Will Bradley's Graphic Art

The work of an American equivalent to a chaste Aubrey Beardsley was completely unknown to me before this book, which was quite educational in that regard. I'd not seen the designs in the manner this presented them, as a mix of art nouveau and Arts and Crafts. A brief introduction, and a longer (and very higgledy-piggledy) attempt at autobiography are given, along with a huge chunk of artwork, which was all pretty pleasing – even if a lot was just of its time as regards poster and advert design, and does not have the eternal life in it of a Beardsley or Mucha. A jack of all trades, he certainly went in for typesetting that made you work, leaking words onto following lines and using ungainly fonts. But his pictorial skill was evident. I didn't read the full autobiography, as some fault with my netgalley file rendered two in every ten pages horrendously pixelated and unreadable, but it's very naïve in leaping from one style to another, and seemed to need editing. Still, for any design buff or creative arts historian this looks a fine book.

A study of the innovative artist
whose work paved the way for many who followed
and thought that advertising
could be great art too

This was really lovely to flick through - albeit digitally. I'm taking a course at the moment in my Publishing Masters on illustration in publishing, so this was a nice little supplement to my lectures. I would've liked to have a better look at the images but it was a little difficult with the PDF viewer on Adobe.

Originally published in 1975, Dover's color reprint sees Bradley's beautiful designs collected into one book of approximately 150 pages. Many of the illustrations are given a full page treatment, allowing the designs to be appreciated in a larger size. As well, several pages are beautiful full color. A fairly detailed biography as well as introduction in the beginning (written in 1955) take up most of the print in the book - the designs have only plate names and dates.

Chances are, if you've never heard of Bradley you'll likely recognize several of his works. His specialty was art nouveau/arts and crafts designs and savvy readers will recognize the heavy influence from William Morris. But other influences including Mucha, Steinlein, and the era's great poster artists are also apparent. Fortunately for America, Bradley brought the poster movement to the US and created a unique style for America.

From intricate border work, curvilinear shapes, to his spectacular use of positive/negative illustrations, Bradley has a beautiful portfolio that has stood the test of time. With so many influences, his art tells the story of the fin de siecle America. His designs are deceptively simple but intricate in surprising ways that are wonderfully explored in this compilation.

In all, a clean layout and full page presentation, including color in several plates, make this an excellent resource on Bradley, turn of the century US illustration work, art nouveau and arts and crafts. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

I really appreciate how Dover Publications is re-printing a large number of art books that otherwise might be forgotten.

I was not familiar with the name of Will Bradley but his work and his style is very familiar. Bradley was one of the early graphic artists who recognized the opportunities art had in the business world. The book includes a brief, but rather thorough biography of Bradley.

The work itself is in a bold, art nouveau style. Many of the designs appear simple on the surface, but a more solid, careful look at them shows just how intricate and complex the work is.

I'm not sure that I can pick a favorite piece - I really enjoyed the frontispiece to Peter Poodle (1906) with children sitting on chairs that look like cats, and the book cover for Stephen Crane's <em>War is Kind</em> (1899), and the cover for <em>The Romance of Zion Chapel</em> by Richard LeGallienne (1898), and ... well, I really liked most of what is here representing Will Bradley's career.

The book contains a good deal of black and white art, but there are two-color, three-color, and four-color works as well.

Anyone interested in art or graphic arts will want to have this book in their collection.

Looking for a good book? <em>Will Bradley's Graphic Art</em> is a is a reprint of some exceptionally fine graphic art from the turn of the 19th/20th century and well worth having.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.