists’ individuality in their marks became lost in the reproduction before this combination was possible. The Civil War contributed largely to the need of illustrators. Advertising was needed to encourage enlisting into the armed forces; illustrations also could convey information of defeats and victories, and portraits of military leaders and politicians.






















Custer's Division Retiring from Mount Jackson, Alfred Waud, Pencil and opaque white on tan paper

Newspapers and magazines began to employ “artist-reporters” to create images on site of the war’s events. The sketches were then given to the art department where engravers translated them to woodblocks for reproduction. Some of the artist correspondents were Winslow Homer, Theodore R. Davis, and Alfred Waud. The popular newspapers of the time were Leslie's Illustrated News, The New York Illustrated News and Harper's Weekly.

“By World War I, Americans had overcome their sense of cultural inferiority to Europe, and American illustrators were greatly respected. The best artists of that era were attracted to this mode of expression and vigorously competed in pursuit of the huge readership of nationally distributed magazines, books and newspapers, which eventually dwarfed that of Europe” (Society of Illustrators).

Life magazine became another important publication for illustrators. From the mid 1880s into the late 1930s Life was considered a humor and general interest magazine. Artists such as Coles Phillips , Norman Rockwell , Harry Oliver, and Charles Dana Gibson contributed to this magazine. These artists are still sought out by current illustrators and students for their unique techniques and inspiration. Being a published artist was considered prestigious and well paying.

Triple Self-Portrait, Norman Rockwell

“It was the revolution of color printing that was as much required for the success of the art as the artists themselves. Howard Pyle and Edwin Abbey, indeed many of the great black-and-white artists, were now painting in full color, the reproduction of which had been denied them for most of their careers. Once halftone printing could reproduce black-and-white artwork with previously unattainable fidelity, the next logical step was the imposition of four halftone plates inked with red, yellow, blue, and black, and the effect of a full color painting could be printed. New presses would make it economically feasible to include at least a few color reproductions in an issue of a magazine or at least the frontispiece of a book.” (Society of Illustrators)
It became an honor for artists to be published in magazines.


Howard Pyle

Illustrators Mentioned
George Catlin
Winslow Homer
Theodore R. Davis
Alfred Waud
Coles Phillips
Norman Rockwell
Harry Oliver
Charles Dana Gibson
Howard Pyle
Edwin Abbey

Writing Activity
Research one of the illustrators listed above. Pick two to four images to discuss. Write what is being depicted in the images: maybe a social issue? an image of the war? satirical commentary?- Discuss your interpretation and what you find in your research.

• If students have a blog set up this would be appropriate to set up on the blog with the images they have found and should be encouraged to respond to at least 2 other student’s posts.
• Students could bring in printouts from the Internet of the images they chose and present them to the class. The class should then interpret the images through a class discussion. Following the class discussion the student whose images were discussed should briefly present his or her findings.
  

Studio Activities

• Based on the writing activity- Create an original piece of art inspired by the illustrator you chose for your research. Study techniques, subject matter, composition, media and style.
• Pick a word and illustrate the meaning of this word using objects or expressive marks while keeping the word readable.
• Creating an image based off of a poem or your favorite song. If you did not write the poem or song, be sure to give credit where credit is due-be sure to include the writer’s name in artist statement or name of your artwork.

Assessment is based on the presentation of the written material and participation of an in-class critique of the completed studio activity.

Links

• Engraving- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engraving
• Etching- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etching
• Merriam-Webster definition of Illustration- http://cougar.eb.com/dictionary/illustration
• Woodcuts- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodcut
• Lithography- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithography
  
• Society of Illustrators- History of American Illustration- http://societyillustrators.org/about/history/283.cms
• Wikipedia on Illustration- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illustration
• Illustrated Word Lesson Plans-
  http://www.kid-at-art.com/htdoc/lesson70.htm
  http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/high/wendy-drawing.htm
  http://www.wendypaigefree.com/ehsillwds/index.html
• Norman Rockwell-http://www.nrm.org/
• George Catlin-http://www.georgecatlin.org/
• Leslie's Illustrated News-http://cprr.org/Museum/Leslie%202-9-1878%20p389.html
• Harper’s Weekly-http://www.historicpages.com/texts/hwcat01.htm
• Winslow Homer-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winslow_Homer
• Theodore R. Davis-http://www.harpers.org/subjects/TheodoreRDavis
• Alfred Waud-http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trm041.html
• The New York Illustrated News-http://www.cartoonstock.com/vintage/directory/n/new_york_illustrated_news_gifts.asp
• Golden Age of Illustration-http://www.artcyclopedia.com/history/golden-age.html
• Howard Pyle- http://www.bpib.com/pyle.htm
• Charles Dana Gibson- http://www.americanillustration.org/html/cg/index.html
• Harry Oliver- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Oliver
• Coles Phillips- http://www.americanartarchives.com/phillips,c.htm
• Life Magazine- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_(magazine)
• 100 Years of Illustration- Howard Pyle and Norman Rockwell
  http://giam.typepad.com/100_years_of_illustration/howard_pyle_18531911/
• 100 years of Illustration- Edwin Abbey
  http://giam.typepad.com/100_years_of_illustration/edwin_a_abbey_18521911/