Will H. Bradley : American artist in print : a collector's guide / Robert Koch ; foreword by Janet Zapata.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Koch, Robert, 1918-2003, author.

Zapata, Janet, author of foreward.

Contributor:

Hudson Hills Press, publisher.

Jean-François Vilain and Roger S. Wieck Collection of Private Presses, Ephemera, & Related References (University of Pennsylvania)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Bradley, Will, 1868-1962.

Bradley, Will.

Commercial artists--United States--Biography.

Commercial artists.

Bradley, Will, 1868-1962--Catalogs.

United States.

Genre:

Catalogs.

Biographies.

Penn Provenance:

Vilain, Jean-François, 1942- (donor) (Vilain-Wieck Collection copy)

Wieck, Roger S. (donor) (Vilain-Wieck Collection copy)

Physical Description:

205 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 32 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Hudson Hills Press, 2002.

Summary:

Will H. Bradley (1868-1962) was for many years the most successful and highest-paid commercial artist in America, the Norman Rockwell of his era. His career encompassed numerous periods and styles, from the Art Nouveau of his best-loved posters and magazine covers to the Arts and Crafts style of the interior designs he created for the Ladies' Home Journal. Bradley was best known -- and is still widely collected -- as a graphic artist and publisher of his own work, and this comprehensive book brings together all of his finest printed oeuvre in a single volume. Nearly two hundred illustrations reveal his fertile imagination, incomparable sense of design, and unmatched wedding of art and typography. Here are Bradley's most important works from Iron Ore, The Inland Printer, The Chap-Book, The Studio, Harper's Bazaar, Bradley: His Book, St. Nicholas children's magazine, Collier's Weekly, and many other periodicals, along with illustrations for books (including the children's books that he himself wrote), wallpaper designs, posters, advertisements, and other ephemera. Robert Koch's exhaustive biographical text -- which he refers to as "an extraordinary story of ambition and success" -- also covers Bradley's later career. From 1917 until his retirement in 1930, he worked for William Randolph Hearst, including a stint in filmmaking. Adding to the volume's reference value are an extensive list of Bradley's published works, a bibliography, lists of public collections and exhibitions, and an appendix reprinting his "Primer of Ornament and Design," featuring previously unpublished material. 60 colorplates, 117 black-and-white illustrations

Contents:

The first twenty years, 1868-1889

Freelancing in Chicago, 1890-1894

Springfield and Bradley: his book, 1895-1896

Breakdown and recovery, 1897-1899

The Chapbook style, 1900-1905

Art editor and children's books, 1906-1916

Hearst, motion pictures, and periodicals, 1917-1931

Retirement, 1931-1962

The poster revival after 1962.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 193-196) and index.

Local Notes:

Kislak Center Vilain-Wieck Collection of Private Presses copy presented to the Penn Libraries in 2016.

Kislak Vilain-Wieck copy retains dust jacket. Also 2 typewritten sheets of Will Bradley items laid in.

ISBN:

1555952240

OCLC:

49583227