Customer Reviews

PAINTINGS OF J ALLEN ST JOHN PB: Grand Master of Fantasy

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Length:: 0:43 Mins

A nice tribute to J. Allen St. John, a fantasy artist who inspired other generations of artists. There are over 170 paintings, featuring works for Tarzan, John Carter, covers for magazines and many more.

The paintings are nicely composed, filled with adventure and action. Simply the best examples of fantasy illustration back then. It's easy to see why so many artists are drawn to them, including Frank Frazetta who's clearly influenced by his art.

There are also good essays and interesting quotes throughout the book, to let us get a glimpse of his life and career.

Nice book recommended to fantasy artists.

(There are more pictures of the book on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)

The art of J. Allen St. John envokes action, strength and
beauty with every stroke of his paint brush as he went on to
create so many masterful paintings. You will be struck with
awe and fascination the first time your eyes touch each page
of this book as you are drawn into a different time and a
different place. You will see the artistic depth of his work
as well as his ability to capture the tension of the combatants
who are caught in epic struggles to survive.

The book selected paintings that illustrated the depth and
variety of J. Allen St. John a reflection of a lifetime of his
work as well as a legacy of an artist that will live on.

The Paintings of J. Allen St. John: the Grand Master of Fantasy
lives up to its title. A worthy addition to your art library.

I was extremely pleased when I received this book. To be able to see where so many great modern fantasy artists took their cues and inspirations from is amazing! His grasp of the anatomy is fantastic and real at the same time.
I really liked the articles within as well. It's good to glimpse something of an artist's life via these excerpt style prose bits. Overall I would highly recommend this book to any artist that struggles with illustration vs. fine art in their own mind. It helps to resolve issues like this by examining how the pros did it.

This book as well as their "Drawings of J. Allen St. John are must haves for fans of Tarzan, adventure, and the golden age of Illustration.

This is a fabulous book highlighting the art of J. Allen St. John. I grew up reading fantasy and science fiction books that contained illustrations by this imaginative artist. This book is highly recommended for fans of fantasy art. For me, it was a great trip back in time to my early teen years.

Outstanding book,& artwork,one of the all-time best! really enjoyed every picture-recommend to all ! fantastic!

I grew up as a huge fan of Frank Frazetta. In fact I credit Frazetta's covers to the Ace Conan novels for igniting my interest in fantasy literature. Frazetta has influence untold legions of artists but I've often wondered who he was influence by...The answer is in Vanguard Production's The Paintings of J. Allen St. John, the second St. John collection from Vanguard. St. John provided the fertile background of adventure illustration when the genre was just taking off. In a time before TV and when the film industry was still in its infancy, it was St. John who brought Tarzan to life in his exciting cover and interior illustrations to the early novels written by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Here you can clearly see influence he had on Frazetta, Jeff Jones, Boris, and many others. And speaking of Frazetta, he provides the afterword to the edition.
Vanguard's book presents hundreds of St. John's illustrations in this gorgeous edition. We also learn about the man and his career. He was born into a family of noted artists that included his mother and grandfather. Also included are many rare photos of St. John, including one when he was just six years old in 1881. Some of the pics even show St. John with some of the paintings that appear in this book. Besides Tarzan, St. John also illustrated several of Burroughs' John Carter, Warlord of Mars novels as well as his 1914 Sci-Fi classic, At the Earth's Core.

St. John was also one of the preeminent pulp magazine artists, producing covers for Amazing Stories, Weird Tales, Fantastic Adventures, and Magic Carpet. The book reprints many of these classic covers including one Weird Tales cover from 1936 that featured St. John illustration for a Robert E. Howard story. The quality of art reproduced here is absolutely outstanding although I'd expect no less from Vanguard. The book is printed on high-quality, thick glossy stock. St. John is truly worthy of the title of Grand Master of Fantasy!