Advertisement -- Oldsmobile

Penfield, Edward (1866-1925)

1905-03-02

Periodicals -- Illustrations.

Advertising, Magazine -- United States -- History.

One quarter page advertisement for Olds Motor Works, Detroit, USA.

Oldsmobile was a brand of American automobile produced for most of its existence by General Motors. It was founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1897. In its 107-year history, it produced 35.2 million cars, including at least 14 million built at its Lansing, Michigan factory. When it was phased out in 2004, Oldsmobile was the oldest surviving American automobile marque, and one of the oldest in the world, after Daimler , Peugeot and Tatra. The closing of the Oldsmobile division presaged a larger consolidation of GM brands and discontinuation of models during the company's 2009 bankruptcy reorganization.

Edward Penfield was a leading American illustrator in the era known as the "Golden Age of American Illustration" and he is considered the father of the American Poster. He is also a major figure in the evolution of graphic design. He was born June 2, 1866 in Brooklyn, New York to Ellen Lock Moore and Josiah B. Penfield. He first studied at New York's Art Student's League. He worked under George de Forest Brush, who was known for his romantic scenes of American Indian life. He first worked for Harper's Weekly and later became art director. He developed his own unique style of simplified figures with bold outlines in settings free of extraneous detail. He wrote and published a book titled Holland Sketches, which was published by Scribner's in 1907. Penfield lived in New Rochelle, New York, a popular art colony among actors, writers and artists of the period. The community was most well-known for its unprecedented number of prominent American illustrators. He was one of the founding members of the New Rochelle Art Association which was organized in 1912.

Volume 65, number 1166, page 231.

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Life, New York, NY: Life, 1883-1936

Image

Illustration

9 1/2 x 11 inches

Print on paper

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