William Wallace Denslow (; May 5, 1856 – March 29, 1915) was an American illustrator and caricaturist remembered for his work in collaboration with author L. Frank Baum, especially his illustrations of '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz''. Denslow was an editorial cartoonist with a strong interest in politics, which has fueled political interpretations of ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz''.

Biography

Born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

to a tobacco wholesaler, Denslow spent brief periods at the National Academy of Design and the

Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly known as Cooper Union, is a private college on Cooper Square in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-s ...

in New York, but was largely self-educated and self-trained. In the 1880s, he traveled about the United States as an artist and newspaper reporter; he came to Chicago for the

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The ...

in 1893, and chose to stay. Denslow acquired his earliest reputation as a poster artist; he also designed books and bookplates, and was the first artist invited to work at the Roycroft Press. Denslow may have met Baum at the Chicago Press Club, where both men were members. Besides ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'', Denslow also illustrated Baum's books '' By the Candelabra's Glare'', '' Father Goose: His Book'', and '' Dot and Tot of Merryland''. Baum and Denslow held the copyrights to most of these works jointly. After Denslow quarreled with Baum over royalty shares from the 1902 stage adaptation of ''The Wizard of Oz'', for which Baum wrote the script and Denslow designed the sets and costumes, Baum determined not to work with him again. (As co-copyright-holder, Denslow demanded an equal share in royalties with Baum and composer Paul Tietjens.) Denslow illustrated an edition of traditional nursery rhymes titled ''Denslow's Mother Goose'' (1901), along with ''Denslow's Night Before Christmas'' (1902) and the 18-volume ''Denslow's Picture Books'' series (1903–04). He also used his copyright to the art of the Baum books to create newspaper comic strips featuring Father Goose and the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman during the first decade of the twentieth century. The strip, titled ''Denslow's Scarecrow and heTin Man'', was intended to promote a forthcoming sequel he was writing. The strip ran concurrently with '' Queer Visitors from the Marvelous Land of Oz''. He also created the comic strip '' Billy Bounce'', notable as one of the earliest comic strips in which the protagonist has some manner of super powers. The royalties from the print and stage versions of ''The Wizard of Oz'' were sufficient to allow Denslow to purchase Bluck's Island, Bermuda, and crown himself King Denslow I. Denslow wrote and illustrated a children's book called ''The Pearl and the Pumpkin''.

Personal life

Denslow had three wives and three divorces in his lifetime. His first wife, Annie McCartney (née, Anna M. Lowe, 1856–1908) married him in 1882 and gave birth to his only child, a son, the following year. The couple were already separated, however, and Denslow never saw his son. They finally divorced in 1896, freeing her to marry the man she lived with for five months. That same day, February 20, 1896, Denslow married Anne Holden Denslow, the daughter of Martha Holden, writer. The marriage did not last long either. Anne filed for divorce in September 1903, alleging that he told her in June 1901 that he did not love her and henceforth declined to live with her. In less than a month she married a young artist, their friend, Lawrence Mazzanovich, and left with him for Paris. Denslow then married his third wife, Mrs. Frances G. Doolittle December 24. Frances left him in 1906 and they finally divorced in 1911. He changed his will in 1914, leaving his estate to a fourth woman.

Death

Denslow died on March 29, 1915, in the Knickerbocker Hospital, New York City of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

. The cover appeared on the July 1915 issue. He was buried in Kensico Cemetery. A cenotaph exists in

Grove Street Cemetery Grove Street Cemetery or Grove Street Burial Ground is a cemetery in New Haven, Connecticut, that is surrounded by the Yale University campus. It was organized in 1796 as the New Haven Burying Ground and incorporated in October 1797 to replace th ...

, on the more elaborate family stone.

Legacy

In 2018, "The Lost Art of Oz" project was initiated to locate and catalogue the surviving original artwork John R. Neill, W. W. Denslow, Frank Kramer, Richard 'Dirk' Gringhuis and Dick Martin created to illustrate the Oz book series.

References

External links

* * *
Original W.W. Denslow artwork from ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' on www.lostartofoz.com

Hearn, Michael Patrick. “The Man Behind the Man Behind Oz: W.W. Denslow at 150” AIGA July 5, 2006.

at www.dardhunter.com
''Denslow's Humpty Dumpty''
From the Collections at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

''Denslow's Mother Goose''
From the Collections at the

''Denslow's Three Bears''
From the Collections at the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Denslow, W. W. 1856 births 1915 deaths American caricaturists American illustrators American editorial cartoonists American children's book illustrators American fantasy artists American poster artists American comics artists American comic strip cartoonists American costume designers American children's writers Artists from Philadelphia Burials at Kensico Cemetery National Academy of Design alumni Oz (franchise) Cooper Union alumni Gilded Age