Comics, Pulps, and Paperbacks: Why such a discrepancy in values? 25 25

[Randall Dowling]

On 2/28/2024 at 1:02 PM, Surfing Alien said:

Definitely not the writer. I think it looks a lot like Ernest Chiriaka's work, seen here (as his pseudonym "Darcy") on Charles Williams' superb "Girl Out Back" from the same time frame. I see my pal Steve Wallace on Flickr hasn't put a credit on but I bet he'd agree the semi-loose brushwork and composition style is very similar. Chiriaka did a TON of cover paintings in the 50's & early 60's, many for Dell. If not him, someone in the style for sure.

This pretty undercopy may appear in another thread around here this weekend

 

Correct.  Darcy = Chiriacka (Darcy was his middle name).  I'm a big fan of his work and even had a client that was a family member of his.  They have a ton of his originals in storage but she's (the client) a bit odd and protective of it (yes, I tried to buy some and she didn't seem to like that).

But I don't think Sin Street is his work.  The lines look wrong for Chiriacka to me but I could be wrong (wouldn't be the first time).  There were definitely a lot of illustrators that did one or two covers and that was it.  So, they're relatively obscure and unknown.  I have a few pieces that fall into that category. 

Here's a few quick examples of more of his work:

[OtherEric]

Obligatory at this point, I suppose:

Interior page from the only issue of Liberty I own.

[Surfing Alien]

On 2/28/2024 at 2:20 PM, Randall Dowling said:

I tried to buy some and she didn't seem to like that

[Surfing Alien]

On 2/28/2024 at 2:20 PM, Randall Dowling said:

The lines look wrong

I agree that, especially her cheeks and jaw look a little harder than Darcy's soft, elegant lines (could be from the beatings she got on Sin Street ) Bt seriously, as my pal Ruben DaCollector always reminds me, these guys were working under deadlines for small pay and the quality of their work varied widely depending on how much time they had to work on them (or how much the art director overpainted their work to please the publisher) 

Still this is an uncredited painting for sure - but in a similar somewhat loose brush technique (that I think they pretty much all got from Barye Phillips, the master of making incredible outlines out of a few squiggly lines)

[Darwination]

I'm not super familiar with Chiriacka (or the full cast of paperback artist alternatives) but I think Sin Street looks like one of his. In fact, I think it looks more typical of his work than The Girl Out Back (the one signed Darcy) that Lowell's got the solid ID on.  It's the eyes, man.  And Chiriacka is at least a little bit of a chameleon, too, in that he worked in different mediums and contexts and with (imo) an evolving style.  The pulp artist's life under a deadline and for low pay is always a truism (ofc, there's the stories of Frazetta cranking out masterpieces the night before they were due), but I find paperback art particularly hard to identify.  Part of it is the "fast and loose" style in vogue in the 50s and (do forgive pb fans!) there's the often horrible print quality and small reproduction (and this is coming from a guy that spends all his time in pulp ).

Here's one from back in 1942 for Dell from an old scan of mine (with an edit from McCoy):

https://archive.org/details/sweetheart-stories-316-1942-08.-dell-d-m-ia

David Saunders has a nice entry for him in his wiki (with a great artist photo and a series of different signature styles) here:
https://www.pulpartists.com/Chiriacka.html

There is absolutely no way I would have pegged Chiriacka for some of the early 40s pulp work in the cover gallery there (especially the westerns), and I suspect Saunders picked some of those since they're commonly misidentified as his dad's work.

I'll toss a few more up here from people I follow on Flickr while we are at it that I like

Esquire Calendar 1953 / Alabama cover 1956

1960

Back cover, Mission for Vengeance, 1958

Esquire Calendar 54

Interior illo, Argosy July 1949

No date on this one from Heritage, but I'd say late 40s early 50s slick illustration and my favorite of the batch (low prices realized even on the stunners Randall posted, damn):

A pity you can't get to it, Randall, but it's fantastic so many of his originals survive.  There's a great in-depth article on the artist by Saunders with an interview in Illustration #8 (2003).

Edited February 28 by Darwination

[Surfing Alien]

On 2/28/2024 at 5:34 PM, Darwination said:

There is absolutely no way I would have pegged Chiriacka for some of the early 40s pulp work in the cover gallery there (especially the westerns), and I suspect Saunders picked some of those since they're commonly misidentified as his dad's work.

Agree here - his paint was so much heavier in those westerns, great, but totally different - he was so good, he could paint in a variety of styles and as the work changed he could with it. That loose style, used by many artists, evolved heavily in the mid to late 50's and I think most artists were directed to paint that way because it was "in" so it can really be hard to tell who did unsigned work.

Here's a few cool ones I posted a while back

 

[Randall Dowling]

On 2/28/2024 at 1:35 PM, Surfing Alien said:

I agree that, especially her cheeks and jaw look a little harder than Darcy's soft, elegant lines (could be from the beatings she got on Sin Street ) Bt seriously, as my pal Ruben DaCollector always reminds me, these guys were working under deadlines for small pay and the quality of their work varied widely depending on how much time they had to work on them (or how much the art director overpainted their work to please the publisher) 

Still this is an uncredited painting for sure - but in a similar somewhat loose brush technique (that I think they pretty much all got from Barye Phillips, the master of making incredible outlines out of a few squiggly lines)

This is a great point about speed and quality.  I remember speaking with a buddy back in the 90s that was a commercial illustrator and was shocked to hear that not every piece was done by only one artist.  Sometimes an illustrator would execute a painting and then someone would say "I don't like her hair" or "He should be smiling", and then whoever was available to make the change would end up doing it if the original artist was busy with something else.  As he described it to me, there wasn't a lot of ownership over the work.  It was just "the work".  It wasn't fine art, it wasn't expected to have value independent of the usage as a cover, it was just "the work".

So, very possible for all the reasons you list that this could be a rushed piece or overpainted by someone else.  Without direct first hand knowledge from inside the publisher at the time, I guess all we have is supposition.

In my own profession, working on design drawings and construction documents, it's really the same.  Especially with CAD work and BIM modeling, but before that, when we were drawing on mylar, there might have been 4 different people that modified a drawing.  It's all just work, no ownership (unless something is wrong ).

[Randall Dowling]

On 2/28/2024 at 4:34 PM, Darwination said:

I'm not super familiar with Chiriacka (or the full cast of paperback artist alternatives) but I think Sin Street looks like one of his. In fact, I think it looks more typical of his work than The Girl Out Back (the one signed Darcy) that Lowell's got the solid ID on.  It's the eyes, man.  And Chiriacka is at least a little bit of a chameleon, too, in that he worked in different mediums and contexts and with (imo) an evolving style.  The pulp artist's life under a deadline and for low pay is always a truism (ofc, there's the stories of Frazetta cranking out masterpieces the night before they were due), but I find paperback art particularly hard to identify.  Part of it is the "fast and loose" style in vogue in the 50s and (do forgive pb fans!) there's the often horrible print quality and small reproduction (and this is coming from a guy that spends all his time in pulp ).

Here's one from back in 1942 for Dell from an old scan of mine (with an edit from McCoy):

https://archive.org/details/sweetheart-stories-316-1942-08.-dell-d-m-ia

David Saunders has a nice entry for him in his wiki (with a great artist photo and a series of different signature styles) here:
https://www.pulpartists.com/Chiriacka.html

There is absolutely no way I would have pegged Chiriacka for some of the early 40s pulp work in the cover gallery there (especially the westerns), and I suspect Saunders picked some of those since they're commonly misidentified as his dad's work.

I'll toss a few more up here from people I follow on Flickr while we are at it that I like

Esquire Calendar 1953 / Alabama cover 1956

1960

Back cover, Mission for Vengeance, 1958

Esquire Calendar 54

Interior illo, Argosy July 1949

No date on this one from Heritage, but I'd say late 40s early 50s slick illustration and my favorite of the batch (low prices realized even on the stunners Randall posted, damn):

A pity you can't get to it, Randall, but it's fantastic so many of his originals survive.  There's a great in-depth article on the artist by Saunders with an interview in Illustration #8 (2003).

David's a wealth of knowledge.  He has really wonderful stories about growing up watching his dad work.  I helped my buddy, Steve, when he set up a couple tables at Windy City a couple years ago.  We were lucky enough to be setup next to David and I got to talk to him a bit.  Really great guy. 

[jimjum12]

I'm no expert, but I am often wrong about unsigned covers. Some artists were just adept at aping a popular style. This one is by Charles Copeland and immediately caught my eye. I've never heard of him, but may start poking around. GOD BLESS ...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[OtherEric]

A few pickups at ECCC today:

[Darwination]

Woof!

[Darwination]

On 2/29/2024 at 6:48 PM, jimjum12 said:

I'm no expert, but I am often wrong about unsigned covers. Some artists were just adept at aping a popular style. This one is by Charles Copeland and immediately caught my eye. I've never heard of him, but may start poking around. GOD BLESS ...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

Woof!

[Surfing Alien]

On 2/29/2024 at 7:48 PM, jimjum12 said:

I'm no expert, but I am often wrong about unsigned covers. Some artists were just adept at aping a popular style. This one is by Charles Copeland and immediately caught my eye. I've never heard of him, but may start poking around. GOD BLESS ...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

Be careful with that Copeland guy, he's addictive 

[Randall Dowling]

On 2/29/2024 at 8:07 PM, Surfing Alien said:

Be careful with that Copeland guy, he's addictive 

Yeah, Copeland is awesome.  He did a lot of illustrations in Men's Adventure magazines also.  Both he and Clarence Doore are very unappreciated, IMO.

[Darwination]

On 2/29/2024 at 9:46 PM, Randall Dowling said:

Yeah, Copeland is awesome.  He did a lot of illustrations in Men's Adventure magazines also.  Both he and Clarence Doore are very unappreciated, IMO.

Heh, had to go looking, not quite as subtle as some of his paperback art, and it gets even trashier

via Subtropic Bob Deis' Flickr

[jimjum12]

On 2/29/2024 at 11:02 PM, Darwination said:

Heh, had to go looking, not quite as subtle as some of his paperback art, and it gets even trashier

via Subtropic Bob Deis' Flickr

Pardon my boorishness, but that gal has the kind of buttocks that make a fella come straight home from work. GOD BLESS ...

=jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[Darwination]

[jimjum12]

On 3/1/2024 at 8:41 AM, Darwination said:

Back that thing up!

... GOD BLESS ...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

... where's that Youtube clip of Eddy Murphy's "Boogie In the Butt" when you need it?

Edited March 1 by jimjum12

[N e r V]

On 3/1/2024 at 4:42 AM, jimjum12 said:

Pardon my boorishness, but that gal has the kind of buttocks that make a fella come straight home from work. GOD BLESS ...

=jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[mstrange]

On 2/29/2024 at 8:02 PM, Darwination said:

Heh, had to go looking, not quite as subtle as some of his paperback art, and it gets even trashier

via Subtropic Bob Deis' Flickr

👀