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.
Biography from Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC
This is part 3 of a 7-part series on the works of Edward Penfield:
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1897 Harper's Magazine Poster February 1897 colour lithograph 48.3 x 35.5 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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1897 Harper's Magazine Poster March 1897 colour lithograph 35.5 x 48.2 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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1897 Harper's Magazine Poster April 1897 colour lithograph 46.6 x 32.7 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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1897 Harper's Magazine Poster May 1897 colour lithograph 467.1 x 33.7 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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1897 Harper's Magazine Poster June 1897 colour lithograph 36.4 x 47.6 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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1897 Harper's Magazine Poster July 1897 colour lithograph 35.6 x 48.7 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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1897 Harper's Magazine Poster August 1897 colour lithograph 47.2 x 33.8 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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1897 Harper's Magazine Poster September 1897 colour lithograph 33.6 x 46.8 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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1897 Harper's Magazine Poster October 1897 colour lithograph 49.3 x 35.9 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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1897 Harper's Magazine Poster November 1897 colour lithograph 36.2 x 49.4 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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1897 Harper's Magazine Poster December 1897 colour lithograph 47.8 x 33.5 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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1897 English Society published by Harper and Brothers, New York lithograph 50.3 x 31.7 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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1897 Poster Calendar ( with Self-Portrait) for R.H. Russell & Son, New York colour lithograph 44.1 x 30.6 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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1897 Poster Calendar for January, February, March 1897 colour lithograph 35.4 x 25.6 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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1897 Poster Calendar for January, February, March 1897 version 2 colour lithograph 35.4 x 25.6 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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1897 Poster Calendar April, May, June colour lithograph 35.6 x 27 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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1897 Poster Calendar April, May, June version 2 colour lithograph 35.6 x 25.8 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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1897 Poster Calendar for July, August, September commercial relief process and colour lithograph 35.7 x 25.8 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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1897 Poster Calendar for October, November, December 1897 commercial relief process and colour lithograph 35.5 x 25.8 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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1897 Poster Calendar for October, November, December 1897 version 2 commercial relief process and colour lithograph 35.5 x 25.8 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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1897 The Christmas Scribner's Poster colour lithograph 5 6 x 35 cm Digital Commonwealth Massachusetts Collections Online, Boston Public Library, MA |
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1897 The Martian by DV Mavrier colour lithograph 52 x 32.7 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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1898 Harper's Magazine Poster January 1898 colour lithograph 48 x 35.6 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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1898 Harper's Magazine Poster February 1898 colour lithograph 48.6 x 33.6 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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1898 Harper's Magazine Poster March 1898 colour lithograph 39 x 31 cm Library of Congress, Washington, DC |
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1898 Harper's Magazine Poster April 1898 colour lithograph 40.9 x 24.4 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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1898 Harper's Magazine Poster May 1898 colour lithograph 41 x 24.3 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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1898 Harper's Magazine Poster June 1898 colour lithograph 24 x 41 cm |
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1898 Harper's Magazine Poster July 1898 colour lithograph 23.6 x 37.5 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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1898 Harper's Magazine Poster August colour lithograph 32.7 x 26.5 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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1898 Harper's Magazine Poster September colour lithograph 34.7 x 30.5 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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1898 Harper's Magazine Poster October 1898 colour lithograph 43 x 30 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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1898 Harper's Magazine Poster November 1898 colour lithograph 29.2 x 47.3 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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1898 Harpers Weekly December 1898 colour lithograph 39.7 x 28.7 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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1898 Ayer's Cherry Pectoral Poster colour metal relief 40.2 x 28.3 cm Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA |
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1898 Bismarck: The Man and the Statesman colour lithograph 46 x 26 cm Library of Congress, Washington, DC |
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1898 Golf Calendar published by R.H. Russell colour photogravure 41 x 28.6 cm Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Spain |
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1898 Golf Calendar January |
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1898 Golf Calendar February |
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1898 Golf Calendar March, April |
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1898 Golf Calendar May |
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1898 Golf Calendar June, July |
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1898 Golf Calendar August |
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1898 Golf Calendar September |
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1898 Golf Calendar November, December |
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1898-99 Golf Calendar watercolour Library of Congress, Washington, DC |
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1899 Harper's Magazine Poster January 1899 colour lithograph 29.3 x 49.3 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |