James Francis Graves Gladney (December 11, 1907 – March 24, 1976) was an illustrator known for his cover paintings for

Street & Smith Street & Smith or Street & Smith Publications, Inc., was a New York City publisher specializing in inexpensive paperbacks and magazines referred to as dime novels and pulp magazine, pulp fiction. They also published comic books and sporting year ...

pulp magazines, especially ''

The Shadow The Shadow is a fictional character created by American magazine publishers Street & Smith and writer Walter B. Gibson. Originally created to be a mysterious radio show narrator and developed into a distinct literary character in 1931 by Gibs ...

''. He was the son of Katherine Lewis Graves and Franklin Young Gladney, a successful lawyer and author of several articles and books on patent law. After graduating from high school, Gladney attended

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...

, from which he graduated in 1928. After the end of World War II, he accepted a job as a teacher at the

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

School of Fine Arts The School of Fine Arts or College of Fine Arts is the official name or part of the name of several schools of fine arts, often as an academic part of a larger university. These include: The Americas North America *Alabama School of Fin ...

. He was a keen

big game hunter Big-game hunting is the hunting of large game animals for Trophy hunting, trophies, taxidermy, meat, and commercially valuable animal product, animal by-products (such as horn (anatomy), horns, antlers, tusks, bones, fur, body fat, or special o ...

and trap shooter and so, being a marksman, he served as a gunnery instructor in World War 2. Posted to the

82nd Airborne Division The 82nd Airborne Division is an Airborne forces, airborne infantry division (military), division of the United States Army specializing in Paratrooper, parachute assault operations into hostile areasSof, Eric"82nd Airborne Division" ''Spec Ops ...

, he made airborne landings during the

Normandy invasion Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful liberation of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 ( D-Day) with the ...

and Operation Market Garden. He was, at his death, professor of

fine art In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function (such as ...

s at

. The original oil painting of his January 1941 cover for ''The Shadow'' was exhibited at the university's

Olin Business School The Olin Business School is the business school and one of seven academic schools at Washington University in St. Louis. The school offers undergraduate, master's, doctoral, and executive programs. Olin has more than 20,000 alumni across the w ...

. This was from his main period of activity for ''The Shadow'', producing all the covers from April 1939 to the end of 1941.

References

1907 births 1976 deaths Académie Julian alumni Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art Amherst College alumni American magazine illustrators United States Army personnel of World War II Washington University in St. Louis faculty {{US-illustrator-stub