Franklin Booth: Difference between revisions
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*[http://www.fleskpublications.com/galleries/booth/ A gallery of Booth's works] |
*[http://www.fleskpublications.com/galleries/booth/ A gallery of Booth's works] |
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*[http://www.auadpublishing.com/gallery/sp_booth1.htm Another gallery of Booth's illustrations] |
*[http://www.auadpublishing.com/gallery/sp_booth1.htm Another gallery of Booth's illustrations] |
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*[http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/3aa/3aa364a.htm Toast of the Town: Norman Rockwell and the Artists of New Rochelle] |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Booth, Franklin}} |
{{DEFAULTSORT:Booth, Franklin}} |
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[[Category:American illustrators]] |
[[Category:American illustrators]] |
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[[Category:People from New Rochelle, New York]] |
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[[Category:1874 births]] |
[[Category:1874 births]] |
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[[Category:1948 deaths]] |
[[Category:1948 deaths]] |
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Revision as of 06:32, 27 December 2009
Franklin Booth, (born 1874- died 1948) was an influential American artist notable for his highly detailed pen-and-ink illustrations.
Biography
Booth was born and raised on a farm in Carmel, Indiana. As a boy, he was determined to become an artist. He studied pictures in books and magazines, including Scribner's and Harper's. His unusual technique was the result of a misunderstanding: Booth scrupulously copied magazine illustrations which he thought were pen-and-ink drawings. In fact, they were wood engravings. As a result, this led him to develop a style of drawing composed of thousands of lines, whose careful positioning next to one another produced variations in density and shade. The characteristics of his art were his scale extremes with large buildings and forests looming over tiny figures, decorative scrolls and borders, classic hand lettering and gnarled trees.[1]
Booth was primarily a commercial artist, and his illustrations appeared in Harpers, The Century Magazine, Everybody's Magazine, McClure's, Cosmopolitan, Redbook, Good Housekeeping, House & Garden and Ladies Home Journal. He also created advertising art for Bulova Watches, Studebaker, Overland, Rolls-Royce, Wallace Silver, Paramount Pictures, GE, Estey Organ and Whitman's Candy.
Posters
Booth contributed to the Great War by illustrating recruit posters, the Red Cross, US savings bonds envelopes, booklets and death certificates for American soldiers who perished in France and Belgium.
Books
He illustrated many books by such authors as James Whitcomb Riley, Mark Twain, Theodore Dreiser, Archibald Rutledge, Meredith Nicholson and Caroline D. Owen.
Some of the notable books Booth contributed to are: The Flying Islands of the Night (1913), The Prince and the Pauper (1917), A Hoosier Holiday (1916 -First US travel biography), The Poet (1914), and From Death to Life by A. Apukhtin (1917).
Other contributions include illustrating the yearly issued "Telephone Almanac" from 1936 to 1944, and several years for the Victrola Record catalogue.
In 1925 a limited edition (210 copies) and regular edition of his work was published "Sixty Reproductions from Original Drawings" by Robert Frank. In 1976 this version was published again- smaller in size and lesser quality paper by Nostalgia Press. All three versions are difficlut to locate today.
In 2000 the United States Post Office released: Classic Collections "American Illustrators" 34 cent postage stamps. Showing 20 famous American Illustrators including header artwork from Franklin Booth. (Scott# 3502) self-adhesive, serpentine die-cut sheets.
Franklin Booth influenced and touched many famous artists including Bernie Wrightson, Frank Cho, Norman Rockwell, Dean Cornwell, Roy Krenkel, James Montgomery Flagg, Milton Caniff and Albert Reid.
Despite the laboriousness of his technique, Booth's compositions were characterised by a grand sense of space. As a result, his drawings were often well-matched to poetic or editorial entries.[2]
Two wonderfully done books of his illustrations have been published and has helped to bring back the memory and incredible output of his work: "Franklin Booth: American Illustrator"(2006) edited by Manuel Auad by Auad Publishing, and "Franklin Booth: Painter with a Pen" (2002) by John Fleskes.
Legacy
- "I have always admired the beauty of Franklin Booth's work and regard him as an exponent of the very best in American Illustration". ~Norman Rockwell.[3]
- "Booth's pen-and-inks have the lush richness of a fine old tapestry plus an exciting imagination". ~ James Montgomery Flagg.[3]
- "I have always stood spellbound before on of Booth's noble pen paintings. They recall today the Golden Age of American Illustration when such giants as Pyle, Abbey, Remington, and Gibson set a standard hard to reach. Booth earned his place beside such men as These". ~Dean Cornwell.[3]
- "I still wish I could do a pen drawing the way Franklin Booth handled them. The present-day student who wants quick success should be forced to copy a few of his illustrations just for the discipline. I used to do them just for the love of it". ~ Milton Caniff.[3]
- "Franklin Booth always will be so much better than practically anyone who ever picked up a pen." ~ Bernie Wrightson.[4]
Roy Krenkel cited Booth as an influence and has dedicated some of his paintings to him.