has always been one of our favorite artists.

A student of both Harvey Dunn and Frank Brangwyn, Cornwell was equally at home with illustrations and murals. Born in 1892, we've seen his cartoon work in Caricature - The Wit and Humor of a Nation, a compilation of material from Judge, as early as 1912.

In the 20's, his work could often be found in Cosmopolitan Magazine providing large, dynamic illustrations for serialized novels and later in the books into which they were compiled. The image at left is from The City of the Great King which, along with The Man of Galilee, presented a dozen large color images each. Other minor treasures of the decade are found in the novels of Peter B. Kyne and Oliver Curwood, which contained an image or three by Cornwell from their original magazine appearances. Though often in color in Cosmo, the book versions were often shown in two- or three-color versions. By the end of the decade, he was working in all of the popular publications of the period. Magazines from this era are so cool, it almost makes us want to expand the types of material we sell. But look for the above two titles, plus fiction titles like Never the Twain Shall Meet, The Enchanted Hill and The Pride of Palomar - all by Peter B. Kyne. Many of them were issued with color Cornwell dustjackets as well.

By the 30's and 40's, Dean Cornwell was a household name. His patriotic war posters and full-page color advertisements were everywhere: Seagrams Whiskey, General Motors, and Coca Cola - to name a few.

He created a series of placards commemorating great moments in medicine for Wyeth and Brother. The image at left is "Conquerors of Yellow Fever". Every drugstore in America was happy to display them in their windows, giving more visibility to Cornwell's art. Today almost every example of these images is found in a sun-faded state. The perils of popularity. [click here for a page of the other five.]

Cornwell executed some wonderful murals, some of which can still be seen in the Los Angeles Library. He was a president of the Society of Illustrators from 1922-1926, a member of the Dutch Treat Club from at least 1927 to 1949, and a frequenter of "The 21 Club" in New York, for which he provided the painting at left which appears in The Iron Gate of Jack & Charles "21", the 1950 Memorial Edition. Said book also contains "Venus and the organ player - with apologies to Titian" by Cornwell. In 1947 and 1952 he returned to images of the Near East with illustrations for Lloyd Douglas' two immensely popular novels, The Robe and The Big Fisherman. Each title contained eight double-page color paintings crafted at the height of his talent. We prefer the first Houghton-Mifflin editions, personally, but even the editions from The Peoples Book Club provide striking testimony to the talent of this great artist.

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Find out more about Dean Cornwell from the following books: