Monday, April 25, 2016

Under Cover: Standard Oil Bulletin Artists, Part 1


LAFAYETTE MAYNARD DIXON
January 24, 1875, Fresno, California – November 11, 1946, Tucson, Arizona

The Art of Maynard Dixon
Donald J. Hagerty
Gibbs Smith, 2010

Donald J. Hagerty, Maynard Dixon
Gibbs Smith, 2010

















HAROLD VON SCHMIDT
May 19, 1893 – June 3, 1982

Taos and Santa Fe Painters

The New York Times
June 6, 1982
Harold von Schmidt, Painter and Illustrator, Is Dead at 86























CARL JACOB NEHER
December 16, 1901, Germany – January 19, 1970, Sebastopol, California 










(Next post on Monday: Ira Schnapp, Class of June 1913)

Monday, April 18, 2016

Anatomy of a Logo: Uncanny Origins


Uncanny Origins was a logo commissioned by Mark Gruenwald of Marvel Comics.
I began work on April 6, 1996. Below is a sheet with three thumbnail sketches.


The designs were developed and refined. 




Tight pencil renderings of the designs were faxed to Mark.



Mark chose a design. Minor changes were made to
some of the letters while “Featuring” was expanded. 


Mark approved the logo and wanted “Featuring” to be smaller.


Finished artwork was made on LetraMax paper.
My version of “Featuring” was not used.


Uncanny Origins ran fourteen issues, from September 1996 to October 1997.
The logo was digitally modified.


My Quicksilver logo design is here.

Monday, April 11, 2016

Comics: George Klein, Artist

Courtesy of Diane Boden


















GEORGE DUNSFORD KLEIN
September 11, 1915, Shreveport, Louisiana – May 10, 1969, New York, New York

1920 United States Federal Census
Name: George Kline [sic]
Age: 4
Birthplace: Louisiana
Address: 600 East 11th, Cheyenne, Laramie, Wyoming
Relation to Head of House: Son
Marital Status: Single
Father's name: George Kline [sic]
Father's Birthplace: Missouri
Mother's name: Matilda Kline [sic]
Mother's Birthplace: Missouri
Household Members:
Name / Age
George Kline, 36
Matilda Kline, 30 [maiden name was Dunsford]
Elna Kline, 6
George Kline, 4


Wyoming State Tribune
(Cheyenne, Wyoming)
October 30, 1921
Honor Roll Local Schools for First Six Weeks’ Period
Names of Students Who Made Good Marks in Studies at All the School Buildings.
The honor roll of the Chetenne schools for the first six weeks’ period, which ended October 14, was made public to day by Superintendent A. S. Jessup. It follows: 

Johnson
First grade A—First honors: …George Klein...

1930 United States Federal Census
Name: George D Klein
Age: 14
Birthplace: Louisiana
Address: 3615 House Avenue, Cheyenne, Laramie, Wyoming
Household Members:
Name / Age
George Klein, 46 (Rate Expert/Public Service Commission)
Matilda Klein, 40
Edna L Klein, 17
George D Klein, 14

American Forests and Forest Life
Volume 37, 1931
page 363: A letter from George D. Klein, of Wyoming, came too late to use, but it was so fine in sentiment and form of expression that recognition of some kind should be made. So we are sending him a cruiser's stick. George's favorite tree is the Rocky Mountain white pine. Its botanical name is Pirius flexilis. He likes it because it will grow at the timberline, on the wind slopes where other trees cannot survive the severe climate. Around the timberline it grows into grotesque shapes, but in the lowlands it is a tall and beautiful tree. George has shown good judgment in selecting so versatile a tree. There is a specimen on the campus at the University of Wisconsin, and I went out and renewed its acquaintance after getting George's letter. Needles are still retained on the stem five whorls back, which shows that its needles are deciduous every five or six years….

Nature Notes: The Magazine of Outdoor Information
Volume 4, Issues 1-6, 1939
page 99: Drawing by George Dunsford Klein

National Sportsman
December 1939
Cover by George Dunsford Klein






















1940 United States Federal Census
Name: George Kline [sic]
Age: 24
Birthplace: Utah [sic]
Address: 23 Elton Road, Milton, Norfolk, Massachusetts
Inferred Residence in 1935: Milton, Norfolk, Massachusetts
Occupation: Truck Driver
Industry: Wool Manufacturing
Highest Grade Completed: High School, 1st year
Hours Worked Week Prior to Census: 40
Class of Worker: Wage or salary worker in private work
Weeks Worked in 1939: 12
Income: 300
Household Members:
Name / Age
Matilda Kline, 50
Edna Kline, 27
George Kline, 24


Boston Herald
(Massachusetts)
April 1, 1940
New England Artists Show 136 Paintings in Jordan Exhibit
In a fine gallery equipped with special lighting on the fifth floor of the annex, Jordan Marsh Company has again invited local artists to make up their 11th annual spring exhibition of 136 paintings in oils and water colors by native New Englanders….

…Traditional painting with sound workmanship holds up well throughout the show. It is the younger men who prove to be the strict classicists, especially in the studies of pretty women by Elmer Greene, Richard Briggs and George D. Klein....

World War II Draft Card
Name: George Dunsford Klein
Race: White
Age: 25
Birth Date: 11 Sep 1915
Birth Place: Shreveport, Louisiana
Residence Place: East Milton, Massachusetts
Registration Date: 16 Oct 1940
Registration Place: Milton, Massachusetts
Employer: National Wool Marketing Corp
Height: 5ft 11
Weight: 160
Complexion: Light
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Blue
Next of Kin: Mrs. Matilda Lenora Klein
(The birth date is incorrect at Field Guide to Wild American Pulp Artists.) 

World War II Army Enlistment Record

Name: George D Klein
Birth Year: 1915
Nativity State or Country: Louisiana
State of Residence: Massachusetts
County or City: Norfolk
Enlistment Date: July 16, 1943
Enlistment State: Massachusetts
Enlistment City: Boston
Branch: No branch assignment
Grade: Private
Term of Enlistment: Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency
Component: Selectees (Enlisted Men)
Education: 4 years of high school
Occupation: Commercial artists
Marital Status: Single, with dependents

Nature Notes: The Magazine of Outdoor Information
Volume 8, Number 5, May 1941
page 135: 
The Bushy-tailed Woodrat
Also known as Pack Rat and Trade Rat
From a drawing by George Dunsford Klein.

Heritage
Fall 2008
page 49: George Klein attended the Timely staff dinner, August 14, 1942.



















Wyoming Wild Life
Wyoming, Game and Fish Department, 1942
page 137: Cover, Drawing of Female Marsh Hawk by George Dunsford Klein

Wyoming Wild Life
Volumes 7–9, 1942
page 124: Cover, Bull Moose in Mountain Lake, drawing by George Dunsford Klein

Wyoming Wild Life
1942
page 4: Cover by George Dunsford Klein

South Dakota Conservation Digest
October 1942
page 14: Gracing this month’s cover of the Conservation Digest is an artist's interpretation of Wapiti as drawn by George Dunsford Klein. The picture was furnished through the courtesy of the Wyoming Wild Life, official...

Timely-Atlas-Comics
Martin Goodman: The Crime Digest Paperbacks

Best Detective Novel of the Month / Selection of the Month / Selection
No. 7: “The Corpse Hangs High” by Edward Ronns. Copyright 1943, Select Publications’s Inc., Martin Goodman, President. George Dunsford Klein cover art. (Yes, “that” George Klein).

Crime Novel Selection
No. 4: “Murder For What?” by Kurt Steel; Copyright 1943 by Select Publications, Inc., Martin Goodman, President. George Dunsford Klein cover art.

Wyoming Wild Life
Volume 15, Issue 6, 1951
page 10: Painting by George Dunsford Klein

Wyoming Wild Life
Volume 16–17, 1952
page 16: Drawing by George Dunsford Klein

Wyoming Wildlife Magazine
Bulletin No. 7, 1954
Wyoming Fur-Bearers: Their Life Histories and Importance
page 26: Drawing by George Dunsford Klein

A Manual of Bandaging, Strapping, and Splinting
Augustus Thorndike
Lea & Febiger, 1959
page 10: Grateful appreciation is due to…his associate, George Dunsford Klein, for the drawings and illustrations.



World’s Finest Comics #169, Curt Swan (pencils), George Klein (inks)
The Avengers #58, John Buscema (pencils), George Klein (inks)























The Avengers #63, Gene Colan (pencils), George Klein (inks)
Thor #169, Jack Kirby (pencils), George Klein (inks)

































Heritage Auctions
Original art

Mammals of the World
Volume 3
Ernest Pillsbury Walker, John L. Paradiso
Johns Hopkins Press, 1968
page 203: The Bushy-Tailed Woodrat. George Dunsford Klein. Nature Notes, Peoria, vol. 8, no. 5, pp. 133–135, pl. 1, May, 1941.

Headstone Application for Military Veteran
Name: George Dunsford Klein
Rank: S Sgt
Birth Date: 11 Sep 1915
Service Number: 31 367 533
Service Branch: Army
Unit: Hq Co. 1165 Engineer Group
Enlistment Date: 16 Jul 1943
Discharge Date: 26 Jan 1946
Death Date: 10 May 1969
Cemetery: Mt. Wollaston
Cemetery Location: Quincy, Massachusetts

The New York Times

May 12, 1969
George D. Klein, a landscape and portrait painter, died Saturday [May 10] in St. Vincent’s Hospital after a
brief illness. He was 52 years old and lived at 425 East 86th Street.

Mr. Klein was a member of the Salmagundi Club.
[According to Klein’s army enlistment record, he was born in 1915. He was about 54 when he died.]


Boston Herald
(Massachusetts)
May 13, 1969
Klein—Of New York City, a noted artist, George Dunsford Klein; husband of Patricia Klein of 425 East 86th St., died Saturday, May 10 at St. Vincent’s Hospital, following a brief illness. Survived by his mother, Mrs. Matilda L. Klein and sister Mrs. Edna Matthel of Westwood. Graveside services at Mount Wollaston Cemetery, Quincy, Wednesday at 12 noon. Relatives and friends are invited. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to The National Wild Life Society.

The New York Times
May 13, 1969
Klein—George Dunsfort [sic]. The officers and directors of The Salmagundi Club mourn the loss of their esteemed member, George Dunsfort Klein.
The Salmagundi Club.


Boston Record American
(Massachusetts)
May 14, 1969
George D. Klein, Painter, at 52
Last rites for George Dunsford Klein, 52, of New York City, painter of landscapes and wildlife, will be held at noon Wednesday in Mt. Wollaston Cemetery. He died Saturday in St. Vincent’s Hospital, New York.

Klein, a native of Shrevesport [sic], La., had lived in Boston until a few years ago.

He is survived by his widow, Patricia (Perreira); his mother, Mrs. Matilda Klein, and a sister Mrs. Edna Matthol, both of Westwood.

Wikipedia
References, endnote 3: The closest “George Klein” with a 1969 death at the Social Security Death Index is Social Security Number 051-09-0859, born June 14, 1920, died September 1969, death certificate issued in New York state. [This person is at Find a Grave and was named George H. Klein.]

Grand Comics Database
Comics credits

Who’s Who of American Comic Books 1928–1999
Career overview
Studied at the New York School of Visual Arts and Kansas City Art Institute


(Updated March 20, 2022. Next post on Monday: Uncanny Origins)