Reduce to Music

Reduce to Music was the third of 17 covers Frederic Stanley (1892-1967) created for the Post. But his work might never have come to fruition if the self-taught artist hadn’t been willing to take a big risk.

Young Stanley, who worked as a mechanic by trade and created art in his free time, carried some of his paintings to New York with an ultimatum attached: If the paintings sold, he would devote his life to art; if they didn’t, he would remain a mechanic at his brother’s Massachusetts Buick agency. As it turned out, his brother soon had to post a vacancy. Not only did Stanley sell his work, he returned home with a contract for three more pieces.

In the mid-1940s, Stanley took a break from his successful career to recover from meningitis. Penicillin—only recently available to the public—saved his life, but the illness took its toll, and for a year he made no attempts to paint. When he returned to his canvas, he focused on portraiture of prominent citizens. His first client was H. Nelson Jackson, a wealthy physician, who along with Sewall K. Crocker became the first men to drive an automobile across the United States in 1903. Stanley was working on his final portrait of the Governor of Florida at the time of his death.

Former Figure

“Ah, the lighthearted, light everything-else years when Mrs. Portleigh was constructed like that!” wrote Post editors of this unforgettable 1957 cover. Since the editorial staff enjoyed noting foibles of cover illustrators, they added that artist Amos Sewell (1901-1983) “borrowed that dress form in Westport, Connecticut, and walked to his car with it under his arm, and nobody gave him the raspberry. In artist colonies people evidently become shockproof.”

At the time San Francisco-born Sewell painted this cover, he had been living in New York for more than 27 years. But he certainly took the long way from San Francisco to arrive in the Big Apple: via the Panama Canal, he worked on a lumber boat to pay his way to the big city where he would launch his career as a commercial artist. After arriving in New York, he studied at the Art Students League and at the Grand Central School of Art under renowned artist and instructor, Harvey Dunn.

Sewell produced hundreds of story illustrations for the Post and its sister publication, The Country Gentleman, often depicting children. Beginning in 1949, he did 45 Post covers until 1962, when the magazine turned to mostly photographic covers.

Soda Fountain Dieter

The life of Stevan Dohanos (1907-1944), the artist of this 1954 cover, reads like a classic American rags-to-riches success story. He was born third of nine children to Hungarian immigrants, and worked an odd number of jobs before settling into the steel mill where his father was employed.

In fact, it was at the steel mill where he began selling crayon-colored copies of famous artists’ work to fellow employees for $2 to $3 a piece. Copies of Norman Rockwell’s early Post covers quickly became his best sellers. Later Dohanos reflected on that time in his autobiography American Realist: “I did not know then that years later I would produce art for the famous Saturday Evening Post and Rockwell would become a personal friend.” Nor had he dreamed that, like Rockwell, he would become one of America’s most successful illustrators.

Working Out

“Every boy has a spell of yearning to resemble Hercules or Tarzan or some other bulging being,” wrote Post editors of this 1959 cover. “To accomplish this he yearns for fairly expensive gadgets, scorning his father’s theory that a superb body can be built with a snow shovel or a spade. … Kurt Ard purchased those awesome exercisers, but you needn’t feel sorry for his model—the expanded springs were fastened to the studio walls and all the lad had to exercise was his face.”

According to the editors, Danish artist Kurt Ard (1925-present) sought modeling volunteers “in the streets, parks, or by posting ads in the papers—and one day a lovely girl named Ulla answered an ad. She became his best model, then his best girl, then his wife.”

Working Out was one of seven covers Ard created for the Post. He sold his first magazine illustration in Scandinavia for $1.43 when he was 17. By age 31, he had more than 1,000 illustrations in Europe’s top-flight magazines.

NO Desserts

Russian-born artist Constantin Alajálov (1900-1987) was discussing cover ideas with a Post staffer while dining in a New York restaurant: “I was thinking of doing one about a stout lady in a cafeteria,” Alajálov said. “She’s on a strict reducing diet, see, and she has to carry her tray past a long line of fancy desserts.”

From concept to reality. The result of that dinner conversation was this entertaining 1949 cover accompanied by an amusing quip from the editors: “The plight of the stout lady is agonizing indeed, but not much more so than that of our representative as he ate with Alajálov that night. Our man was on a diet, and Alajálov is one of those slim people who can eat their way through the richest dishes on a menu without ever gaining a pound.”

Considering how brilliant and lighthearted Alajálov’s covers are, you may find it hard to believe that the illustrator began as a government artist, painting huge propaganda portraits and posters during the Russian Revolution. By age 21, he had made his way to Constantinople—at the time a refugee haven—where he sketched portraits in bars and created murals for nightclubs, managing to save enough money to pay his way to America in 1923. In New York, he was still painting murals, until he landed his first New Yorker cover and shortly after the first of many for the Post.

“Practice Proposal” by Frederic Stanley

It all begins here. Artist Frederic Stanley (1892-1967) was great with facial expressions. Nice detail on the floral chair upon which sits a photo of his beloved and the ring at the ready. Like Rockwell, Frederic Stanley used locals for his models: Vermont clerks, housewives, schoolchildren. Between 1921 and 1935, Stanley illustrated 17 Post covers. The “Practice Proposal” is from 1927.

“Icing the Wedding Cake” by Stevan Dohanos

If you’re studied the art of Stevan Dohanos, you know he was all about realism. For this 1945 cover, he enlisted the help of a baker in Westport, Connecticut, one Mr. Gus Volkening. The star baker produced this ornate delicacy for our artist to paint. What does an artist do with such a prop once the painting is complete? Well, normally, he would just eat it, but this was just too lavish. So Dohanos called the marriage license bureau and found that a certain Private Stall was due to wed his sweetheart, Lucia, so the happy couple was even happier to receive a wedding cake so beautiful it appeared on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post.

“Wedding March” by Norman Rockwell

One of Norman Rockwell’s most ubiquitous models, James K. Van Brundt makes a charming organist in this 1928 cover. “The day he showed up at my studio,” said the artist, “was one of the luckiest days of my life. ’James K. Van Brunt, sir,’ he said saluting me and bowing all at once. ‘Five feet two inches tall, sir. The exact height of Napoleon Bonaparte.’” Rockwell adored that mustache. “Eight full inches wide from tip to tip,” the little man boasted. “The ladies, Sir, Make much of it.” Rockwell painted him as a hobo, a colonial sign painter, a sentimental cowboy listening to old records and even as gossiping old maids.

“Patient Groom” by E.M. Jackson

It’s nice to see the emphasis on the handsome groom in this 1928 cover by E.M. Jackson. Jackson’s nearly 50 Saturday Evening Post covers showed influences from prominent artists of the time. Some of his work was very much like that of Norman Rockwell, and several of his covers, like our groom here, resembled the lavish and elegant detail of J.C. Leyendecker.

“There Goes the Bride” by Alan Foster

Of the dozens of covers depicting weddings, this has to be the most unusual. The focus is on the delighted faces of the guests. The bride, except for a bit of her train, is left to the imagination of the viewer, but from the expressions of the observers here, she must be beautiful indeed. And what of the groom? We see only a shoe with spat, and a bit of striped pants leg.

The artist, Alan Foster, did over 30 light-hearted Post covers, several of which we will see in an upcoming feature, “The Fun Covers of Alan Foster.”

“Wedding Reception” by Ben Kimberly Prins

One can only imagine the work that went into an illustration like this by Holland-born artist Ben Prins (1902-1980). The locale was a Vermont country club, and the guests were “borrowed” from a local wedding. All were happy to cooperate with the artist, and by the time this cover appeared on newsstands, the bride and groom were back to real life; he working in a bank and she as an assistant librarian.

Alas, this is one of the last covers painted by our wonderful stable of illustrators, as photographs of everyone from models to world leaders took over in the 60s.

No Desserts by Constantin Alajalov

Probably the number one New Year’s resolution is to lose weight. That’s what this lady is working on and she’s obviously none too happy about it. This is from 1948, but we’ll tell you something, lady: dieting in 2011 is no more fun – and with all our pills, online programs and progress – no easier.

Reduce to Music by Frederick Stanley

This gentleman from 1924 is taking up an exercise program. It looks like early aerobics, before the days of “The Biggest Loser” and celebrity spokespeople looking svelte after losing weight due to the Brand “X” weight-loss program. With no such inspiration to spur him on, he’s trying it the roaring twenties way.

Saving for War Bonds by Preston Duncan

Resolution #2: I will save more money this year. Saving money is always a big New Year’s resolution. This is a photographic cover, rather than an artist illustration, which was rare for the 1940’s. But everyone was being encouraged to buy bonds for the war effort and this handsome young man was doing his part. We’ve really become soft…our goal now is to cut down on a few overpriced lattes.

Mom’s Helper by Norman Rockwell

Resolution #3: I will read more. I will improve my mind! This 1921 cover by Norman Rockwell shows a young man with two resolutions: to help mom with the chores and to be well-read. Actually, peeling potatoes was probably mom’s idea. Combining the tasks, however, is not safe, as the bandaged thumb indicates. Sometimes a good story is hard to put down. But, dude, when the chore involves a knife…

Fall Gab Session by Constantin Alajalov

Resolved: I will not gossip. Did you see the way that Smith boy and that Jones girl were looking at each other? Why, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were wedding bells ahead. This is strictly confidential, of course.

After Dinner Dishes by Stevan Dohanos

I will keep the house looking like something out of a magazine. Only not this magazine. What is more discouraging than a pile of dirty dishes? We’ll tell you what – a pile of dirty dishes and a husband who thinks it’s his time to relax with the papers. The editors thoughtfully suggested she close the door while she’s cleaning up so as not to disturb him. This was said tongue-in-cheek. We think.

Sleeping at Opera by Charles A. MacLellan

Last, but not least: I resolve to get more rest. This is a noble goal, since experts tell us that most Americans don’t get enough sleep. But perhaps not at the theater, mister. Wives are known to have sharp elbows. It doesn’t look as if the glaring technique is going to work. This cover is from 1923.