by
Armand Cabrera
My copy of the New Dean Cornwell book has finally arrived from Daniel Zimmer and Illustrated Press publishing and it’s everything that was promised. There has only been one other book on Cornwell and that was ‘Dean Cornwell Dean of Illustrators’ by Patricia Broder and published in 1978 and reprinted in 2000. Both editions are long since out of print and very expensive when you can find them.
This new book, The Art of Dean Cornwell, rivals the print production quality of that first book. The total page count for this book is 224 pages with 161 full page images. The binding and paper are first class; the large 12 x 9 vertical format is a change from the other books landscape format but works well with so many of the images full page. The new book is designed like a gallery catalog. Instead of the art being intermingled with text throughout the book, the text is confined to the beginning followed by hundreds of pages of art and then a chronology list for the work at the end.
The artwork looks great and it appears many of the images were shot from the originals. The images span his career and include many charcoal and color studies, outdoor watercolor sketches, pastels, mural work as well as his advertising and illustration work. Some images have close-ups that really allow you to see Cornwell’s paint application. Those that own the first book will find a lot of new material in this effort and the fact that everything is in color makes it even more enjoyable.
If you are a fan of Dean Cornwell this book is a must for your collection. It’s a reasonable price at $44.95 and a beautiful production. Copies are going fast with the limited slipcase version already sold out and the regular version almost sold out.
Update: Since I wrote the article earlier in the week, the regular edition has now sold out according to the publishers website.
Looks like a beautiful book!