Happening upon a few 'Pulp' Sci-Fi illustrations by Lawrence, Virgil Finlay and Hannes Bok, 1948 - 1951

I was in the Red Rock country of Utah a couple of Saturdays back, driving down out of the hills with some folks after doing a bit of sightseeing.

Along the way, miles away from most things, we spotted a little sign that said 'Barn Sale Today' next to a dirt road. Yes, please, too odd and tempting to pass up.

I had to laugh at myself as I began to find a few cool old books and records and magazines buried among the bric-a-brac. I guess it doesn't matter how far you remove me from familiar territories or urban areas; my collector's instinct runs strong.

There were a half-dozen or so old pulp magazines, most of them pretty beat-up.

Despite a long-time appreciation for pulps and especially science-fiction digests, it's a line I've not previously crossed in my collecting.

My passions run all over the place, but some areas can be too vast - - and there are limits...
...or so I've heard.

It's sort of the same reason I mostly remain an outside spectator when it comes to Anime and Manga.

Interesting stuff, but I guess I feel like it's too long a thread to begin pulling at this late date...

...still, there I was at a freaking barn sale in the boonies of Utah.

How could I not pick out a couple of these? I mean, just look at 'em.

It took me back to one Summer when was a kid. A family down the street hired me to water plants and feed the cats while they were away for about a month.

The husband was into ham radio and science-fiction.
He had a cool den with a stack of old pulps on a shelf and dozens and dozens of 1950's issues of Galaxy, Fantasy & Science Fiction, and Astounding magazines.

I was down there a lot that Summer while they were gone, poring through those treasures.
Absorbing the words, the images, the feel, the smell...

-sigh-

The covers on both of these well-worn issues and the black-and-white 'Second Deluge' illustrations from the July, 1948 issue of Fantastic Novels Magazine are by 'Lawrence', a.k.a. Lawrence Sterne Stevens.

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I'd never heard of Lawrence Sterne Stevens prior to this, and I'm not finding much info about him out there.

Just a typical assessment, that like many of the illustrators of that era, he was prolific in many genres for many publications over a number of years...

...Can anyone give us more?

Judging by these examples, I'd say his only fault was that his work wasn't quite as magical as that of his contemporaries,
Virgil Finlay and Hannes Bok.

I love that 'Gray Mahatma' cover illustration (below), and some of the detail in these others reminds me a bit of classic 'war' comic book artist Russ Heath.

- Some examples of Lawrence Sterne Stevens artwork can be seen at The Illustration Exchange: Science Fiction and Fantasy Art Collectors' Site.

Here's One (click on link), if you run a search there for his name, you'll find a few more.














































































































































Above, by Lawrence: ⬆ '"Great Heavens!" he said to himself. "It is the prophecy of the Second Deluge!"'

Below, by Lawrence: ⬇ Illustration for Frank Lillie Pollock's 'Finis' (1906), from the same issue.





























































Above, cover by Lawrence: ⬆ December, 1951 issue of Famous Fantastic Mysteries magazine, featuring Talbot Mundy's 'The Gray Mahatma', first published in 1922.

Below, ⬇ Virgil Finlay splash illustration for 'The Gray Mahatma'.






































































Above, ⬆ by Virgil Finlay for 'The Gray Mahatma'

(click on images to ENLARGE on a new page)

Below, ⬇ by Virgil Finlay: Illustration for Minna Irving's poem, 'The Spirit Boats' (1923), from the same issue.













































See also:

- A Virgil Finlay bio page at Been Publishing I'm Back.

- Several big, beautiful troves of Virgil Finlay illustrations at Datajunkie.

Below, ⬇ by Hannes Bok: Illustration for H.P. Lovecraft's 'Pickman's Model' (1927), also appearing in the 12/51 issue of Famous Fantastic Mysteries.













































See also:

- 'Hannes Bok: A Fan's Perspective' at American Art Archives.

- Hannes Bok Gallery 1
- Hannes Bok Gallery 2
- Hannes Bok Gallery 3
- Hannes Bok Gallery 4

(link:) Jesus is way cool

Maybe apparel like this has been around for a while.
I NEVER saw any of it until I moved away from California.
(Maybe I just wasn't moving in the right circles)

I've been doing an ongoing head-spinning double-take every time I pass the dual kiosks at the local shopping mall that sell these t-shirts (and many other similar designs).

I'm guessing that other folks besides me have not yet encountered them.

If such shirts are a ubiquitous sight wherever you're living, please forgive me while I stare in
slack-jawed fascination...

(Click on images to ENLARGE on a new page.)
















































All of these designs and a multitude of others available on shirts, hats, hoodies, and toddler tees can be found at the Divine Apparel website (and other "authorized Kerusso dealer" websites), and likely in thousands of identical shopping malls all across America.




See also: The Passion of the Tchotchke, one of several eye-popping galleries at Going Jesus.
(Home of the 'WTFWJD?' T-shirt, and also where you will undoubtedly manage to see photos of
My Amazing Godson.)

(link:) A quick Boris Artzybasheff web round-up

I may have seen some of his Time covers or magazine ads in the past, but I think the first time I really drew a bead on the artist Boris Artzybasheff was about ten years ago, when I saw the small retrospective of his work that ran in issue #9 of Monte Beauchamp's 'Blab!' anthology.

(That piece has since been reprinted in 'New & used Blab!', a 'best-of' compendium published in 2003 by Chronicle Books.)

Russian-born Boris Artzybasheff (1899 - 1965) emigrated to the US in 1922. Through the course of his career he displayed his amazing versatility through many differrent artistic styles.
He was frighteningly adept at portraying the surreal, but the draftsman-like clarity of his realist images was unique.
- - And then when he'd combine the two... Wow.
Nobody else like him.

He was primarily a book illustrator early on in his career, but in 1940 turned almost exclusively to commercial art.
His print ads were eye-popping, and his affiliation as a Time Magazine cover artist spanned over 20 years..

These top three illustrations are from the Charles G. Finney's book, 'The Circus of Dr. Lao', ➔
first published in 1935.
Below is one from a 1951 issue of Time.⬇
(click on images to ENLARGE)

If you're not familiar with Artzybasheff, I heartily encourage you to seek out his works.
I've provided links to just a few places around the web that can help to whet your appetite.

What you see here is just the tip of the iceberg, so have at it!!

- There's a nice illustrated bio page at the Bud Plant site.

- A great gallery at American Art Archives, with an emphasis on his artwork for advertising.

- A 'search results' gallery at Time.com of 215 Time Magazine covers produced between 1941 and 1965.** (Rats. See below.)
It'd be nice if the images were a little larger and better resolution, but oh well...

- A small gallery at
The Abyss of Wonder.

- A small collection of World War Two images at one of the 'digital collections' pages for the University of North Texas Libraries.

- Artzybasheff's 1954 book 'As I See' is a luscious gathering of his artwork.
It's sadly (criminally!) been long out of print, but last year
Ken Steacy Publishing released a 'recreated' version of the book in softcover.

ADDENDUM, 9/12/08: The Ken Steacy reprint is no longer available, but the good news is that 'As I See: The Fantastic World of Boris Artzybasheff' will soon be back in print again as a new hardcover edition from
Titan Books!

- In typical fashion, there are a few beautiful troves of high-res scans from the original book available online at the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive.
The link here leads to a group from the 'Neurotica' section of the book, but there are links to further sections to be found by scrolling to the bottom of that page.


Below: 'Art Profane' from
'As I See'. ⬇























It's a great boon to be able to track down any examples of Artzybasheff's artwork, and it's great to know that 'As I See' is back in print, but - - surprise, surprise, I'm wishing there was more, like a big, thick, fully-loaded extensive career overview coffee-table book. I'm just slightly surprised there's not already such a thing out there. Maybe someday soon...

** Okay, so this Time 'cover gallery' link doesn't seem to work from day to day as well as one would hope. Try this...

Enter 'Artzybasheff' in any search window on the Time site.
Your results should include a small 'Covers' sidebar on the right.
At the bottom of that sidebar, it should read 'More Covers (215)'.
Click on that. Presto. (fingers crossed for you)

Max Waldman 'Marat/Sade' photos, circa 1966

Photographer Max Waldman (1919 - 1981) forsook commercial work in the mid-1960's, and began shooting 'only what he wanted'.

His eye for capturing stage and dance performers was phenomenal, and his passions leaned toward the avant-garde.

These photos are of some cast members from The Royal Shakespeare Company's 1966 production of 'Marat/Sade', in their 'play-within-a-play' roles as insane asylum inmates.

(Clockwise, from top: Robert Lloyd, Tamara Fuerst, John Steiner, Morgan Sheppard, Sheila Grant)









































See also: Internet Broadway Database listing

I found these photos in a 1969 Waldman bio piece that ran in Life magazine.
They were shot in his tiny Manhattan studio, where he managed to contol light, texture, and mood to great effect. (Better than what my scans can convey, sadly)

See also: Max Waldman Archives web gallery

NOT Comic-Con '07: Off to the Balboa Park Botanical Building for a break in the madness

As of this writing, the big funny-book convention has ended for another year.

On Saturday, during the most crowded and hectic portion of the show, I took off to enjoy a palette-cleansing interlude at the Botanical Building in San Diego's Balboa Park.

There was such an overload of visual input at the convention center. It was a treat to breathe and let my eyes rest on some different stimuli. To say nothing of seeing sights that don't exist at home. That's vacation.

Then I started playing with my camera, and had fun taking closeup photos of the beautiful plants in the Botanical Building.

I was trying to steer clear of taking snapshots, and concentrated more on just capturing small arrangements of patterns, textures, colors and shapes that would bounce around in my head for a little while.

Here are some of the results of the pictures I took...