Movement, Style, School or Type of Art:
Illustration

St. John, while best known for his numerous book and pulp cover illustrations, was also a portraitist and landscape painter of high reputation.

Date and Place of Birth:
October 1, 1872, Chicago, Illinois

Life:
James Allen was the son of a painter and had early, fond memories of absorbing the Parisian art scene with her. (Ha!) After showing himself ill-suited for a "respectable" business career, his peeved father sent him West to become a cowboy. Once there, he instead took up with painter Eugene Torrey - which led to studies at the Art Students' League in New York, the Academy Julian in Paris and a hugely successful career. He is best known for illustrating the Edgar Rice Burroughs Tarzan books.

Important Works:

Liberty Loan poster competition award, 1918
Tarzan and the Golden Lion dustjacket and 8 interior plates, 1923
Tarzan at the Earth's Core wraparound dustjacket and frontispiece, 1930
Professor of Life Drawing and Illustration, American Academy of Art, 1935-56

Date and Place of Death:
May 23, 1957, Chicago, Illinois