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Original Art from the Grand Age of American Illustration

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Paperback & Pulp Art

Alien Menace Pulp Cover

Artist:Lawrence Sterne Stevens
Date:1948
Medium:Oil on canvas
Dimensions:Framed 23" x 28", sight size measures 13 1/2" x 18 1/2"
Condition:Excellent
Original Use:Cover art for Fantastic Novels, July 1948
Main image view
Full view of oil on canvas
The images as it appeared on the cover of Fantastic Novels
The images as it appeared on the cover of Fantastic Novels

 This unusual example of a science fiction themed menace pulp illustration by the talented artist Lawrence Sterne Stevens was created as cover art for the July 1948 issue of Fantastic Novels.  Renowned for his grotesque imaginative horror art, and often compared to contemporary Virgil Finlay, Stevens was named after his father–a deeply religious preacher–and signed much of his work simply as Lawrence and some, such as this example, not at all. Stevens did not directly focus on Christian symbolism within his work, but the deftness with which he explored taboos and the nature of good and evil attest to an upbringing steeped in the metaphor and imagery of the church.  In this work, which is widely considered one of his best and which even graced the cover of an early pulp fanzine due to its perennial popularity, Stevens shows an alien with lustful eyes menacing a sleeping beauty.  Evoking the supernatural and cultural fears of miscegenation, this is a masterpiece of pulp cover art.

Full framed image view
Full framed view
Canvas view without frame
Oil on canvas before framing
Framed corner view
Framed corner view
Framed view of back
Framed view of back

Alien Menace Pulp Cover

Artist: Lawrence Sterne Stevens

Filed Under: Paperback & Pulp Art, Sorry, It's Sold
Tagged With: damsel in distress, Fantastic Novels, Lawrence Sterne Stevens, menace, original cover art, pulp, sci-fi, The Golden Gallery, Virgil Finlay
Added to Gallery: January 24, 2014

 

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