If people are going to judge your book by its cover, you want an artist like Robert A. Maguire (August 3, 1921 – February 26, 2005) painting your bookjacket. From the 1940s to the 1990s Robert Maguire’s artwork sold a lot of books. In the world of pulp paperbacks, when newspapers weren’t reviewing these lurid tales, the covers had to draw the reader’s attention at the bookstore. You follow that up with a kickass opening line and that prospective reader is parting with their coin.
Robert McGinnis might be the most prolific and possibly the most famous pulp paperback artist, but Robert Maguire’s artwork is something special. His art tells such a story, you see it and you immediately get it. Typically there’s a girl, a gun, and a dead guy. And when it comes to painting a girl, a gun, and a dead guy – not many people are better than Maguire.
During World War II, Maguire joined the 88th Infantry and fought in Italy. According to himself, he was a decent shot.
I was very accurate, but couldn’t always tell what I was shooting at, which could be a problem.
Robert Maguire
It was while he was in the Army that he made his first commissioned artwork. His commanding officers had him draw roses so they could send them home for Mother’s Day. After the war, and art school, he got an agent and started painting paperbacks.
According to this website (where I’m getting all of these quotes) he didn’t have time to read the books so he would get a brief synopsis when he would get work. Because I’m interested in this kind of stuff, here’s how he said he would work.
I used to come in with 5 or six sketches, black and white drawings, as different as I could possibly make them, and they loved them. A lot of artists high on the totem would only bring one or two sketches in. When they OK’d one of mine, I’d sometimes do a color rough for myself. The hardest part for me is doing the color rough. That’s the planning. Then when you execute the actual painting, all your problems are solved.
Robert Maguire from American Art Archives
OK, onto the artwork.
Maguire Pulp Covers
