Friday, June 18, 2010

A Bolles Out of the Blue!

Do you feel this way? Does your heart start thumping when you read a story about someone uncovering a trove of old nitrite silent films in an attic, or discovering a new species of butterfly in the rain forest? To me these sorts of events are antidotes to the feeling that there truly is nothing new under the sun. Every now and again something unexpected turns up that surprises us and renews our curiosity. Well today's post is one of these events. It's been quite a stretch since the last time I've come across what for me is a "new" Bolles cover, and longer yet when his work pops up on a magazine I'd not expected him to have any connection to.

But here's a Bolles cover to Leslie's Illustrated Weekly, a sort of precursor to Time and Life (the 1930's iteration). It was part of the Leslie-Judge publishing company but I had never considered that Bolles would have done any covers for it. There's more, this issue appeared in 1914, and unless I'm missing other examples it is only the third magazine cover illustration magazine cover Bolles had done at that point. The cover was printed in only two or three colors, was intended to be photo-real. It's an incredible departure for Bolles, both in the topic and style in which it was done. I ran across it totally by accident, Bolles name was misspelled in the cover credit as Enoch Bowles. If perhaps you aren't yet convinced it is our Bolles and I can understand that given how different it looks, check out the EB initials in lower left corner. They are composed in exactly the style Bolles so often used in the mid-1920s. So let's hope there are more of these Bolles out of the blue show up, sooner rather than later.

6 comments:

drizzz said...

Actually, this depicts the delivery of the latest issue of Film Fun to the front.

Jack R said...

Hah, I bet you're right!!

Gary Underwood said...

A great discovery Jack!!!, This is a total departure in both style and subject matter. Did you get the magazine or just the scan?

Jack R said...

Hi Gary,
I did manage to purchase the magazine and was really surprised with just how large the format is. It's over 13" by 17". Believe me, I'll be on the lookout for more.

Alan Wrobel said...

I see that Norman Rockwell did a nice cover for Leslie's on the Dec 22, 1917 issue (see www.philsp.com) I wonder if Rockwell and Enoch had any contact with each other.

Jack R said...

Hi Alan,
It is possible, Bolles and Rockwell also did covers for Judge about this time, as did Flagg. For as lousy and Judge paid their artists (when they even bothered) they sure managed to pull in some talent. Sorry I haven't put anything new up but I've been away for a while and will get back to posting soon.