Harve C. Stein
American illustrator, 1904–1996
In 1927, he illustrated stories in Scribner's Magazine and the Sunday Magazine of The New York Herald Tribune. In 1931, he illustrated fiction stories for several nationwide magazines, such as The Delineator, Woman's World, The American Girl, The Farmer's Wife, and Liberty.
In 1933 he illustrated Louisa May Alcott's Little Women and Little Men for Garden City Publications. In a public lecture at the time he is quoted as saying, "Illustration is as much a fine art as any other form of painting. In fact, illustrating requires much more knowledge of specific types and settings than other kinds of art. Moreover, it requires a literary sense for the illustrator can make the story more vivid and appealing to the reader. Illustrating is very difficult to do, because you have a limited time in which to select your models, brush up your expertise on the historical period and complete your painting. An illustrator's knowledge of historical periods must be very accurate. Furthermore he must have a grasp of settings, types, subjects, costumes, and architecture at his finger tips. One of the most difficult challenges facing an illustrator is when he is required to draw a picture of a girl whom the author only describes as 'the most beautiful girl he has ever seen.' What was the author's idea of the most beautiful girl, and what is the reader's idea of the most beautiful girl? That is for the illustrator to decide. The success of the whole story may depend upon the artist's conception of the most beautiful girl!"
During the 1930s, Lassell worked for pulp magazines such as Blue Book, Double Action Stories, Argosy, and Love Book. In 1944 he was the Founding Chairman of the Commercial Illustration Department at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence.
In 1947 he became a painting teacher at the New London (CT) Art Students League.
Person TypeIndividual
Terms
British painter, illustrator, and designer, 1845–1915
American painter and illustrator, 1866–1924
American illustrator and stage designer, 1884–1962
German painter, 1882–1962, active in the United States
American illustrator, 1864–1917
American illustrator, 1873–1948
