Hannes Bok, pseudonym for Wayne Francis Woodard (, ; July 2, 1914 – April 11, 1964), was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

artist and illustrator, as well as an amateur astrologer and writer of fantasy fiction and poetry. He painted nearly 150 covers for various science fiction, fantasy, and detective fiction magazines, as well as contributing hundreds of black and white interior illustrations. Bok's work graced the pages of calendars and early fanzines, as well as dust jackets from specialty book publishers like

Arkham House Arkham House is an American publishing house specializing in weird fiction. It was founded in Sauk City, Wisconsin, in 1939 by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei to publish hardcover collections of H. P. Lovecraft's best works, which had pr ...

, Llewellyn,

Shasta Publishers Shasta Publishers was a science fiction and fantasy small press specialty publishing house founded in 1947 by Erle Melvin Korshak, T. E. Dikty, and Mark Reinsberg, who were all science fiction fans from the Chicago area. The name of the press was ...

, and

Fantasy Press Fantasy Press was an American publishing house specialising in fantasy and science fiction titles. Established in 1946 by Lloyd Arthur Eshbach in Reading, Pennsylvania, it was most notable for publishing the works of authors such as Robert A. He ...

. His paintings achieved a luminous quality through the use of an arduous glazing process, which was learned from his mentor,

Maxfield Parrish Maxfield Parrish (July 25, 1870 – March 30, 1966) was an American painter and illustration, illustrator active in the first half of the 20th century. He is known for his distinctive saturated hues and idealized neo-classical imagery. His ...

. Bok shared one of the inaugural 1953

Hugo Awards The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier a ...

for science fiction achievement (best Cover Artist).

Life and career

Wayne Woodard (the name is sometimes mistakenly rendered as "Woodward") was born in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

. His parents divorced when he was five; and his father and stepmother, strict disciplinarians, discouraged his artistic efforts. Once he graduated high school, in

Duluth, Minnesota , settlement_type = City , nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City , motto = , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...

, Bok cut off contact with his father and moved to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

to live with his mother. There he became active in SF fandom, including the publication and illustration of fanzines. It was in connection with these activities that he originated his pseudonym, first "Hans", then "Hannes", Bok. The pseudonym derives from

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

(whose name can be rendered both as "Johann S. Bach" and "Johannes Bach"). Pickman's Model

In 1937, Bok moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, where he met

Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and r ...

. In 1938, he relocated to Seattle – where he worked for the W.P.A. and became acquainted with artists like

Mark Tobey Mark George Tobey (December 11, 1890 – April 24, 1976) was an American painter. His densely structured compositions, inspired by Asian calligraphy, resemble Abstract expressionism, although the motives for his compositions differ philosophi ...

and

Morris Graves Morris Graves (August 28, 1910 – May 5, 2001) was an American painter. He was one of the earliest Modern artists from the Pacific Northwest to achieve national and international acclaim. His style, referred to by some reviewers as Mysticism, ...

. Late in 1939, Bok moved to New York City in order to be closer to the editors and magazines which would publish his work, and where he became a member of the influential

Futurians The Futurians were a group of science fiction (SF) fans, many of whom became editors and writers as well. The Futurians were based in New York City and were a major force in the development of science fiction writing and science fiction fandom i ...

science fiction fans."Hannes Bok: Futurian Artist in Chief"

Frederik Pohl Frederik George Pohl Jr. (; November 26, 1919 – September 2, 2013) was an American science-fiction writer, editor, and fan, with a career spanning nearly 75 years—from his first published work, the 1937 poem "Elegy to a Dead Satelli ...

. ''The Way the Future Blogs''. Retrieved April 11, 2013. Bok had corresponded with and had met

(ca. 1939?), and the influence of Parrish's art on Bok's is evident in his choice of subject matter, use of color, and application of glazes. Bok was gay, according to his friends

Forrest J Ackerman Forrest James Ackerman (November 24, 1916 – December 4, 2008) was an American magazine editor; science fiction authors, science fiction writer and literary agent; a founder of science fiction fandom; a leading expert on science fiction, horror ...

and

Emil Petaja Emil Petaja (12 April 1915 – 17 August 2000) was an American science fiction and fantasy writer whose career spanned seven decades. He was the author of 13 published novels, nearly 150 short stories, numerous poems, and a handful of books and ...

. The erotic fantasy elements of his artwork, especially his male nude subjects, display homoerotic overtones unusual for the time. The opening chapters of his novel ''Beyond the Golden Stair'' hint at a sexual relationship between two prison inmates, the hero John Hibbert and the gangster Frank Scarlatti. Like his contemporary

Virgil Finlay Virgil Finlay (July 23, 1914 – January 18, 1971) was an American pulp fantasy, science fiction and horror illustrator. He has been called "part of the pulp magazine history ... one of the foremost contributors of original and imagi ...

, Hannes Bok broke into commercial art and achieved initial career success as a ''Weird Tales'' artist – though he did so through one of the stranger events in the history of science fiction and fantasy. In the summer of 1939,

carried samples of Bok's art eastward to introduce his friend's work to magazine editors at the first World Science Fiction Convention. This was a bold move, since Bradbury was a neophyte with no connections to commercial art or the magazine industry; but it reflects the close ties within the fan and professional community. Bradbury was, at the time, a 19-year-old newspaper seller, and he borrowed funds for the trip from fellow science fiction fan

. Bradbury succeeded;

Farnsworth Wright Farnsworth Wright (July 29, 1888 – June 12, 1940) was the editor of the pulp magazine ''Weird Tales'' during the magazine's heyday, editing 179 issues from November 1924 to March 1940. Jack Williamson called Wright "the first great fantasy ...

, editor of ''

Weird Tales ''Weird Tales'' is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine founded by J. C. Henneberger and J. M. Lansinger in late 1922. The first issue, dated March 1923, appeared on newsstands February 18. The first editor, Edwin Baird, prin ...

'', accepted Bok's art, which debuted in the December 1939 issue of ''Weird Tales''. More than 50 issues of the magazine featured Bok's pen-and-ink work until March 1954. Bok also executed six color covers for ''Weird Tales'' between March 1940 and March 1942. ''Weird Tales'' also published five of Bok's stories and two of his poems between 1942 and 1951. Once he broke through into professional publications, Bok moved to New York City and lived there the rest of his life. Throughout his life, Bok was deeply interested in astrology, as well as in the music of the Finnish composer

Jean Sibelius Jean Sibelius ( ; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and 20th-century classical music, early-modern periods. He is widely regarded as his country's greatest com ...

, with whom Bok had a correspondence. (Bok's copy of Karl Ekman's ''Jean Sibelius: His Life and Personality'' nopf, 1938 for example, is annotated with Bok's comments and astrological charts.) As the years passed, Bok became prone to disagreements with editors over money and artistic issues; he grew reclusive and mystical, and preoccupied with the occult. He eked out a living, often in near poverty, until his death in 1964. He died, apparently of a heart attack (he "starved to death" according to Ackerman), at the age of 49."Hannes Bok, Part 2: The story with the unhappy ending"
Frederik Pohl. ''The Way the Future Blogs''. Retrieved April 11, 2013. ISFDB catalogs only a few 1956 interior illustrations after March 1954, his last for ''Weird Tales'', and only two cover illustrations after January 1957. (ISFDB). Retrieved April 11, 2013.

Awards

* Hugo Award for Best Cover Artist, 1953

Novels and novellas

* ''Starstone World'' (novella), ''

Science Fiction Quarterly ''Science Fiction Quarterly'' was an American pulp science fiction magazine that was published from 1940 to 1943 and again from 1951 to 1958. Charles Hornig served as editor for the first two issues; Robert A. W. Lowndes edited the remainder. ...

'', Summer 1942; reprinted in ''The Fantastic Fiction of Hannes Bok'', American Fantasy Press, 2020. * ''

The Sorcerer's Ship ''The Sorcerer's Ship'' is a fantasy novel by Hannes Bok. It was first published in the December 1942 issue of the magazine ''Unknown'', and was first published in book form in paperback by Ballantine Books as the ninth volume of the Ballantine Ad ...

'', complete novel in the magazine ''Unknown'', December 1942; reprinted as a

Ballantine Adult Fantasy series The Ballantine Adult Fantasy series was an imprint of American publisher Ballantine Books. Launched in 1969 (presumably in response to the growing popularity of Tolkien's works), the series reissued a number of works of fantasy literature which ...

paperback, 1969; reprinted in ''The Fantastic Fiction of Hannes Bok'', American Fantasy Press, 2020. *''The Fox Woman and The Blue Pagoda'' (posthumous completion of the novel ''The Fox Woman'' by A. Merritt; also illustrated by Bok), New Collectors Group, 1946. *''The Black Wheel'' (posthumous completion of a novel by A. Merritt; also illustrated by Bok), New Collectors Group, 1947. *''Beyond the Golden Stair'' (longer version of the novella ''The Blue Flamingo'' in the magazine ''

Startling Stories ''Startling Stories'' was an American pulp science fiction magazine, published from 1939 to 1955 by publisher Ned Pines' Standard Magazines. It was initially edited by Mort Weisinger, who was also the editor of ''Thrilling Wonder Stories'', S ...

'', January 1948),

paperback, 1969; reprinted in ''The Fantastic Fiction of Hannes Bok'', American Fantasy Press, 2020.

References

External links

* * * includes an extensive bibliography
Hannes Bok
gallery at American Art Archives {{DEFAULTSORT:Bok, Hannes 1914 births 1964 deaths 20th-century astrologers 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American novelists American astrologers American fantasy writers American illustrators American male novelists American science fiction writers American speculative fiction artists Futurians Hugo Award-winning artists Science fiction artists Science fiction fans Pulp fiction artists

Life and career

Awards

Novels and novellas

See also

References

External links