Norman Rockwell Museum

Marooned by Howard Pyle

The Rockwell Museum is holding a show of Howard Pyle's illustrations.  Pyle was in illustrator and children's book author during the fin de siecle.  Rockwell studied and admired his works.  Pyle was also N.C. Wyeth's teacher.  You can see the influence on Wyeth in the above painting.  Pyle's work is extremely varied.  He was a true illustrator in the sense that his color, composition, style would adapt to the time and intent of the story.  Strictly considering the works divorced from the story, his pieces done in a Pre-Raphaelite style were strongest.  The color popped.  To bring home the point of his eclectic style, the museum hung works by other artists that Pyle observed and mimicked.  The best of these was an Audrey Beardsley and The Great Wave of Kanagawa by Hokusai, a work I had previously seen only in reproduction. For a comprehensive look at Pyle, visit Ian Shoenherr's blog.