Walter Baumhofer Book

The Illustrated Press and David Saunders teamed up last year to publish the definitive monograph on Golden Age pulp illustrator Walter Baumhofer.

The book tells his whole life story, from his origins as a young artist, his time in art school, and his early pen and ink and charcoal illustrations, and his striking poster designs.

The book includes many of his Doc Savage, Dime Western and Dime Detective pulp covers. The bold colors and eye-catching graphics are beautifully reproduced from the old tearsheets. There are also many examples reproduced from his original artwork, including his photo reference, preliminary drawings, correspondence, to a collector's checklist in the back.


His vignettes are always dynamic, and it's interesting to see what he does with a two color palette. Some of his illustrations are reminiscent of other past masters I've covered on this blog, including Dean Cornwell, Tom Lovell, Frank McCarthy, and Harry Anderson.

The book is printed on quality paper and is 224 pages, 9x12 pages
Their Kickstarter campaign for the limited edition was a great success, but you can still get a copy on Amazon.
The book is also available on the Illustration Magazine website