Virgil Finlay (July 23, 1914 – January 18, 1971) 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 ...

pulp Pulp may refer to: * Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit Engineering * Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture * Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper * Molded pulp, a packaging material ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

and horror illustrator. He has been called "part of the pulp magazine history ... one of the foremost contributors of original and imaginative art work for the most memorable science fiction and fantasy publications of our time."Collins, Charles M. "Charles Collins Reviews Fables of Heroic Fantasy and Eldritch Horror". ''

Castle of Frankenstein ''Castle of Frankenstein'' was an American horror, science fiction and fantasy film magazine, published between 1962 and 1975 by Calvin Thomas Beck's Gothic Castle Publishing Company, distributed by Kable News. Larry Ivie—who also was cover ...

'' no. 6 964 While he worked in a range of media, from

gouache Gouache (; ), body color, or opaque watercolor is a water-medium paint consisting of natural pigment, water, a binding agent (usually gum arabic or dextrin), and sometimes additional inert material. Gouache is designed to be opaque. Gouache h ...

to oils, Finlay specialized in, and became famous for, detailed pen-and-ink drawings accomplished with abundant

stippling Stippling is the creation of a pattern simulating varying degrees of solidity or shading by using small dots. Such a pattern may occur in nature and these effects are frequently emulated by artists. Art In printmaking, stipple engraving is ...

cross-hatching Hatching (french: hachure) is an artistic technique used to create tonal or shading effects by drawing (or painting or scribing) closely spaced parallel lines. (It is also used in monochromatic representations of heraldry to indicate what t ...

, and

scratchboard Scratchboard (North America and Australia) or scraperboard (Great Britain), is a form of direct engraving where the artist scratches off dark ink to reveal a white or colored layer beneath. Scratchboard refers to both a fine-art medium, and ...

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. The Science Fiction Hall of Fame inducted Finlay in 2012.

Biography

Virgil Warden Finlay was born and raised in

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

; his father, woodworker Warden Hugh Finlay, died at age 40 in the midst of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, leaving his family (widow Ruby and two children, Jean and Virgil) in straitened circumstances. By his high school years, Virgil Finlay was exercising his passions for art and poetry, and discovered his lifelong subject matter in the

pulp magazines Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 to the late 1950s. The term "pulp" derives from the cheap wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed. In contrast, magazine ...

of the era—science fiction in ''

Amazing Stories ''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction. Science fiction stories had made regular appearances i ...

'' (1927), fantasy and horror in ''

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 ...

'' (1928)—and began to exhibit at the age of 16. By age 21 he was confident enough in his art to send six pieces, unsolicited, to editor

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 ...

at ''Weird Tales'', who determined that such detailed work would transfer successfully to relatively rough paper the magazine used (

were so described because of their paper quality). Wright began buying Finlay's work, which debuted with illustrations of three different stories in the December 1935 issue and appeared in 62 issues including the last in September 1954. He also created 19 color covers for ''Weird Tales'' numbers from February 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 Abraham Grace Merritt (January 20, 1884 – August 21, 1943) – known by his byline, A. Merritt – was an American Sunday magazine editor and a writer of fantastic fiction. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame inducted him in 1999, ...

at ''

The American Weekly ''The American Weekly'' was a Sunday magazine, Sunday newspaper supplement published by the Hearst Corporation from November 1, 1896, until 1966. History During the 1890s, publications were inserted into Joseph Pulitzer's ''New York World'' and ...

'', moving from Rochester to New York City. Later the same year, he married Beverly Stiles, whom he had known in childhood in Rochester (November 16, 1938), and at some point, converted to

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

. In 1937, he made an illustration for the first instalment of ''

Supernatural Horror in Literature "Supernatural Horror in Literature" is a 28,000 word essay by American writer H. P. Lovecraft, surveying the development and achievements of horror fiction as the field stood in the 1920s and 30s. The essay was researched and written between Nove ...

'', which was to be published in the ''Science-Fantasy Correspondent''. When that magazine was ceased publication, it was used on the cover of the April–May 1937 issue of the ''Amateur Correspondent''. This portrayal has become one of the more prominent artistic depictions of Lovecraft. Finlay served in the US Army during World War II, and saw extensive combat in the

South West Pacific theater The South West Pacific theatre, during World War II, was a major theatre of the war between the Allies and the Axis. It included the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies (except for Sumatra), Borneo, Australia and its mandate Territory of ...

, notably on

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

, and did posters and illustrations for the Morale Services during his three years of military service. 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 Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of Celestial o ...

magazines as a new venue for his art. In 1953 he won one of the inaugural

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 ...

, as the previous year's best "Interior Illustrator"; cover artists and interior illustrators were not thereafter distinguished by the

Hugo Award for Best Artist The Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist is given each year for artists of works related to science fiction or fantasy released in the previous calendar year. The award has been given annually under several names since 1955, with the except ...

under various names. He was also named the best artist of 1945 in the 50-year

Retro Hugos 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 ...

of 1996. Finlay also wrote poetry throughout his adult life. Virtually none was published in his lifetime, though significant samples have been printed posthumously."A Virgil Finlay Bibliography"
reutel.nl. Retrieved 2013-09-13. 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 Finlay died of the disease early in 1971, aged 56. Finlay just missed a resurgence in interest in his artwork from the early 1970s onward. Both

Donald M. Grant Donald Metcalf Grant (April 3, 1927 – August 19, 2009) was an American publisher. Biography He was born in Providence, Rhode Island in 1927 and graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 1949. Grant's interest in fantasy and science ...

and Gerry de la Ree have published series of collections of Finlay artwork since the artist's death. The later books published by Underwood-Miller contain illustrations from the Gerry de la Ree editions, as well as additional material. A slightly later generation of fantasy fans were introduced to Finlay's art by reprints of his earlier work in the horror film fan magazine ''

'' alongside the fine writing that gave significance to that magazine. ''

Roads A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

'', a fantasy novella by

Seabury Quinn Seabury Grandin Quinn (also known as Jerome Burke; December 1889 – December 24, 1969) was an American government lawyer, journalist, and pulp magazine author, most famous for his stories of the occult detective Jules de Grandin, published in '' ...

, first published in the January 1938 ''Weird Tales'', and featuring a cover and interior illustrations by Finlay, was published in a very limited edition by

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 ...

in 1948. It was recently given a 21st-century facsimile reprinting by Red Jacket Press.

Collections

*''

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 ...

'' (

, 1971) *'' An Astrology Sketch Book'' (Donald M. Grant, 1975) introductions by Beverly C. Finlay and Robert Prestopino *''Finlay's Femmes'' (1976) – portfolio of drawings *''Finlay's Illustrations for Weird Tales'' (Showcase Art Productions, 1976) – portfolio of drawings *''Women of the Ages'' ( Underwood-Miller, 1992) *''Strange Science'' (Underwood-Miller, 1993) *''Phantasms'' (Underwood-Miller, 1993) *''Virgil Finlay's Far Beyond'' (Charles F. Miller, 1994)

Books published by Gerry de la Ree

*''Finlay's Lost Drawings: For Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream'' (1975) with Gerry de la Ree *''The Book of Virgil Finlay'' (1976) *''Second Book of Virgil Finlay'' (1978) *''The Third Book of Virgil Finlay'' (1979) *''The Fourth Book of Virgil Finlay'' (1979) *''The Fifth Book of Virgil Finlay'' (1979) *''The Sixth Book of Virgil Finlay: The Astrology Years'' (1980) *''The Seventh Book of Virgil Finlay – Virgil Finlay Remembered'' (1981)

References

Cordwainer Smith Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger (July 11, 1913 – August 6, 1966), better known by his pen-name Cordwainer Smith, was an American author known for his science fiction works. Linebarger was a US Army officer, a noted East Asia scholar, and a ...

.com * at the

Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame The Museum of Pop Culture or MoPOP is a nonprofit museum in Seattle, Washington, dedicated to contemporary popular culture. It was founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in 2000 as the Experience Music Project. Since then MoPOP has organized ...

World Fantasy Convention: 1914 Centennials Theme
at the 2014 convention website (Finlay is one theme)
Virgil Finlay: Master of Fantasy
(1978) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Finlay, Virgil 1914 births 1971 deaths American illustrators American speculative fiction artists Artists from Rochester, New York Fantasy artists Horror artists Place of death missing Pulp fiction artists Science fiction artists Science Fiction Hall of Fame inductees

Biography

Collections

Books published by Gerry de la Ree

See also

References

External links