Edward Penfield

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 7 of a 7-part series on the works of Edward Penfield:

1914 The Hon. H.H. Asquith
ink and watercolour
Library of Congress, Washington, DC

1914-15 The National Weekly
New York Public Library Digital Collection

1914c Woman Removing Jar Lid in Kitchen
pen and ink
Library of Congress, Washington, DC

1915 Collier's Magazine
Visual for January 2, 1915 issue
watercolour
Library of Congress, Washington, DC

1915 Collier's Magazine
January 23 1915
colour lithograph

1915 Collier's Magazine
February 27, 1915
colour lithograph

1915 Collier's Magazine
March 6, 1915 "Algerian Cavalry"
watercolour artwork
Library of Congress, Washington, DC

1915 Collier's Magazine
March 6, 1915 "Algerian Cavalry"
colour lithograph

1915 Collier's Magazine
September 4, 1915 "With The H.E. Guns by Frederick Palmer"
watercolour, gouache and graphite 39 x 31 cm
Library of Congress, Washington, DC

1915 Collier's Magazine
September 4, 1915 "With The H.E. Guns by Frederick Palmer"
colour lithograph

1915 Golfer
watercolour artwork for Collier's October 2, 1915 issue
Library of Congress, Washington, DC

1915 Lloyd George
watercolour
Library of Congress, Washington, DC

1915 Pierce Arrow advertisement artwork
pencil, ink and watercolour
Library of Congress, Washington, DC

1915 Root
watercolour
Library of Congress, Washington, DC

1915 Senator Borah of Idaho
watercolour
Library of Congress, Washington, DC

1915 Senator Burton of Ohio
watercolour
Library of Congress, Washington, DC

1915c Collier's Magazine Visual " Australian Light Horse"
watercolour
Library of Congress, Washington, DC

1915c Submarine Passing the Bow of a Ship
watercolour
Library of Congress, Washington, DC

1916 250th Anniversary Celebration Newark, New Jersey

1916 Collier's Weekly Magazine Poster July 29, 1916
colour lithograph 38 x 28 cm
Digital Commonwealth Massachusetts Collections Online

1916c The 'Glass Bottom' Boat, Catalina Island, CAL.
Advertisement for Hart Schaffner & Marx
colour lithograph 32.8 x 27 cm
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

1917 Airplane, Artillery Gun, and Soldiers
watercolour
Library of Congress, Washington, DC

1917 Collier's Magazine February 10, 1917
"Rumania learns what War is by Arthur Ruhl" artwork
watercolour 47 x 37 cm ( sheet )
Library of Congress, Washington, DC