J. Allen St. John

(1875-1957)
His contribution in the development of fantastic illustrations are large and diverse. He considered himself a disciple of Frank Frazetta, and comparing the graphics with illustrations by Frazetta St. John is easy to see continuity.
. Reliable image by Allen St. John I could not be found, and it is a sad fact is the best show an assessment of its artistic merits of the current tusovka
. Simply put, St. John is almost completely forgotten.
Meanwhile, his achievements in the development of fantastic illustrations are large and diverse. He considered himself a disciple of Frank Frazetta, and comparing the graphics with illustrations by Frazetta St. John is easy to see continuity. Perhaps Frazetta less suffer from complexes and the flight of his imagination freer - that it is not surprising, as we compare his style with the style of the artist, whose style was formed during the prim and Victorian ...
James Allen St. John (James Allen St. John) was born in 1875 in Chicago. In 1883 his mother took him to Paris, where he went to study painting. When he grew up, St. John studied painting in New York, where his teachers were William Chase, George de Forest Brush and Kenyon Cox, as well as in Europe - under the leadership of Jean-Paul Laurent and Henri Verena. From 1901 to 1903 he himself taught at the School of the Arts Chase. Generally speaking, teaching, painting became his main occupation - from 1917 he lectured at the Chicago Art Institute, and from 1935 until his death in 1957 - at the American Academy of Arts.

Vocational his work began in 1898 in the newspaper "New York Herald". In 1912 he moved to Chicago, who was then one of the largest publishing centers, and immediately received orders for registration of covers of popular magazines. In 1915 the publishing house "ACMcClurg" invited him to make a screen saver to the heads of Burroughs's novel "The Return of Tarzan" ( "The Return of Tarzan"), . and the following year Saint John been completed by the third edition of the novel cycle - "Tarzan and his beasts" ( "The Beasts of Tarzan"), . making a color cover and four dozen black and white illustrations,
. Stylistic "hit" in the manner of an illustrator shaped series of novel was amazing, it took with the same enthusiasm as readers and the author. Edgar Rice Burroughs for many years became a friend of Saint John - they maintained a close relationship and, after Burroughs in 1919, moved from Chicago to Tarzan. During the next twenty years, each edition of the new book, Burroughs came out with a cover and illustrations of Saint John. Burroughs even said that half of the success of the series of Tarzan - the credit is not the author and illustrator ..

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. Cover of the novel
. "The Beasts of Tarzan", 1916
. Cover of the novel
. "Pellucidar", 1923
. Cover of the novel
. "The Monster Men", 1929
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. In addition to books Burroughs, St. John designed the books of many other authors - Robert Ames Bennet, Ray Cummings, George W. Ogden, Randall Parrish, Charles Oldena Seltsera and many other authors who have worked in popular genres such as westerns.
. Cover April issue of "Weird Tales" in 1933.
. St. John illustrated the novel by Jack Williamson's "Golden Blood"
. Cover of the January issue of "Amazing Stories" in 1941.
. Illustration for the next "Martian" novel Burroughs
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Cover of the October issue of "Fantastic Adventures" in 1944.
Illustration for the novel J. PELCOM "King of the Dinosaurs"
Since the early 30-ies of Saint John is active as an author of magazine covers, including - fiction magazines. He did a lot of classic covers for "Amazing Stories", "Fantastic Adventures", "Weird Tales" and other. He also developed the classic logo for the "Weird Tales".
Comparing the graphics and paintings by Allen St. John, I do not hesitate to give preference to its schedule. "Oblozhechnye" color of his works, to my taste, too bright and shoot down the impression - although, of course, draw attention to the picture (and that even on the cover of nuzhnoN). But calm and great technical graphics, animated by one or two extra soft tones, produces a surprisingly strong impression. Characters in St. John's expressive landscapes are barely noticeable raid Impressionism, but the strongest feature of these works - a masterstroke "translate" the text books in the picture. The artist told, . that he first read the novel just for fun, . then reread it, . choosing episodes, . worthy illustration, . then makes illustrations, . constantly checking with the author's text with, . trying, . illustration that in no way contradicted the book,
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That schedule of Saint John was a starting point for shaping the style of Frank Frazetta - and Frazetta managed organically move "Saint dzhonovskuyu" expressive figures in color, which most St. John did not manage. However, he may not set itself such a task ..
. Perhaps, . namely James Allen St. John was one of the prototypes of the character of one of the best, . my taste, . novels of Kurt Vonnegut's "Bluebeard" - illustrator Dan Gregory, . that "a great artist did not, . although the technology was unsurpassed ...,