Edward Penfield received his training at the Art Students League in New York City. He went on to become the art director at Harper's magazine and also designed a series of monthly posters for Harper's that won enormous critical acclaim. By the turn of the century, Penfield's reputation as an important graphic designer was assured.
Penfield took full advantage of recent improvements in colour printing to create works that were effective vehicles of communication and also aesthetically engaging. Less concerned with the dramatic curving lines of Art Nouveau than his contemporary Will Bradley, Penfield synthesised a number of stylistic sources in his work, including Japanese prints and those of French artists such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Jules Chéret.
After leaving Harper's in 1901, Penfield continued to be extremely active in both design and illustration. In addition to posters for other magazines including Scribner's and
Collier's, he executed illustrations and covers for many books and generated designs for numerous commercial concerns. Together with Will Bradley, Penfield was instrumental in creating the rich fabric of American graphic design work in the 1890s.
Collier's, he executed illustrations and covers for many books and generated designs for numerous commercial concerns. Together with Will Bradley, Penfield was instrumental in creating the rich fabric of American graphic design work in the 1890s.
Biography from Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC
This is part 2 of a 7-part series on the works of Edward Penfield:
 |
| 1894 Harper's Weekly Christmas 1894 colour lithograph poster 40.8 x 29 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 |
| 1894 A Little Journey into the World colour lithograph 19 x 29 cm Library of Congress, Washington, DC |
 |
| 1894 Cadet Days by Capt. Charles King U.S.A. |
 |
| 1894 Harper's Weekly Midsummer Number lithograph 41.5 x 28.8 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 |
| 1894 Our English Cousins published by Harper & Brothers, New York commercial relief process 37.9 x 45.3 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 |
| 1894 Pastime Stories commercial relief process 41 x 29.2 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 |
| 1894 Perly-Cross a novel by R.D. Blackmore colour lithograph 36 x 33 cm Library of Congress, Washington, DC |
 |
| 1894 The Fur-Seal's Tooth by Kirk Monroe colour lithograph 47.4 x 34.p cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 |
| 1894 Vignettes of Manhattan by Brander Matthews colour lithograph 42.4 x 29.2 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 |
| 1895 Harper's Magazine Poster for January 1865 colour lithograph 45.7 x 32.6 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 |
| 1895 Harper's Magazine Poster for February 1895 colour lithograph 46.7 x 32.9 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 |
| 1895 Harper's Magazine Poster for March 1895 colour lithograph 48.9 x 35.1 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 |
| 1895 Harper's Magazine Poster for April 1895 colour lithograph 45.4 x 32.3 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 |
| 1895 Harper's Magazine Poster May 1895 colour lithograph 42.7 x 34 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 |
| 1895 Harper's Magazine Poster June 1895 colour lithograph 47.2 x 32.6 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 |
| 1895 Harper's Magazine Poster July 1895 colour lithograph 55.1 x 36 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 |
| 1895 Harper's Magazine Poster August 1895 colour lithograph 47.4 x 30.4 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 |
| 1895 Harper's Magazine Poster September 1895 colour lithograph 43.2 x 23.7 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 |
| 1895 Harper's Magazine Poster October 1895 colour lithograph 38.1 x 28.5 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 |
| 1895 Harper's Magazine Poster November 1895 colour lithograph 41.4 x 29.8 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 |
| 1895 Harper's Magazine Poster Christmas 1895 colour lithograph 64.8 x 51.5 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 |
| 1895 About Paris Poster for a Novel by Richard Harding Davis colour lithograph 37.8 x 24.6 cm |
 |
| 1895 Bicycle Road Maps colour poster 47 x 34 cm Library of Congress, Washington, DC |
 |
| 1895 Harper's Magazine Poster colour lithograph 46.2 x 29.1 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 |
| 1895 People We Pass colour lithograph poster 39 x 29 cm Digital Commonwealth Massachusetts Collections Online, Boston Public Library, MA |
 |
| 1895 Pony Tracks by Frederic Remington colour lithograph 34.3 x 24.7 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 |
| 1895 Ætna Dynmite (Ætna Powder Company) colour lithograph 47.8 x 36 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 |
| 1895-96c Orient Cycles: Lead the Leaders colour lithograph poster 106.8 x 71.4 cm |
 |
| 1896 Harper's Magazine January 1896 colour lithograph poster 43.8 x 28.7 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 |
| 1896 Harper's Magazine February 1896 colour lithograph poster 50 x 27.6 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 |
| 1896 Harper's Magazine for March 1896 colour lithograph poster 39.7 x 31.7 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 |
| 1896 Harper's Magazine for March 1896 colour lithograph poster 46.8 x 27.9 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 |
| 1896 Harper's Magazine for April 1896 colour lithograph poster 45.5 x 34 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 |
| 1896 Harper's Magazine for May 1896 colour lithograph poster 45.1 x 30.2 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 |
| 1896 Harper's Magazine for June 1896 colour lithograph poster 47.8 x 34.9 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 |
| 1896 Harper's Magazine for July 1896 colour lithograph poster 47.4 x 35.8 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 |
| 1896 Harper's Magazine for August 1896 colour lithograph poster 47.3 x 34.7 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 |
| 1896 Harper's Magazine for September 1896 colour lithograph poster 34.7 x 46.2 The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 |
| 1896 Harper's Magazine for October 1896 colour lithograph poster 46.4 c 35.1 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 |
| 1896 Harper's Magazine for November 1896 colour lithograph poster 45.8 x 24.4 cm |
 |
| 1896 Harper's Magazine for Christmas 1896 colour lithograph poster 43.9 x 32.8 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 |
| 1896 On Snow Shoes to the Barren Grounds colour lithograph poster 44 x 28 cm Library of Congress, Washington, DC |
 |
| 1896 Ride a Stearns and be content colour lithograph poster 141.6 x 107.5 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 |
| 1896 The Century Magazine for July 1896 colour lithograph poster 54 x 41 cm Digital Commonwealth Massachusetts Collections Online, Boston Public Library, MA |
 |
| 1896 Three Gringos in Central America and Venezuela by Richard Harding Davis commercial relief process 44.3 x 29.4 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 |
| 1896 Western Lawn Tennis Tournament colour lithograph poster 71.1 x 48.9 cm |
 |
| 1896 Ye Colonial Tea colour lithograph 24 x 11 cm Library of Congress, Washington, DC |
 |
| 1897 Harper's Magazine for January 1897 colour lithograph and letterpress poster 46.5 x 34.4 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |