ABOUT THE AUTHOR … Frederic B. Taraba
HOW WE MET HIM: In 1999,
when the editors (Ray and Judith) founded the DARLEY SOCIETY, they set about
to form a Board of Directors and an Advisory Committee. During this time, it
happened that Mr. Taraba found out about their purchase of the Darley House
in Claymont, Delaware, and sent them this article. Both Ray and Judith were
very impressed by it … it was the best thing found since they had gotten
copies of the DELAWARE ART MUSEUM’s exhibit catalogue, “…illustrated by
Darley.” Ray contacted Mr. Taraba and invited him to be an “official
advisor” to the new Society, which he agreed to do.
WHO IS HE: Mr. Taraba lives in New York City where he is the
Director of ILLUSTRATION HOUSE,
a New York City gallery and auction house specializing in American
Illustration of the past 150+ years.
They have a
big auction twice a year, offering their own art and consignments. These auctions usually include the spectrum
of artists, from the “unknown,” to the major artists of the past and today,
like Darley, Audubon, Pyle, Norman Rockwell, and others. [SEE http://www.illustration-house.com/consign/consign.html
]
Mr. Taraba and the owners of ILLUSTRATION HOUSE,
Walt and
Roger Reed, are experts in the field, with over 70 years of experience
dealing in illustration art between them. All have published numerous books
and articles in the field. They are involved in the SOCIETY OF
ILLUSTRATORS, also in New York City. We believe that this connection, and
their reputation, enabled the naming of Felix Darley to the ILLUSTRATOR’S
HALL OF FAME in 2001.
This article was a part of Mr. Taraba’s “Masters”
series, initiated by him to eventually cover all the great illustrators. The article appeared in the September 1998
of STEP-BY-STEP GRAPHICS magazine (Step-By-Step Publishing, a division of
Dynamic Graphics, Inc., Peoria, IL.)
Mr. Taraba graciously agreed to allow the editors
to publish his article in its entirety … as a way to further the knowledge of
Felix Darley and his contributions to American illustration, past, present, and
future (in our opinion). We extend a sincere “thanks, Fred.”
OTHER WORKS BY MR. TARABA: A search of the internet
reflects a wide spectrum of Mr. Taraba’s writings, including a book, J. C. Leyendecker. Steine,
Kent & Frederic Taraba. The J. C. Leyendecker collection. Portland: Collector’s Press, 1996. Articles include: “Gilbert Bundy” (http://www.americanartarchives.com/bundy.htm
), and “Rose O’Neill: A life of wonder”
http://www.ortakales.com/illustrators/Oneill.htm
ILLUSTRATION HOUSE: Please follow these links to learn more about ILLUSTRATION
HOUSE and to the SOCIETY OF ILLUSTRATORS
[ http://www.illustration-house.com/ or
http://www.societyofillustrators.org/
]
ERRORS / CORRECTIONS / ADDITIONS: The
editors scanned the article so it could be “word searchable” (vs. a jpg
file); we have tried to catch any errors, but if the reader finds any, please
email them to us at .
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