Lightning and Wind

Lightning and Wind
This original egg tempra piece by artist John Falter is titled "Lightning and Wind" and measures 6" x 7". This piece is in good condition and is signed in the lower right corner by the artist. Born in Plattsmouth, Nebraska, John Falter became a nationally known magazine illustrator, painter of celebrity portraits and scenes of western migration.
In 1916, his family moved to Falls City, Nebraska where his father ran a clothing store. Falter created a comic strip, "Down Thru the Ages, " which ran in the "Fall City Journal." J.M. Darling, Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist of the "Des Moines Register, " saw some of his work and urged him to become a professional illustrator.
In 1928, he enrolled in the Kansas City Art Institute and then won a scholarship to the Art Students League in New York City. Soon, he began illustrating pulp magazines and received his first commission from "Liberty" magazine to do three illustrations a week in 1933. By 1940, he had several clients including Gulf Oil, 4 Roses Whiskey, Arrow Shirts, and Pall Mall.
His first "Saturday Evening Post Cover, " a portrait of the magazine's founder Benjamin Franklin, is dated September 1, 1943, and from that time until 1969, he did 185 covers until the magazine ceased publication.
In 1943, he enlisted in the Navy and designed over 300 recruiting posters and during this time completed a series of twelve famous war heroes for "Esquire" magazine. He also did illustrations for "Good Housekeeping, " "The Home Magazine, " "The Ladies Home Journal, " "Cosmopolitan, " "McCalls, " "Life, " and "Look."
His body of work is impressive in volume and variety of subject matter, and much of it reflected his life-long interest in jazz. He did scenes of Harlem nightclub life in the 1930s and portraits of famous jazz musicians including Louis Armstrong, Jack Teagarden, and Pee Wee Erwin. He also did portraits of movie stars including Clark Gable, James Cagney, and Olivia de Haviland.
During the 1970s and 1980s, he turned to historical and western themes including a series "From Sea to Shining Sea" for 3M Company to commemorate the American Bicentennial. He completed over 200 paintings of western subjects, emphasizing westward migration of 1843 to 1880 from the Missouri River to the Rocky Mountains.
In 1976, he was elected to the Illustrators Hall of Fame and in 1978 to the National Academy of Western Art with whom he exhibited at the National Cowboy Hall of Fame.
Condition: Good