Austin Briggs

A leading illustrator and commercial artist of books, magazines and advertising from as early as the 1920s, Briggs’ best known works can be seen on the covers of prominent magazines such as the “Saturday Evening Post” and “McCall’s”. He designed for postage stamps, phonograph-album covers and movie posters, as well as ghosting for the popular comic strip “Flash Gordon.”

While attending the Art Students League in New York, he made a name for himself as a promising young illustrator through his illustrations for “Collier’s, Pictorial Review” and his advertisements for “Cosmopolitan”. However when the Depression hit, Briggs became discouraged in his ability to find quality work. He saw this as a failure after such a brilliant beginning, resulting in a greater zeal for improvement and self-discovery in his work.

Briggs’ works are often meticulous and exact in detail as seen in “Emily”. His process in illustration began with many quick composition sketches in which he struggled between various layouts and alternatives. He often recreated works in his own photographs using friends and neighbors as a method to experiment with different poses.