July 14, 2020 – Written By: Barbara Rundback

Searching through the Museum’s Al Parker artworks, I discovered two paintings related to a Ladies’ Home Journal magazine story, If Love I Must by Katharine Newlin Burt, a five-part series. I also located four tearsheets for the serial in the extensive archival donation from Kit Parker, the artist’s son.

In How I Make a Picture by Al Parker, he wrote about his creative process for magazine story assignments. The artist’s first step was to read the manuscript while keeping the target audience in mind. As characters entered into the tale, he jotted down their descriptions – hair color, eyes, age, type of clothing, disposition, etc. He also searched the narrative for a passage that would catch the reader’s attention; he termed this the “stopper”. Parker’s final tip on successful illustrations was understanding the mood of the piece. Is it romantic, humorous, suspenseful, or tragic?

After reading the story’s available text, I surmised the serial was romantic. The central character is Crystal Jayne, a studious seventeen-year old. When Florence Jayne picks Crystal up at boarding school, the sophisticated, fashionable mother was disappointed in her daughter’s appearance, social skills, and career goals. Back home in Manhattan, Florrie transforms her young offspring into a chicly dressed, striking woman, ready to find a suitable husband. The narrative, set in New York and Europe, follows Crystal’s various encounters with handsome suitors. Her falling in love with her mother’s beau, Lincoln Paul, a famous scientist, heightens the storyline. 

These descriptions would have given Parker a lot of material to work with. The first painting features Crystal receiving beauty treatments at Theresa Dee’s. The artist’s dramatic blue and white color palette captures the eye. In the publication, there is copy on the lower right designed specifically to feature text. The feathers on Florence’s hat form an arrow that directs the viewer to the tantalizing words “Here is a new serial that takes you behind the scenes of Manhattan’s marriage market, with a heroine who wanted something better than counterfeit love.”

This piece, fourth in the series, depicts Crystal running from Miguel, the son of a Spanish countess, who is used to getting what he wants. Parker used a gripping overhead perspective to lure the reader. The intensity of the moment is felt as the purser firmly grasps her scarf. The need to find out if the heroine escapes is underscored but not fully revealed by the artist.

To find out more about Alfred Charles Parker, visit his profile on the Museum’s Illustration History website (IllustrationHistory.org).

Written By: Venus Van Ness

Born it St. Louis, Missouri, Al Parker rose to prominence in the late 1930’s and became well known for his Mother/Daughter cover illustrations for Ladies’ Home Journal, which were published from 1939 to 1952. His use of graphic elements and bold, flat colors and shapes established him as one of the most important and influential illustrators of the 1940’s, 50’s, and 60’s. Parker’s story illustrations were full of unique touches that used carefully selected props in a way that encouraged readers to take a closer look.  “I love to share things,” said Parker.  “I think there’s a certain joy in unearthing and sharing things with people, things they might not notice. If I see an odd piece of fabric or an unusual vase, I want to put it in a picture so people can enjoy it. Readers do appreciate this.” Parker is also credited for inspiring his readers to follow current trends, as he always portrayed women in the latest fashions, showcasing a “modern glamour” aesthetic.  

His work so greatly influenced and inspired other illustrators that he needed to change his style constantly to stand out from everyone else, and he experimented with a variety of techniques. In a 1961 interview, Parker discussed his constant innovation. “I can’t help trying new techniques. That’s the fun of it….Change is a style in itself. Developing an approach and then dropping it in favor of something fresh is a completely calculated move on my part. There was a time when I seemed to be sticking my neck out, but now everybody is sticking their neck out and experimenting. It’s a good thing, too, because this kind of fresh artistic attitude was long overdue.”  

Parker’s range of skill was so diverse that he made magazine history by creating illustrations for five fiction articles in the September 1954 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine, each under a different pseudonym and in a different artistic style. “In the past [art editors] went for what looked like everybody else’s work,” Parker explained. “But when you turn the pages of a magazine today you get a little bit of this style or a little bit of that, instead of sameness.”  This is needed because “the audiences are much more sophisticated than they used to be.”