Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Forward! They are Ours!


Frank Schoonover, great American illustrator, didn't quite reach the level of stardom that superstar illustrator N.C. Wyeth did. Schoonover's work looked a lot like Wyeth's, undoubtedly because they were both students of master illustrator Howard Pyle and were schooled with the same great illustrative principles, becoming part of the famous Brandywine School.

Prolific like Wyeth, when Schoonover died at the age of 94 he had over two thousand illustrations to his credit. Joan of Arc was one of his classic subjects for a book in 1918, shown here with some illustrations from that book — and just because I like it so much, I've placed my favorite on top.










4 comments:

Mr. Door Tree said...

Thomas,

You beat me to the punch...Joan of Arc is in my que for books to scan...perhaps my favorite of the Penn Publishing series illustrated by Schoonover!
A lot more to see in this beautiful book!

Thomas Haller Buchanan said...

Hi Mr. Door Tree,

Sorry 'bout that. We never know what the other is up to in his que. You've beaten me several times.

Please do show your full scans. I abridged my set for time's sake.

Annie said...

Beautiful, Thom! I also, had just discovered this one at Archive Dot Org, and was planning to feature it, some time in the far future, so I'm glad you beat me to it!

Duane Spurlock said...

Schoonover is wonderful. I rarely hear his name mentioned (except by Edgar Rice Burroughs fans). Wonderful illustrations. Thanks especially for including the pen-and-ink endpapers. I've only rarely seen his black-and-white work.