Harper's young people - New Year's number

Harper & Brothers began publication of Harper’s New Monthly Magazine in 1850. It was renamed Harper’s Monthly Magazine in the 1900 Christmas issue. Edward Penfield served the Harpers as staff illustrator, editor, and art director from 1890 to 1901. Penfield created his first lithograph for Harper’s Magazine in 1893. He made posters advertising each successive issue of the magazine for over seven years. Penfield also created advertisements and cover designs for books published by Harper and Brothers.

Born in Boston in 1868, William Henry Bradley was an American Art Nouveau illustrator and artist. Largely self-taught as an artist, he began working in a printer’s shop at the age of twelve. Like many French artists of that time, he borrowed stylistic elements from Japanese prints, working in flat, broad color planes and cropped forms. Bradley embraced the Art Nouveau movement and was influenced by the work of the English illustrator Aubrey Beardsley. His 1894 design for Chicago's Chap-Book magazine, titled The Twins, has been called the first American Art Nouveau poster. Nicknamed the "Dean of American Designers" by The Saturday Evening Post, he was the highest-paid American artist of the early 20th century.