Franklin Booth - Holiday Decoration

6 Comments - 1,310 Views - 0 Like

Previous Item:
Franklin Booth - Invading the Movies (1927)

Next Item:
Franklin Booth - Holiday Decoration (detail)

Artwork Details

Title:	Franklin Booth - Holiday Decoration
Artist:	Franklin Booth (All)
Media Type:	Pen and Ink
Art Type:	Other
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views:	1,310
Likes on CAF:	0 1
Comments:	6
Added to Site:	1/21/2012
Comic Art Archive:

Description

Leaving aside Booth's masterful composition and the intricacy of his pen work, this illustration also presents a bit of a mystery. It, along with it's vertical companion piece of the three kings, (see published version) were created and signed separately suggesting they were done as stand alone illustrations. I haven't seen any other examples of Booth's work where multiple panels of drawings were all incorporated into a single design and signed more than once. Both,and I would assume the other original would bear this out, seem to have been designed as puzzle pieces in which to fit the cherubic figures motif that stretches horizontally across both top and bottom of the published page. White paint has been applied to mask off these areas which originally had been fairly fully rendered. I suspect the horizontal pieces are not by Booth, though the reproduction quality makes this difficult to verify. Whatever the case, they were rendered separately and the whole group was assembled in the pasteup process. When Booth received the originals back, he reworked at least this one as a finished illustration, perhaps for later publication. The obscured line work at the top has been reapplied into the form of a gothic arch. The dab of white at the bottom (it is not a random blob of paint) was inexplicably left alone as blank space. Perhaps it didn't stand out so prominently on the original white of the illustration board. This is all conjecture of course, but it makes for an intriguing backstory to an already spectacular illustration.

Social/Sharing

About the Owner

	Tom B. ( 2 )
Joined:	January 2005
Last Login:	September 2025
Country:	UNITED STATES
On CAF:	Tom's Want List Artworks Commented On Liked Art Site Activity on CAF

Contact the Owner

Use can use a contact form to send an email to this gallery owner,
but, you must be logged in to use this feature.

Comments on this Artwork

You must be logged in to make comments.

Peter P
Member Since 2009

Posted on 1/21/2012

Congrats Tom on acquiring this absolutely beauty!!!

COMIC PARADISE
Member Since 2005

Posted on 1/22/2012

amazing tom. congrats

A. Hybsier
Member Since 2003

Posted on 1/22/2012

wow. gotta love Franklin Booth art. the man was amazing. congrats on this

Ben Friedman
Member Since 2006

Posted on 1/28/2012

Great piece, Tom -- now you just need to find the other side of the art and put them together!!

Johnny C.
Member Since 2010

Posted on 10/12/2016

The usual stunning linework!!

steve staszower
Member Since 2005

Posted on 9/19/2018

I can't believe I've looked at this so may times and never commented. Gorgeous!!!!!!

All
	Dave E 9/6/2025 4:57:00 PM
	Chris Johnson 9/6/2025 4:55:00 PM
	GP Bart 9/6/2025 4:33:00 PM
	Spencer McCarter 9/6/2025 4:31:00 PM
	Mike Haynes 9/6/2025 4:00:00 PM
View All


	Richard Donnelly 9/6/2025 3:45:00 PM
	Paul Handler 9/6/2025 3:40:00 PM
	Chris Dietzel 9/6/2025 3:38:00 PM
	Neil Cambre 9/6/2025 3:23:00 PM
	Greg Morrow 9/6/2025 3:14:00 PM