Howard Pyle -part 7

Howard Pyle (1853, Wilmington Del. - 1911, Florence) was one of America’s most popular illustrators and storytellers at the end of the 19th century during a period of explosive growth in the publishing industry. His illustrations appeared in magazines like Harper’s Monthly, St. Nicholas, and Scribner’s Magazine, gaining him both national and international exposure. The broad appeal of his imagery made him a celebrity in his lifetime.

Pyle studied at the Art Student’s League, New York City, and first attracted attention by his line drawings after the style of Albrecht Dürer. His magazine and book illustrations are among the finest of the turn-of-the-century period in the Art Nouveau style. Pyle wrote original children’s stories as well as retelling old fairy tales. Many of Pyle’s children’s stories, illustrated by the author with vividness and historical accuracy, have become classics—most notably The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood (1883); Otto of the Silver Hand (1888); Jack Ballister’s Fortunes (1895); and his own folktales, Pepper & Salt (1886), The Wonder Clock (1888), and The Garden Behind the Moon (1895).

In 1894, he began teaching illustration at the Drexel Institute of Art, Science, and Industry. Among his students there wer valet Oakley, Maxfield Parrish, and Jessie Wikcox Smith. After 1900, he founded his own school of art and illustration named the Howard Pyle School of Illustration Art. Scholar Henry C. Pitz later used the term Brandywine School for the illustration artists and Wyeth family artists of the Brandywine region, several of whom had studied with Pyle. He had a lasting influence on a number of artists who became notable in their own right; N.C. Wyeth, Frank Schoonover, Thornton Oakley, Allen Tupper True, Stanley Arthur, and numerous others studied under him.

Later Pyle undertook mural paintings, executing, among others, The Battle of Nashville (1906) for the capitol at St. Paul, Minn. Dissatisfied with his style in painting, he went to Italy for further study but died shortly afterward. Pyle had established a free schoolof art in his home in Wilmington, where many successful American illustrators received their education.

Pyle travelled to Florence, Italy in 1910 to study mural painting. He died there in 1911 of a sudden kidney infection (Bright’s Disease).

For earlier works by Howard Pyle see parts 1-6 also.

This is part 7 of a 13-part series on the works of Howard Pyle:

1892 One Hoss Shay: With its Companion Poems

by Oliver Wendell Holmes:

Front Cover

Title Page

Ye Deacon

"Here comes the wonderful one-hoss shay"

 "A chaise breaks down but doesn't wear out."

Then something decidedly like a spill.

The Deacon inquired of the village folk

"Naow she'll dew"

"She was a wonder, and nothing less"

The Parson takes a drive

Just as bubbles do when they burst

1895 Jack Ballister's Fortunes by Howard Pyle:

Front Cover

"He'll come to by and by: he's only stunned a trifle."
 said the Captain.

" 'Now then, gentlemen, how much do you bid for this boy?" said the auctioneer.

"Speak up, boy, speak up," said the gentleman.

Blackbeard's last fight.

Colonel Parker reached and laid his hand upon
Jack's shoulder.
"Ay,' said he, 't is a good honest face."

He led Jack up to the man who sat upon a barrel.

He picked up the bird and held it out at arm's length.

"I don't want to be anybody's servant, lady, and wouldn't if
I could help it."

Jack and Dred rescue Eleanor - the start.

Jack followed the Captain and the young lady up the crooked path to the house.

Mr Parker stood looking steadily at his visitor.

The combatants cut and slashed with savage fury.

The pirates fire upon the fugitives.

"Then I will come," said he.

They found her still sitting in the same place.

1895 The Garden Behing the Moon:  A Real Story Of The Moon Angel:

Front Cover

Frontispiece

"Fast Flew the Black Winged Horse"
original artwork

"He was standing at the open window"
original artwork

"Young David and the Moon Angel"

*           *           *           *           *

1894 The Parasite by Athur Conan Doyle
"Struck me with both fists"

1894 The Parasite by Arthur Conan Doyle
"Austin," she said, 'I have come to tell you our engagement is at an end"
Harper's Weekly, November 10 1894

1894 The Players Club
bookplate
engraved by Edwin Davis French

1894 The young fellow lounged in a rattan chair
The Cosmopolitan magazine, August 1894

1895 "I saw him pass his sword through the Mate's body"
black and white oil on canvas-board 40.6 x 27.9 cm
for The Novels and Tales of Robert Louis Stevenson: Kidnapped
Charles Scribner's Sons 1895

1895 A Forgotten Tale by Arthur Conan Doyle

1895 A Forgotten Tale by Arthur Conan Doyle

1895 Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
published in The Novels and Tales of Robert Louis Stevenson
Charles Scribner's Sons

1895 The Enemy at the Door
from Some Thanksgiving-Time Fancies
Scribner's Magazine, November 1895

1895 The Rush from the New York Stock Exchange on September 18, 1873
oil on panel 45.7 x 30.1 cm
Delaware Art Museum

1896 Harper's January cover

1896 The Burial of Braddock from Woodrow Wilson's "George Washington"
Harper's Monthly 1896

1896 The Werewolf
The Ladies' Home Journal, March 1896

1896 Thomson, the Clerk of Congress, announcing to Washington, at Mount Vernon, his election to the Presidency
Harper's New Monthly Magazine, November 1896

1896 “Did thou tell them how I taught thee?”
from the novel Hugh Wynne

c1896 A bit of romance
oil
Library of Congress, Washington, DC

c1896 Bearded Man
oil
Library of Congress, Washington, DC

1896c Bearded man standing on dock
oil
Library of Congress, Washington, DC

1897 Citizen Genet formally presented to Washington
photomechanical print
Library of Congress, Washington, DC

1897 “In the Prison” from Hugh Wynne, Free Quaker by S. Weir Mitchell
The Century Magazine, May 1897