Post #390319 by bigbrotiki on Sat, Jun 28, 2008 1:01 PM

These wood block prints, especially the last one, remind me very much of some of the work of Armstrong Sperry, adventure story illustrator and writer in the first half of the 20th Century. Here is a 1933 bio:

ARMSTRONG SPERRY. He happens to be numbered among our artists this month but you will remember in our June issue he was both artist and author of the story South Sea Adventure. He has lived in the South Sea Islands and knows intimately the background of these romantic places. He was born in Connecticut but his grandfathers were New England sea captains and from them he inherited a desire to roam. After he had become a successful commercial artist and illustrator in New York City, he suddenly packed his trunk and sailed for Tahiti. From there he took a small schooner and headed for Bora Bora, where he lived for six months, learning native songs and eating such native foods as breadfruit, baked fish, oranges, papayas, and coconuts. A charming book telling of a day in the life of a small South Sea island boy, written and illustrated by Mr. Sperry, has just been published.

I culled this bio from his granddaughter's website, which has some great info and links, but is unfortunately a little rambling.
http://www.ogram.org/sperry/index.shtml

I really wanted to use two illustrations from Sperry's greatest success, the 1941 "Call It Courage" in my new book Tiki Modern:

This one:

..and this one:

These two are among the most evocative Tiki images I have seen from that period. Unfortunately, the publisher who holds the rights to Call It Courage wanted to much money for them, thus preventing them to be seen by a new generation of Polynesiacs.

Here are two more small idols from the book that show he knew his stuff:

I am glad that an artist today can capture that style, and am looking forward to have "Fern Twilight" up on my wall. :)