Observatory car suspended from Zeppelin Scientific American 1916-12-23

Edgar Franklin Wittmack (1894–1956) was an

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complic ...

and

cover artist Cover art is a type of artwork presented as an illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book (often on a dust jacket), magazine, newspaper ( tabloid), comic book, video game (box art), music album (album ...

for many of the most popular magazines of the 1920s and 1930s. His covers, just as the artwork of his contemporary,

Norman Rockwell Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) was an American painter and illustrator. His works have a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of the country's culture. Rockwell is most famous for the ...

, were usually created as oil paintings. Where Rockwell specialized in the humorous aspects of small-town life, Wittmack dealt mainly with male-oriented interests. He often painted heroic or action-type figures for the ''Saturday Evening Post'', ''American Boy'', ''Outdoor Life'' as well as the "quality" pulp magazines such as ''

Adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme ...

'' and ''

Short Stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

''. Robinson, Frank M., and Davidson, Lawrence. ''Pulp Culture - The Art of Fiction Magazines''. Collectors Press, 2007. (p.42). However, he is probably most known for the covers he created for ''

Popular Science ''Popular Science'' (also known as ''PopSci'') is an American digital magazine carrying popular science content, which refers to articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. ''Popular Science'' has won over 58 awards, incl ...

''. His "

retro-futuristic Retrofuturism (adjective ''retrofuturistic'' or ''retrofuture'') is a movement in the creative arts showing the influence of depictions of the future produced in an earlier era. If futurism is sometimes called a "science" bent on anticipatin ...

" style was used during the depression to artistically convert the ideas of inventive

Americans Americans are the citizens and nationals of the United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many dual citizens, expatriates, and permanent residents could also legally claim Ame ...

into unique visual expressions of potential reality.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wittmack 1894 births 1956 deaths American magazine illustrators