Illustrators during the Golden Age of American Illustration distinguished themselves from—and often envied—painters of fine art. As commercial artists, they were paid to enhance stories in texts and to sell products in advertisements.
Nation Builders
Howard Pyle
The First Day of Peace - Stanley Arthurs (1922)
Used with permission from Delaware Division of Historical & Cultural Affairs, Dover, DE
Friendly Indians Watching a Wagon Train
Oscar Berninghaus (c. 1940)
The stage was set for this golden age by the opening of the American West, which began in earnest after the Civil War.
The Last Spike - Thomas Hill (1881)
Blue Morning
George Bellows (1909)
The opening of the west - and its vast treasure in natural resources - was facilitated by the completion of the first transcontinental railroad. A last golden spike was driven on 10 May 1869 by California's governor Leland Standford at Promontory Summit, Utah Territory.
Wedding on Washington Square
Fernand Lungren (1897)
Rich or poor, populist farmer or urban professional, Americans wanted to know:
"What's happening?"
New York City News Vendor on Broadway
Thornton Oakley (1905)
The business of business was interrupted in 1914 by the "war to end all wars". It began in July 1914 when Austro-Hungarian invaded Serbia. This was soon followed by German invasions of Belgium, Luxembourg and France. The Yanks came to the aide of their English and French allies in April 1917 and fought bravely beside them until an armistice was negotiated. It took effect on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918.
Gassed
John Singer Sargent (1918)
American troops returned in time to participate in the Roaring Twenties, also known as the Jazz Age. This proved to be the last hurrah in the Golden Age of American Illustration.
A stock market crash in October 1929 marked the beginning of a new era - The Depression. Grim times continued through the next decade, finally ending with America's entry into the Second World War.
Employment Agency
Isaac Soyer (1937)
The Golden Age of American Illustration will trace the development of this intriguing art through the works of artists who created the icons of America's heritage and tradition.
The art and the artists are only part of the story of this golden artistic age. The rest of the story deals with the men who made the public interested in these works. This part of the story explains how changing social trends and markets effected the art. These changes were less a matter of artistic inspiration than the manifestation of a survival instinct. Publishers constantly needed to reinvent their publications to maintain their audiences. This meant replacing old ideas and their creators with fresh new things and people. As competition from other media forms grew, it proved impossible to sustain interest in illustrated periodicals in spite of their brilliant art. The decline in this market brought the end of the Golden Age of Illustration.
Preview
Wild Bill Hickock at Cards
NC Wyeth (1916)
A Bear Chance
Philip R. Goodwin (1907)
The Golden Age of American Illustration was a period of dramatic transition. Over 70 years the state of the art evolved from this -
Bayonet Practice - Thur de Thulstrup (1862)
Conversation - John LaGatta (c. 1928)
into this -
As pioneers wended their way west, a national railway system was created, industries were born, commerce exploded, and millions of immigrants poured into American cities. In two short decades, America's agricultural economy was transformed into a modern industrialized system and business had became the business of America.
The wealth that flowed out of the west allowed a few to accumulate fortunes and live lives of dazzling extravagance while others lived in poverty in squalid city ghettos. Mark Twain called it The Gilded Age..
But they did more than this as we can see in these pictures. Artists of the Golden Age of Illustration also invented the images and logos that now define America’s heritage and how Americans see themselves.
The Spirit of 76
Uncle Sam
The Wild West
Glamour and Romance
Politics
Santa Claus
The Rail Splitter
The Common Good
The Father of Our Country
The March to Valley Forge
B. T. Trego (1883)
Four things conspiring together allowed these artists to become famous picturing America:
1) They lived and worked during an age of dynamic economic and social development
2) Naturally gifted draftsmen, they became skilled depicting people and events as elements in
stories
3) Technological advances made it possible for the genre of their art to evolve
4) They supplied a steadily expanding market of well-educated and enthusiastic readers
Little Girls
Fashion
America appeared to be on the verge of
A Golden Age
Old King Cole at the St Regis Hotel in New York City– Maxfield Parrish (1906)
.
Harlem Flats
Ernest Lawson (1906)
America's publishers were eager to tell them.
Newspapers and periodicals multiplied rapidly through the Gilded Age. In them, their readers found, besides the news, articles on business, politics, notable figures, social trends, the arts, fashion, sports, travel, and adventure.
Magazine editors scoured the country to find the best writers and published their best and most interesting works. As they did, the door opened for young artist to picture America as it grew.
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