Al Parker Collection
The collection includes material relating to Al Parker's personal and professional development, photographs of artist models, original artwork, and artwork reproduced from magazines.
Dates
- Creation: 1920-1985
Creator
- Parker, Al, 1906-1985 (Person)
Extent
40.00 linear feet
102 linear feet
Biographical or Historical Information
Alfred Charles Parker was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1906 and studied at Washington University’s School of Fine Arts from 1923 to 1928. After opening a fledgling advertising agency with fellow students and beginning to work for national magazines, Parker moved to New York City in 1935. A cover illustration for House Beautiful won a national competition and garnered Parker jobs producing illustrations and covers for Chatelaine, Collier’s, Women’s Home Companion, and Ladies’ Home Journal.
In December of 1938, Parker began a thirteen-year stint of illustrating a series of fifty hugely popular “Mother and Daughter” covers for the Ladies Home Journal: dressed alike and paired in an evocatively designed action scene, the first cover created an overnight fashion sensation. Successive covers enjoyed unrivaled appeal, chronicling the evolution of an idealized American family as it prepared for war, homecoming, and rebirth (i.e., the baby boom). Parker was soon illustrating for countless magazines including Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping, McCall’s, The Saturday Evening Post, Sports Illustrated, Pictorial Review, Town and County, and Vogue, constantly reinventing his endlessly snappy style and thematic approach, while experimenting with new media in order to keep his throngs of imitators stymied. In cooperation with the art director, he secretly illustrated an entire issue of Cosmopolitan employing different pseudonyms, styles, and media for each story.
Parker is one of the select few illustrators whose personal touch immediately jumps out at the viewer, through crisp rendering and compositions not only bold, but positively idiosyncratic. Known as the Dean of Illustrators, Parker was one of the founding faculty members for the Famous Artists School and was elected to the Society of Illustrators' Hall of Fame in 1965.
For additional information see The Illustrator in America 1860-2000, by Walt Reed, New York: The Society of Illustrators, 2001.
Note written by Todd Hignite
Arrangement Note
The collection is divided into eleven series as follows:
Series 1: Personal and Professional Development
Series 2: Artist Model Photographs
Series 3: Artist Model and Parker Family Negatives, Slides, and Transparencies
Series 4: Personal and Professional Development Series 5: Famous Artist School Lesson Books
Series 6: Artwork Reproduced from Magazines (Tear Sheets, Complete Issues, Proofs)
Series 7: Original Works of Art on Board
Series 8: Original Works of Art on Paper
Series 9: Original Works of Art (Oversized)
Series 10: Original Works of Art (Framed)
Series 11: Original Works of Art by Other Artists
Method of Acquisition
The collection was donated to the University Archives by Kit Parker, Al Parker's son, in 2003. It was later transferred to the Modern Graphic History Library.
Rights Statement
Some restrictions, please contact the Modern Graphic History Library Curator at (314) 935-7741 or spec@wumail.wustl.edu.
Users of the collection must read and abide by the Materials Use Policies for Special Collections.
Users of the collections who wish to use items from this collection, in whole or in part, in any form of publication (as defined in the form) must sign and submit to the Washington University Department of Special Collections a hard copy of the Notification of intent to publish Modern Graphic History Library materials form.
All publication not covered by fair use restricted to those who have permission of the copyright holder.
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Jay Kempen and revised by University Archives staff in September 2006 and June 2007. The original artwork in this collection was rehoused by Andrea Degener in March 2017.
Creator
- Parker, Al, 1906-1985 (Person)
- Original illustration for Good Housekeeping by Al Parker, October 1946. The Al Parker Collection is available on JSTOR. The digital collection contains original works of art found in the collection. Washington University log-in credentials required; contact Special Collections for guest access.
- Original periodical illustration by Al Parker, ca.1940. The Al Parker Collection is available on JSTOR. The digital collection contains original works of art found in the collection. Washington University log-in credentials required; contact Special Collections for guest access.
- Title
- Al Parker Collection
- Author
- Special Collections Staff
- Date
- 2007
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- eng
Revision Statements
- 2012-07: This finding aid was entered into Archon by Jolie Braun in July 2012.
- 2017-03: This finding aid was updated by Andrea Degener in March 2017.
- 2018-05: This finding aid was updated by Andrea Degener in May 2018.
- 2020-08-25: Data clean-up started by Andrea Degener.
- 2020-11-09: Resource record updated in ArchivesSpace by Andrea Degener.
Collecting Area Details
Part of the Dowd Illustration Research Archive Collecting Area
Andrea Degener, Interim Curator
West Campus Library
7425 Forsyth Blvd
Clayton MO 63105 US
(314) 935-5495
spec@wumail.wustl.edu