Cover Gallery: Happy Father’s Day!

We’re celebrating dads and everything they teach us.

This father and daughter duo was painted by the Post’s most famous artist, Norman Rockwell. With their matching strides, these two are ready for their Spring walk.

 

This 1933 cover was done by Post artist Douglas Crockwell. If the name didn’t confuse readers, this cover certainly did. Many people thought it was a Rockwell because of its close attention to detail, like the mother’s patterned dress.

 

This cover was painted by Eugene Iverd. Iverd typically painted children or boys at play, like this father and son ready to go canoeing. He also painted landscapes, which he signed with his birth name, George Erickson.

 

These father and son sailors are the subjects of Charles Dye’s only cover for the Saturday Evening Post.

 

These two ranchers fit in perfectly with Fred Ludekens’ other Post covers. Horses were typically a major theme in his cover art, as well as people hard at work.

 

“That your baby you’re drawing?” a spectator asked artist Constantin Alajalov. “Yes,” said Alajalov, in a nice mixture of pride and modesty. He sketched another. “That one, too?” the onlooker asked in surprise. “Yes,” said Alajalov, and sketched in a third. The spectator wouldn’t ask about that one, and when the artist began sketching the fourth, the onlooker left.

 

Amos Sewell has set this theme for his first Post cover at the Shelter, a refuge for homeless dogs conducted in Jamaica. Long Island, by the S.P.C.A. After Sewell had finished sketching and photographing detailshe found himself thinking awfully hard about one particular dog in the ”for-adoption” pen. But he resolutely pulled himself together and went back home alone-to the four Sewell cats.

 

Sewell’s theory about this pleasant scene is that Shorty was adopted, not purchased, his previous home probably having been one of the SPCA’s shelters for homeless dogs. Shorty will hereafter have two homes, the big house where his favorite human beings live, and his own house, where he can retire when he wishes to be quite alone for unhindered rest or meditation.

 

While dad bares his lily-white flesh, little does he dream that presently a sun shower will invigorate him.

 

George Hughes painted this pre-New-Year party scene, where even the little one can participate in the celebration.

Happy Halloween!

Long before the Great Pumpkin, Scream Queens, or Marvel Universe costumes, The Saturday Evening Post cover artists were entertaining Americans with the spooky, ghoulish, and adorable tricks and treats of Halloween.

Witches’ Night Out—Eugene Iverd
Duck and cover, trick-or-treaters. This coven flies with an arsenal of bats and jack-o’-lantern-bearing ghouls.

Lighting the Pumpkin—Eugene Iverd
This classic cover captures the joy stemming from the first pumpkin lighting. Our only concern? The flammability of his costume.

Witch’s Mask—Charles Kaiser
“Boo!” No one would ever guess there’s a curly-haired, doe-eyed girl behind the mask.

Witches’ Night Out—J.C. Leyendecker
No need to fear this warty witch—looks like the chilly October air may put an end to her Halloween plans.

Jester with Pumpkin—E.M. Jackson
A jack-o’-lantern fit for a king—served only on the finest silver platter, of course.

Pumpkin in Wheelbarrow—J.C. Leyendecker
Bringing home the biggest pumpkin seems like a good idea, but the work of slugging it home might prove too much for this orange-cheeked young man.

Trick-or-Treat—Ellen Pyle
The young lady on this Ellen Pyle cover can’t help but wonder why these two are always clownin’ around.

Tricking Trick-or-Treat—Amos Sewell
There’s always one neighbor who emphasizes the trick in trick-or-treating.

Trick-or-Treating in the Burbs—John Falter
Halloween lesson no. 1: A bathrobe, baggy sport coat, or pillowcase is suitable costume wear when coupled with a homemade mask.

Eugene Iverd

The artist born George Melvin Erickson on January 31, 1883, in St. Paul Minnesota to parents John and Matilda Erickson, painted Post covers under the “brush” name Eugene Iverd.

The story goes that George Erickson told his brother, Carl, that he was going to become a famous artist one day, and when this happened he would make the name Eugene Iverd famous. Iverd was Carl’s middle name, which Carl disliked. And to make his brother feel better, George would take Carl’s middle name and add it to another friend’s name, Eugene — another unpopular name according to Carl. George would put them together to create his new alter-ego, Eugene Iverd.

He signed all of his commissioned artwork Eugene Iverd as a kind of pen (or brush) name. But there are several landscape paintings he signed with his own name, George Ericson — he often left out the “k” because he liked the look of that spelling better.

Covers by Eugene Iverd

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Purchase prints of Eugene Iverd’s work at Art.com.

Unlike most prolific magazine illustrators of his time, George Erickson did not live on the East Coast. He grew up in Minnesota, and at an early age he began to show signs of artistic talent. Although not much of an academic, his art could be found on everything from kindling to hymnals.

His mother supported him, but his father felt that art was a frivolous pursuit that would not take him far. George and his brother came up with creative jobs to support his schooling, such as setting up a concession outside of the local movie theatre. This provided him with the capital to complete his art training.

He enlisted in the Army during World War II, later working at Walter Reed Hospital doing art therapy with shell-shocked veterans. After his war service, George married Lillian Remund and moved to Erie, Pennsylvania, where they built their house which included an art studio.

He was a man of immense personal charm and enormous artistic talent and productivity. In 1926, he submitted his first picture to The Saturday Evening Post. The managing editor paid him a personal visit, telling him that Norman Rockwell was growing older and the magazine was in need of new blood. Iverd submitted four pieces and two were immediately accepted. His first artwork was published on March 13, 1926, a young boy daydreaming while playing the accordion. This began his 10-year run as an artist for The Saturday Evening Post. According to his daughter Jean Ericson Sakumura, he produced 55 magazine covers, some 60 advertisements, 15 published lithographs, 25 story illustrations, and hundreds of portraits or landscapes.

George Erickson became one of the best-known painter/illustrators in the country during the 1920s. Campbell’s Soup Company, Monarch Foods, and The Saturday Evening Post were among his high-profile clients.

His sudden death from pneumonia at the age of 43 was a tragedy. He left his widow with three small children in the height of the Depression.