Book/Magazine Covers (All) · Illustration Art · Look Here

Look Here: THE EAGLE AND THE WIND, with frothy cover art by the great unknown

RC

Yep, you guessed it… another book from my paperback collection, freshly scanned and processed:

[CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE]

The artwork on the front and back cover of the Popular Library Eagle Books edition of The Eagle and the Wind (1954) by Herbert E. Stover is uncredited, no signature is visible in the paintings themselves, and I can find no information about the cover online. Nonetheless, I wouldn’t be surprised if the artist turned out to be Rafael De Soto. But I’m no expert. I mainly go by what I see.

BONUS IMAGE (12 May 2013):

As has been pointed out in the comments, Rafael De Soto’s original artwork for The Eagle and the Wind is currently available for purchase via All-Star Auctions. Here’s a link to the auction page. And here’s what the painting looks like framed:

[CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE]

From my comments below:

It’s cool to see an image of the actual painting — comparing the printed version with the framed version, I would say there is a good chance that the board was cut down at the top at some point after the image was published to enhance the composition sans text.

Published by RC

7 thoughts on “Look Here: THE EAGLE AND THE WIND, with frothy cover art by the great unknown”

  2. Thanks for the heads up, Allstar. It’s always instructive to see photos of original artwork. Interesting that the auction page doesn’t list the type of medium or support. It has to be an oil painting. But on what surface — canvas, panel, illustration board, something else — I don’t know…

    And the painting is surprisingly tiny. The auction listing includes the following dimensions: 19.5 x 24 inch gold accent wood frame has 14 x 19.25 inch opening. Which, allowing for a quarter-inch overlap on all sides, would make the painting itself approximately 14.5 x 19.75 inches in size!

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  3. Thank you for checking it out.
    As you can see we are in the initial stages of posting for this auction. We have begun the process of listing some highlights and will add the details as we go. You should consider registering as we will keep you in our database as we are always looking for reliable expertise when it comes to illustration art.

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  4. Just to follow-up. I removed the backing paper and the painting is on EDCO Illustration board. It is oil and the frame overhangs approximately 1/4 inch all around. The painting is fully to the edges of the board. If you do not mind I will add your link to our listing.

    In addition, there is a second painting from the same estate that we have not been able to identify but appears to be by Ray Johnson.

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  5. “Forgive us if this type of post is not permitted and feel free to delete if that is the case.”

    I’ve removed the post, Joe. I’m happy to allow you link to your site in the context of a discussion about illustration art — see your first comment, for instance — but I’m not in the habit of allowing posts that are simply advertisements for people’s businesses.

    But that’s not so bad, because EVERY comment that you have posted here already includes your name “allstar auctions” and a link to your site right at the top — the name IS the link!

    Anyway… thank you very much for the additional information about The Eagle and the Wind. It’s cool to see an image of the actual painting — comparing the printed version with the framed version, I would say there is a good chance that the board was cut down at the top at some point after the image was published to enhance the composition sans text.

    Thanks also for the link to the above post. I definitely appreciate it when other sites give Ragged Claws Network a little positive attention.

    And last but not least, thanks for the invitation for me to register at your site.

    Unfortunately, I think you missed the part where I wrote in my original post that “I’m no expert.”

    It wasn’t false modesty.

    Because despite what you may think, I definitely do not possess “reliable expertise when it comes to illustration art.”

    Or let me put it another way… it’s one thing for someone like me to speculate on the attribution of a painting on his own blog and quite another for that person to speculate on the attribution of a painting for the purposes of selling it at auction.

    I could, for instance, hazard a guess as to the identity of the artist who produced the painting that you’ve tentatively attributed to Ray Johnson, but that’s the problem, it would just be a guess, and if someone bought the painting on the basis of my guess, and it turned out to be incorrect, I’d feel terrible.

    Also, I wouldn’t want to be sued by a disgruntled buyer.

    All of which is to say, while I’m flattered by the attention, I’m not the guy you need to authenticate artwork at a distance.

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  6. No problem. As appraisers we certainly understand. However, there is a big difference between “attributed to” and “by”. This practice has been around for decades if not centuries.

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  7. I do understand all that. (My first degree was a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting and drawing.) Still, I’d rather not get involved. Makes me nervous just thinking about it.

    I’m going to close comments on this post now — since you added the link to the auction page, almost a dozen different people have clicked and visited this page, and I’d prefer not to have to answer any questions they might have (sorry, folks!) — but you are certainly welcome to append on-topic comments to other posts here at RCN. Your comments above have added greatly to my/our appreciation of De Soto’s painting.

    Thanks again, very much, for your interest!

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