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Original Art from the Grand Age of American Illustration

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Sorry, It's Sold

How To Hypnotize

Artist:Virgil Finlay
Date:1954
Medium:Oil on canvas board
Dimensions:Sight Size 8" X 11 1/2" Framed 13" X 16 1/2"
Condition:Excellent
Original Use:Cover for Fate Magazine - July, 1954
Price: Sold
Full view
The artist’s signature middle right
July 1954, Fate Magazine – (Included in sale)

This dazzling and otherworldly painting by Virgil Finlay appeared on the cover of the July 1954 issue of Fate magazine, a special issue solely focused on the powers of Hypnotism. A scarce original pulp cover illustration from this long running title, this was for many years part of the storied collection of Robert Weinberg.
Work is nicely matted and framed and in a pristine state of original preservation, comes with a vintage copy of Fate magazine.

Framed and matted view under museum glass

 

A biography of the artist via Wikipedia:

Virgil Finlay (July 23, 1914—January 18, 1971) was a pulp fantasy, science fiction and horror illustrator. While he worked in a range of media, from gouache to oils, Finlay specialized in, and became famous for beautifully detailed pen-and-ink drawings accomplished with abundant stippling, cross-hatching, and scratchboard techniques. Despite the very labor-intensive and time-consuming nature of his specialty, Finlay created more than 2600 works of graphic art in his 35-year career.

Virgil Warden Finlay was born and raised in Rochester, New York; his father, woodworker Warden Hugh Finlay, died at age 40 in the midst of the Great Depression, leaving his family (widow Ruth and two children, Jean and Virgil) in straitened circumstances. By his high school years, Virgil Finlay exercised his passions for art and poetry, and discovered his lifelong subject matter through the pulp magazines of the era–science fiction, via Amazing Stories (1927), and fantasy and horror, via Weird Tales (1928). By age 21 he was confident enough in his art to send six pieces, unsolicited, to editor Farnsworth Wright at Weird Tales. Once Wright determined that such detailed work would transfer successfully to relatively rough paper the magazine used (they were called “pulps” for a reason), he began buying Finlay’s work. Finlay’s illustrations debuted in the December 1935 issue of WT, and appeared in a total of 62 issues of the magazine, down to the last issue of the classic pulp in Sept. 1954. He also executed 19 color covers for WT, for issues from Feb. 1937 to March 1953.

Finlay quickly branched out to other publications after his 1935 debut; he was an immediate hit. In 1938 he went to work for A. Merritt at The American Weekly, moving from Rochester to New York City. Later the same year, he married Beverly Stiles, whom he had known in childhood in Rochester (Nov. 16, 1938). His adjustment to the city and to his new job was not smooth, however; he was fired and re-hired more than once. Yet during his period on the magazine’s staff (1938-43), and later as a freelancer (1946-51), Finlay estimated that he did 845 different images, large and small, for Merritt’s magazine.

Finlay served in the U.S. Army during World War II, and saw extensive combat in the South Pacific theatre, notably on Okinawa. He resumed his artistic career after demobilization, doing a considerable amount of work for science fiction magazines and books. As the pulp magazine market narrowed through the 1950s, Finlay turned to astrology magazines as a new venue for his art.

Finlay also wrote poetry throughout his adult life. Virtually none was published in his lifetime, though significant samples have been printed posthumously.

Finlay had to undergo major surgery for cancer in early 1969. He recovered enough to go back to work for a time; but the cancer returned, and Virgil Finlay died of the disease early in 1971, aged 56. Ironically, Finlay just missed a resurgence in interest in his artwork from the early 1970s onward.

How To Hypnotize

Artist: Virgil Finlay
Price:  Sold

Filed Under: Sorry, It's Sold
Tagged With: 1950s, Fate Magazine, Golden Age, Hypnotism, lurid, magazine cover, original cover art, pulp, risque, sci-fi, science fiction, Virgil Finlay
Added to Gallery: February 28, 2017

 

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    About Grapefruit Moon Gallery

    Grapefruit Moon Gallery, based in Minneapolis MN, specializes in vintage pin up and original illustration art.  We are the proud home of the Bunny Yeager archives.

    Since 2003, Grapefruit Moon Gallery has been a leading dealer of exclusive original paintings by Gil Elvgren, Alberto Vargas, Earl Moran, Rolf Armstrong and Henry Clive, as well as vintage photographs, prints, and period decorative arts in ceramic and metal.

    All artworks featured are original, accurately represented, and guaranteed to be the work of the named artist.

    Interested buyers may view pieces by appointment and we are happy to answer any questions you may have. [Contact Us]

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