Frank Godwin, Artist and Illustrator

If you enjoy classic illustrated children's books, you're probably familiar with the work of N. C. Wyeth.  But have you ever heard of Frank Godwin?  Godwin was an illustrator, commercial artist and comic strip artist who worked from around 1915 through 1959.  Between 1920 and 1931, he illustrated a number of books for publishers David Mackay and John Winston, including King Arthur and His Knights, Tales of Shakespeare, Treasure Island, Kidnapped, Robin Hood, The Blue Fairy Book, and The Book of Courage, among others.

King Arthur and His Knights, illustrated by Frank Godwin

In his color illustrations for these books, he favored rich, tonal colors; his style is somewhat reminiscent of both N. C. Wyeth and Maxfield Parrish but is distinctly his own.  The illustrations from King Arthur are among my favorites; I even framed several of them (taken from a book which had lost its cover and was completely falling apart) for my living room.

Uther and Ygraine (Frank Godwin, from King Arthur and His Knights)

Godwin was equally skilled with pen-and-ink.  Early in his career, he shared a studio and became friends with James Montgomery Flagg, and his drawing style was influenced by both Flagg and "Gibson Girl" artist Charles Dana Gibson.  In turn, he influenced other artists, including Frank Frazetta's early pen-and-ink work. Here's one of my favorite of Godwin's pen-and-ink illustrations from King Arthur and His Knights. Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. speculates that the illustrations from this book may have influenced Hal Foster's Prince Valiant comic strip, which debuted about 10 years later.  

"Come not near me" (Frank Godwin, from King Arthur and His Knights)

The entire set of illustrations from King Arthur and His Knights can be seen on here on The Golden Age website.  (If you poke around the site a bit, you'll also find pages for the other books illustrated by Frank Godwin, as well as other illustrators like N. C. Wyeth.  Scroll down and look in the left side column for "labels", and click on whichever artist interests you.)

Joan of Arc (frontispiece for The Book of Courage, illus. by Frank Godwin)

Bottom and fairies from 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'

(Frank Godwin, from Tales from Shakespeare)

Little John and Robin Hood

(Frank Godwin, from Robin Hood)

Three Princesses (Frank Godwin, from The Blue Fairy Book)

Francis Drake (Frank Godwin, from The Book of Courage)

In addition to his book illustrations, Frank Godwin was the creator of the syndicated cartoon Connie (1927-44), which featured a liberated and surprisingly modern heroine. He took over Roy Powers in 1938, and in 1948 took over Rusty Riley after the original cartoonist's death.  Godwin was also a prolific magazine and advertising artist in the days before photographs took over both venues. He did a whole series of ads for Texaco, including both pen-and-ink drawings and oil paintings.

The cast of characters from 'Rusty Riley',

a syndicated comic strip by Frank Godwin

Lady's Home Journal cover from 1919. Art by Frank Godwin

"Life on a U.S. Warship" - Texaco ad by Frank Godwin

"As the Petals" ad for Lazell (art by Frank Godwin)

In the interests of full disclosure: One of Godwin's grandsons is my stepfather, which makes the artist my step-great-grandfather.  I never met him (he died before I was born), but I spent many happy weekends with my grandparents in the house and studio that he built in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. There he also had a large workshop, and enjoyed working with his hands. The photo below shows Godwin with a working, 4-foot-long model steam engine that he built, machining the parts himself. I'm told the train actually ran on a track in the garden, though it was long gone by the time my mother and I came into the family.

Frank Godwin (photo taken for a newspaper article;

print scanned & cleaned up by W. F. Godwin)

A younger Frank Godwin

Frank Godwin died in 1959. His work has been growing in popularity in recent years, and there is considerable demand for his original comic art as well as his magazine, advertising, and book illustration work.

Sources and other links for Frank Godwin:

• The Golden Age: Frank Godwin illustrated books (scroll down and click "Older Posts" several times to see all Godwin's book illustrations that have been scanned so far)
• Frank Godwin - Wikipedia article
• Connie (comic strip) - Wikipedia article
• A blog about Frank Godwin and the "Rusty Riley" strip 
• American Art Archives article, with a lot of Godwin's advertising and magazine art
• JVJ Publishing: Illustrators article on Godwin, with examples of his work
• Lambliek Comiclopedia offers examples of Godwin's comics, including Connie, which he developed, and Roy Powers, which he took over in 1938.
• Frank Godwin Facebook page