A Reclamation, and Reward

The painting, as I found it on ebay.

OK, here's a story that's a bit different. It's about rescue and restoration, and a whole different aspect of illustration appreciation. It's also something that will become more and more important in years to come, as so much illustration art was not regarded as worth saving in its day. Much of it was done on and with inferior materials, and a great deal of it was considered little more than the means to achieve an end (the printed product), not seen for the value it had in and of itself. Saving this art today preserves illustration history, and can make for good investment.

About two years ago, I had provided an entry on William James Aylward, 1875-1956.  In my eyes, he is one of the most overlooked gems of the Brandywine alumni. We have a lot in common; and I may be biased due to a few of those similarities—I collect his work with some serious intent, there may be only one other artist I seek out with more enthusiasm. So when I got notice that something new from Aylward had posted on ebay late last March, I expected more printed pages from Scribner's Magazine, or an illustrated copy of Jack London's The Sea Wolf. I got a pleasant surprise.

The listing was for a 16'X20" painting, signed by Aylward, and it is without a doubt, his. OK, I have a nice pencil piece by him, and recently acquired an ink sketch as well, but I hadn't thought I might be able to find a painting, at least on ebay. And it was reasonable. It was pretty dirty, definitely had seen better days, but I wondered if the sellers really knew what they had. It had a "buy it now" price, and I took it right away. They probably did know what they had, and more precisely, they knew what needed to be done. But that's what allowed me to have a chance at this piece in the first place.

A few pieces by Aylward done in a similar fashion. The two-tone work he did for Scribner's or Harper's were often small vignettes, black and orange. These are from 1918. Today, I live in Huntington Township, not far from where this scene was painted.

The sellers asked me if I was sure (odd for ebay), and cautioned me that the piece needed some restoration. I carefully looked over the images provided, and was still good with it at the price they offered. So it came. I wanted to have it cleaned up—or at least looked at—to see if I had saved something, or just let go of a small wad of cash. I called The Society of Illustrators—to ask who they used to clean up works for them. I knew this wouldn't be cheap, but If I was going to have someone look at it, I wanted it to be someone who understood this type of work, and maybe even was familiar with Aylward. They recommended Pratzon Art Restoration in Manhattan, and it could not have been a better fit. Not only was Jill Pratzon familiar with Aylward, she specializes in illustration of this sort, and had worked on some Aylward before. While the restoration was more than the painting was, the two prices together cost me about as much as I might have paid if I had found this piece in the shape it's in now, in an auction catalog. So, I went ahead, already being somewhat invested in time and money. She did a fantastic job, and now I have a sweet original painting by one of Howard Pyle's students.

Restoration—in process—photo by Jill Pratzon.

And the finished piece.

W. J. Aylward, Old salt from Wisconsin....

It seemed like a fair moment to share with you some of the work of one of my favorite marine painters, and by the end of the post, it'll be clear as to why.

In previous VIEW postings, we've already looked at Gordon Grant, and Anton Otto Fischer, both excellent marine painters. There was plenty of work depicting shipping during the Golden Age, it is a subject that has it's own tricks, and for those that "knew the ropes," there was plenty of work to be had. The next in the seafarer's group is W. J. Aylward. (1875-1956). Aylward was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The son of a ship-builder and lake captain, (for those who didn't do well in geography, Milwaukee sits on the southwest edge of Lake Michigan, and is actually a port city in middle America...) Aylward's fondness for marine subjects stayed with him his entire career.

Aylward was a Brandywine Alumni, and was fortunate enough to receive one of Howard Pyle's career-making "field trips". Pyle had helped arrange for Frank Schoonover to get to the Canadian wild, and for N. C. Wyeth to travel out West. He helped Aylward get assigned (through President Roosevelt, no less) to write about and illustrate an incredible sea journey, with the floating dry-dock "Dewey". The culmination of this project came to be printed in the May 1907 issue of Scribner's Magazine, with 20 pieces of work, four of them full page.

Aylward did lots of magazine work, for the likes of Youth's Companion, Scribner's, and Harper's Magazines, among others. Books too, where the story was right—In the early part of his career, 1904— he caught a big break in getting an assignment to do Jack London's Sea Wolf. 20 years later was the other end of that run, with the 1925 edition of Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
In 1950, while still teaching, he published a small book through Pitman Publishing—Ships and How to Draw Them, though somewhat light in the way of instruction, it has some nice grayscale work, and if you're interested in the material, could be worth tracking down. (see the "Looking Forward" illustration, above)

There's a nice start at looking up Aywlard on Paul Giambarba's great site, 100 Years of Illustration and Design

-----------------
In Dover News- Friday I got my hands on an advance copy of A Dulac Treasury. It'll be trickling out soon, and I'll let you know as soon as it is attainable. Shakespeare Illustrated is currently at press, and Great Illustrations by N. C. Wyeth, whew, that's almost wrapped up. Next post, I should finally be able to give you some news about the new season of Calla Editions.

-----------------
And in a week of nautical art— it's worth a mention that my own sea-faring work is currently being shown at Krab Jab Studios, in Seattle, if you're out in that direction.