Major Felten, also "Felton" (March 19, 1904 – November 1975) was an American

visual artist The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics (art), ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual a ...

and

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicate ...

. He produced

modernism Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

style designs in charcoal drawings and other media.

Early life

Felten was born March 19, 1904 in

Canaan, Connecticut Canaan is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 1,080 at the 2020 census, down from 1,234 at the 2010 census. The town is part of the Northwest Hills Planning Region. The town of Canaan is often referred ...

. He spent much of his life in

Darien, Connecticut Darien ( ) is a coastal town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. With a population of 21,499 and a land area of just under , it is the smallest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast (Connecticut), Gold Coast. Situated on the Long Island ...

Career

Felten became known for his posters and book illustrations during the 1930s to 1950s. Some of his posters were published by Davis Blue Artwork, a company founded by Robert Blue and Brian Davis. Felten provided illustrations for the Ives Washburn 1931 edition of Baudelaire's translated poems '' The Flowers of Evil''. 20th-century American illustrators American poster artists 1904 births 1975 deaths Felten produced an illustration in the style of Commercial Modernism for the January, 1934, issue of

Ladies' Home Journal ''Ladies' Home Journal'' was an American magazine that ran until 2016 and was last published by the Meredith Corporation. It was first published on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th centur ...

. A Major Felten charcoal illustration was used as the basis of the design on a folding screen in a

, home featured in a 1936 article in Architecture Magazine. In 1938, Felten produced illustrations of dancers Barton Mumaw and

Ted Shawn Ted Shawn (born Edwin Myers Shawn; October 21, 1891 – January 9, 1972) was an American dancer and choreographer. Considered a pioneer of American modern dance, he created the Denishawn School together with his wife Ruth St. Denis. After their ...

. He produced posters for the

Jacob's Pillow Jacob's Pillow is a Dance studio, dance center, school and performance space located in Becket, Massachusetts, in the Berkshires. The facility itself was listed as a National Historic Landmark District in 2003. History The site of Jacob's Pi ...

dance festival, and maintained correspondance with the organization from 1947 to 1971. Felten produced the cover illustration of the brochure for the 1940 ''Railroads at the New York World's Fair'' by the Eastern Railroad Presidents Conference. Also in the 1940s, Felten illustrated several books by

Helen Dore Boylston Helen Dore Boylston (April 4, 1895 – September 30, 1984) was the American writer of the popular "Sue Barton (juvenile series), ''Sue Barton''" nurse series and "''Carol Page''" actor series. Biography Born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Portsmo ...

, including her ''Carol Page'' and '' Sue Barton'' series.

References

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