Vintage print by well-known artist and illustrator John Newton Howitt. Print shows young boy practicing on his trumpet, while the cat, dog and chickens take off running in fright. Bright, bold colors. Great for child's room after matting and framing.
Info on bottom of print: 7710; Some Harmony; Copyright KLM; Made in U.S.A. Printed by Ketterlinus Lithography of Philadelphia, Pa. Don't know date that original artwork was completed. Artist died in 1958. According to information supplied to me by an ebayer with knowledge of the artist, these prints were probably completed in the late 1950's. Overall size of print is 8" x 10". In excellent, like new condition. Have small quantity to sell. Will consider lower price per print if someone is interested in more than one. Email and we can decide on pricing. I will also have this same print available elsewhere on ebay matted to 11" x 14", mounted on foamcore and ready-to-frame.
I will package this print in plastic sleeve, and add a piece of white foam board for protection during shipment.
I'll mail the same day, or next day after PayPal payment is received.
Some great info on this very successful artist:
(1885-1958) Born in White Plains, New York, Howitt was struck with a case of polio at age four. During his time of recovery and convalescing, his father drew pictures for the boy and encouraging him to draw also. As he got older and his affliction limited his other physical activies, drawing became a passion for “Newton,” and he devoted more serious attention to it. The young Howitt was quite studious and graduated from high school at age sixteen. He then enrolled at the Art Students league in New York City where he studied under noted the noted instructor George Bridgeman. Howitt embarked upon a career in illustration, and from 1910-1930 he led an extensive commercial career with paintings appearing in the magazines Pictoral Review, Liberty, The Saturday Evening Post, Colliers, and Delineator, all of which were extremely high profile publications of the day. In addition he illustrated several books as well as stories for the newspaper supplemental sections, This Week, New York Herald Tribune, and the American Sunday Monthly Magazine.
During the 1920s Howitt was commisioned to create advertising work for several nation-wide companies that included Jello Foods, Post Bran Flakes, Devoe Paints, Vermont Marble and Crisco Shortening. In between commercial assignments, Howitt always devoted his time to painting landscapes. He traveled extensively in North America, painting everywhere he went. He established a solid reputation as a landscape painter of high quality and he exhibited his works regulary in prominent galleries. To this day his landscapes hang in noted museuems and public collections across the country.
As the depths of the Depression struck, Howitt apparently found himself on shaky ground financially. Unable to earn a living from his past markets, he turned to the pulps as a means to make a living. Howitt had reached middle-age and was much older than many of his contemporary pulp artists just beginning a career. The forty-eight year old Howitt could have considered the pulps nothing but a step down from the level of succes he had achieved. According to Mrs. Shirley Steeger, wife of Harry Steeger who knew Howitt well, he “deplored the work — but it was meticulously done.”
But how did this prominent landscape artist and illustrator make his way into the sordid melodrama of the pulp-paper magazines? This has been a point of question to many.
For a number of years Howitt had rented a studio at 163 West 23rd Street in New York City. Also renting studio space on the same floor of this building was Jerome Rozen, who himself had been working for the pulp publishers for several years. Oddly enough Howiit began working for the very same publishers as Jerome Rozen. It is the belief of this writer that it was either through the advice and recommmendations, or possibly a personal introduction from Jerome Rozen that brought Howitt to the offices of Harry Steeger at Popular Publications and across town to the publishing empire of Street & Smith.
Howitt’s first known pulp work appeared on the cover of The Spider for November, 1933. He continued to paint The Spider covers for 71 consecutive months until September, 1939. Howitt simultaneaously took on monthly assignments from Popular to provide covers for Dime Detective, Horror Stories, Terror Tales and Operator #5. He is also credited with created the covers for the one-shot titles The Scorpion and The Octopus. For Street & Smith Howitt created covers for The Whisperer, Top Notch, Clues Detective and Love Story.
But Howitt was not limited to only Popular and Street and Smith. In additon to their work, he painted several covers for rival publishers titles such as Adventure and Popular Detective.
From this entire body of work, the images that have recieved the most attention and recognition are the gothic-centered paintings that Howitt created for what has come to be known as the “weird-menace” pulps. For Horror Stories and Terror Tales. “ ... he did a series of astonishing covers that remain unmatched as perfect examples of the pulp vision of madness unleashed,” wrote pulp historian and author Robert Weinberg. “His work was the stuff of modern nightmares ...,” Weinberg added further.
Although he created all his work with a consumate professional approach, Howitt thought very poorly of his pulp work. Howitt had throughout his career signed his complete name on a single line in legible block lettering, often accompanied by the date. Shorlty after starting to work in the pulps, he ceased in signing his namefor fear that it would damage his reputation with the slick magazines. But Howittt was a true artist, and could not leave his work unsigned completely. He adopted a blazoned red “H” to mark his creations. As soon as the markets changed that would allow him to return to painting his beloved landscapes, portraits and higher profile illustrations or advertisements, he dropped the pulp work entirley.
Throughout his pulp career, Howitt maintained, although sporactically, to work for such magazines as The Saturday Evening Post and Liberty. After 1940 conditions allowed him to resume working for his former outlets. His last known cover appear for Thrilling Detective for the February, 1940 issue.
He became well-known as a portrait painter in his later years and was active in several art organizations. His love of nature led him to create covers for magazines such as Outdoor Life which centered around activies or recreation in the countrysides around the nation.
Only one single, original painting has surfaced out of all the pulp covers that Howitt created. This fact simply adds greater specualtion to the legend that Howitt personally burned all of the original paintings of his pulp covers out of contempt. Today his prized landscapes are nothing but a footnote in the history of American Art while his “moonlighting” career for the pulps has brought him greater attention, discussion and recognition than his placid scenes of nature ever did. He is listed in “Who Was Who in American Art”.
