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 5 of a 7-part series on the works of Edward Penfield:
![]() |
1903 The Saturday Evening Post
September 5, 1903 |
![]() |
1903c Five Men Riding in a Horse Carriage
colour lithograph 20 x 13 cm
Digital Commonwealth Massachusetts Collections Online,
Boston Public Library, MA |
![]() |
1903c Four Men Riding on to of a Carriage
colour lithograph 30 x 25 cm
Digital Commonwealth Massachusetts Collections Online,
Boston Public Library, MA |
![]() |
1904 A Stencilled Calendar for 1904
published by Alfred Bartlett, Boston, MA |
![]() |
1904 A Stencilled Calendar for 1904
published by Alfred Bartlett, Boston, MA |
![]() |
1904 Collier's Magazine April 23, 1904
colour lithograph |
![]() |
1904 Collier's Magazine January 23, 1904
lithograph in two colours |
![]() |
| 1904 The Romance of the Motor Car |
![]() |
1904 The Saturday Evening Post February 27, 1904
lithograph |
![]() |
1905 Automobile Calendar for 1906
colour lithograph
Library of Congress, Washington, DC |
![]() |
1905 Collier's Magazine December 9, 1905 artwork
"Winter Days in Amsterdam"
watercolour and gouache over pencil 50.5 x 34.3 cm
Library of Congress, Washington, DC |
![]() |
1905 Country House Calendar
colour lithograph 41 x 48 cm
Library of Congress, Washington, DC |
![]() |
| 1905 Kodak Cameras advertisement |
![]() |
| 1905 Letter to Paul W. Miller |
![]() |
| 1906 "Breaking up the Line" |
![]() |
1906 Sunday Magazine of the Minneapolis Journal
July 29, 1906 |
![]() |
1906 The Fog Bell
pen and ink and wash
Library of Congress, Washington, DC |
![]() |
1906 The Saturday Evening Post March 10, 1906
lithograph in two colours |
![]() |
| 1906 The Saturday Evening Post May 19, 1906lithograph in two colours |
![]() |
| 1906 The Saturday Evening Post May 26, 1906lithograph in two colours |
![]() |
| 1906 The Saturday Evening Post November 24, 1906lithograph in two colours |
![]() |
1906 Waiting for Wind and Tide
watercolour
Library of Congress, Washington, DC |
![]() |
1906c Big Black Fur Hats, Almost like Drum-Majors
pen and ink
Library of Congress, Washington, DC |
![]() |
1907 Collier's Magazine
artwork watercolour 1905
Library of Congress, Washington, DC |
![]() |
1907 Harper's Round Table Poster
colour lithograph 41 x 27 cm
Library of Congress, Washington, DC |
![]() |
1907 High Adventure by Capt. James Norman Hill
lithograph 41 x 27.1 cm
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
![]() |
1907 Holland Sketches book
published by Charles Scribners Sons, New York |
![]() |
1907 Scribners for October
colour lithograph 60 x 41 cm
Library of Congress, Washington, DC |
![]() |
1907 The Great Arrow
( Pierce-Arrow Motors ) |
![]() |
1907 The Great Arrow
( Pierce-Arrow Motors ) |
![]() |
1907 The Pierce Arrow
( Pierce-Arrow Motors ) |
1906-1911 ScrapbookBrooklyn Museum, New York:
![]() |
1906 Sketch of a Spanish Man
graphite and watercolour on paper 28.7 x 19.5 cm ( sheet )
Brooklyn Museum, New York |
![]() |
1911c Spanish Sketch
graphite and watercolour on paper 20.2 x 27.9 cm
Brooklyn Museum, New York |
![]() |
1911c Spanish Sketch
graphite and watercolour on paper 23.5 x 33.3 cm
Brooklyn Museum, New York |
![]() |
1911c Spanish Sketch
graphite and watercolour on paper 29.2 x 20 cm
Brooklyn Museum, New York |
![]() |
1911c Spanish Sketch
graphite and watercolour on paper 29.2 x 20 cm
Brooklyn Museum, New York |
![]() |
1911c Spanish Sketch
graphite and watercolour on paper 20.3 x 28.1 cm
Brooklyn Museum, New York |
![]() |
1911c Spanish Sketch
graphite and watercolour on paper 29.2 x 19.7 cm |
![]() |
1911c Spanish Sketch
graphite and watercolour on paper 23.5 x 33.3 cm
Brooklyn Museum, New York |
![]() |
1911c Spanish Sketch
graphite and watercolour on paper 23.5 x 38.4 cm
Brooklyn Museum, New York |
![]() |
1911c Spanish Sketch
graphite and watercolour on paper 29.2 x 19.7 cm |
![]() |
1911c Spanish Sketch
graphite and watercolour on paper 35.9 x 23.5 cm
Brooklyn Museum, New York |
c1907-08 Universities posters:
![]() |
1907c Cornell University Rowing Team
colour lithograph 41 x 11 cm
Library of Congress, Washington, DC |
![]() |
1907c Princeton ( University )
colour lithograph 49 x 32 cm
Library of Congress, Washington, DC |
![]() |
1908c Cornell ( University )
chromolithograph poster
Library of Congress, Washington, DC |
![]() |
1908c U of P ( University of Pennsylvania )
colour lithograph
Library of Congress, Washington, DC |
![]() |
1908c University Rowing Crews
colour lithograph
Library of Congress, Washington, DC |
![]() |
1908c Yale ( University )
colour lithograph
Library of Congress, Washington, DC |
