James Allen St. John Fantasy artist Date of Birth: 01.10.1872 Country: USA

Biography of J. Allen St. John

James Allen St. John, a fantasy artist, was born in 1875 in Chicago. In 1883, he moved to Paris with his mother to study painting. As he grew older, St. John continued his studies in painting in New York, where he was mentored by William Merritt Chase, George de Forest Brush, Kenyon Cox, as well as in Europe under the guidance of Jean-Paul Laurens and Henri Verne. From 1901 to 1903, he even taught at the Chase School of Art. Teaching painting eventually became his main occupation, as he lectured at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago from 1917 and, from 1935 until his death in 1957, at the American Academy of Art.

St. John's professional career began in 1898 when he started working for the "New York Herald" newspaper. In 1912, he moved to Chicago, which was then one of the largest publishing centers, and immediately received commissions to create cover illustrations for popular magazines. In 1915, the "A.C. McClurg" publishing company offered him the opportunity to create chapter headers for Edgar Rice Burroughs' novel "The Return of Tarzan," and the following year, St. John fully illustrated the third book in the series, "The Beasts of Tarzan," designing both the color cover and forty black and white illustrations. The stylistic compatibility between the illustrator and the novel's imagery was astonishing, and it was received with equal enthusiasm by both readers and the author himself. Edgar Rice Burroughs and St. John became close friends, maintaining a strong relationship even after Burroughs moved from Chicago to Tarzana in 1919. For the next twenty years, every edition of a new Burroughs book featured St. John's cover and illustrations. Burroughs even credited St. John for half of the success of the Tarzan series, claiming that it was the illustrator, not the author, who played a significant role.

In addition to Burroughs' books, St. John also designed covers for many other authors, such as Robert Ames Bennett, Ray Cummings, George Ogden, Randall Parrish, Charles Alden Seltzer, and many popular Western genre writers.

From the early 1930s, St. John actively worked as a cover artist for various magazines, including science fiction magazines. He created numerous iconic covers for "Amazing Stories," "Fantastic Adventures," "Weird Tales," among others. He also developed the classic logo for "Weird Tales."

Comparing St. John's graphic and painting works, I personally prefer his graphic art. The vivid colors of his cover illustrations, in my opinion, are too bright and can be overwhelming, although they undeniably attract attention (which is, after all, the purpose of a cover). However, his calm and technically precise illustrations, enhanced by one or two additional soft tones, leave a remarkably strong impression. St. John's characters are expressive, and his landscapes carry a subtle impressionistic touch. But the most significant feature of his work is his mastery in translating the text of a book into a drawing. The artist once explained that he first reads the novel for pleasure, then rereads it, selecting episodes worthy of illustration, and finally creates the illustrations, constantly referring to the author's text to ensure that the illustrations are faithful to the book.

It is possible that J. Allen St. John served as one of the prototypes for the character of Dan Gregory, an illustrator, in Kurt Vonnegut's novel "Bluebeard," which, in my opinion, is one of Vonnegut's best works. Gregory was described as a "great artist who never became great, though he was unsurpassed technically."

This material was written in May 2001 as part of an essay on the history of American science fiction magazines.