Master Cover Artists no. 10 VERNE TOSSEY
Master
Cover Artists no. 10
VERNE TOSSEY
Verne Tossey nasce a Detroit, Michigan, il 29 marzo 1920. Studia per quattro anni con Frank J. Reilly presso la Art Students League di New York. Successivamente è apprendista presso uno studio d'arte commerciale di New York.
Il suo agente, Bob Gordon, fa sì che dipinga la sua prima copertina per un volume pubblicato da Doubleday nel 1949. Lo
stesso anno inizia a realizzare copertine per i paperbacks pubblicati dalla Avon e, dall'anno seguente, di quelli di Dell, Lion Books, Pocket Books e Signet.
Tossey realizza copertine anche per Ballantine, l'editore che preferisce perché gli lascia maggiore libertà di espressione.
Lavora soprattutto a olio, vernice per manifesti e tempera.
È sua moglie Mary, figlia del proprietario di un ranch del Wyoming, a fargli conoscere a fondo il West e le sue usanze. In breve, Tossey diventa uno dei migliori interpreti grafici del genere Western, che rappresenta spesso con un crudo realismo, quando dipinge cowboys, tribù indiane, cavalli e tipici indumenti Western.
Nelle sue copertine di romanzi gialli tascabili, Tossey rende perfettamente le atmosfere di tensione presenti nei romanzi di autori quali Robert Kyle, Erle Stanley Gardner, Jack Webb, George Harmon Coxe e Stanley Ellin.
Il lavoro di Tossey è come una finestra sull'America più vera. Come ha dichiarato una volta, "quello che cerco di dire è che i miei dipinti fanno a meno di quello che è diventato superficiale, mostrando quella parte di noi che ha fatto dell'America ciò che è oggi".
Negli ultimi anni realizza soltanto dipinti su commissione. Scompare nel 2002.
Verne Tossey was born in Detroit, Michigan on March 29, 1920. He studied for four years with Frank J. Reilly at the Art Students League in New York. Subsequently, he was an apprentice at a commercial art studio in New York.
His agent, Bob Gordon, had him commissioned to paint his first cover for a book published by Doubleday in 1949.
The same year he began painting covers for the paperbacks published by Avon and, as of the following year, for such other publishers as Dell, Lion Books, Pocket Books, and Signet Books.
Tossey also created covers for Ballantine, the publisher he preferred because he was
given more freedom.
He worked mainly in oils, poster paint, and tempera.
It was his wife Mary, the daughter of a Wyoming rancher, who introduced him to the West and its customs. Tossey soon became one of the best graphic interpreters of the Western genre, which he often represented with raw realism, when he painted cowboys, Indian tribes, horses, and typical Western clothing.
In his thriller paperback covers, Tossey perfectly rendered the atmospheres of tension in the novels of such authors as Robert Kyle, Erle Stanley Gardner, Jack Webb, George Harmon Coxe, and Stanley Ellin.
Tossey's works are like windows on genuine America. As he once said, "What I'm trying to say is my paintings dispense with much that has become superficial and shows that part of us which made America what it is today."
In more recent years he only made paintings on commission. He passed away in 2002.
COPERTINE PER LIBRI / BOOK COVER ART
Editore/Publisher: DOUBLEDAY
[Title Unknown] (1949).
COPERTINE E ILLUSTRAZIONI PER RIVISTE / MAGAZINE COVER ART AND ILLUSTRATIONS
Editore/Publisher: HEARST
American Weekly - Copertina / Cover art, 08/30/1953.
Editore/Publisher: OFFICIAL MAGAZINES
Stag - Copertina / Cover art, 07/1956.
Editore/Publisher: ZENITH PUBLISHING
CORP.
Men - Copertina / Cover art, 05/1956.
COPERTINE E PER TASCABILI / PAPERBACK COVER ART
Editore/Publisher: ACE
Battling the Bombers (#D-326, 1958).
We Die Alone (#D-228, 1957).
First on the Rope (#D-222, 1957).
The Frankenscience Monster (#25130, 1969).
The General (#S-256, 1957).
Golden Girl (#S-158, 1956).
Grass Greed (#D-372, 1959).
Great Day in the Morning (#D-206, 1957).
The Insiders (#D-292, 1958).
Left Bank of Desire (#S-104, 1955).
Living It Up (#S-114, 1955).
Look of the Eagle (#D-234, 1957).
Love Me to Death (#D-123, 1955).
Mig Alley (#D-365, 1959).
A Night for Treason (#D-209, 1957).
Night Raider of the Atlantic: The Saga of the U-99 (#D-244, 1957).
Nothing But My Gun (#418, 1960).
Ridin' Through / Savage Valley (#D-216, 1957).
Shakedown Hotel (#D-273, 1958).
The Sulu Sword (#G-386, 1959).
Take It Out in Trade (#D-229, 1957).
The Terrible Swift Sword (#D-250, 1957).
This Bright Sword (#D-278, 1958).
Thunder At Harper's Ferry (#D-395, 1959).
Tiger in the Streets (#D-257, 1957).
The Unknown Soldier (#D-293, 1954).
Wear a Fast Gun (#D-220, 1956).
We Die Alone (#D-228, 1957).
Wild Bill Hickok (#D-466, 1960).
Woman's Doctor (#D-163, 1956).
You've Bet Your Life (#D-221, 1957).
Editore/Publisher: AVON
The Vanishing Gun-Slinger (#514, 1961).
Editore/Publisher: BALLANTINE
The Canyon (#45, 1953).
The Far Command (#32, 1953).
First Blood (#13, 1953).
Silver Rock (#43, 1953).
The Tall Men (#59, 1954).
The Wheel and the Hearth (#15, 1953).
Editore/Publisher: DELL
The Crooked City (First Edition #17, 1954).
The Evil of Time (#841, 1955).
Fort Sun Dance (First Edition #52, 1955).
The Hollow Needle (#757, 1954).
The Key to Nicholas Street (#763, 1954).
Mercy Island (#721, 1953).
Recipe for Homicide (#833, 1955).
Smoky Valley (First Edition #18, 1954).
Two Faces West (First Edition #33, 1954).
Editore/Publisher: LION BOOKS
Two-Gun Texan (#LB85, 1956).
Editore/Publisher: PERMA BOOKS
East Side General (#M-4027, 1957).
Frenchman's River (#M-3024, 1955).
Editore/Publisher: POCKET BOOKS
The Case of the Lonely Heiress (#922, 1952).
I Die Possessed (#1055, 1955).
The Man from Thief River (#914, 1953).
Murder's Nest (#1058, 1955).
My Gun Is My Law (#911, 1952).
Origin of Evil (#926, 1953).
Reclining Figure (#931, 1953).
The Streak (#910, 1952).
Editore/Publisher: SIGNET BOOKS
The Big Sin (#1076, 1953).
Blind Cartridges (#1005, 1953).
Guns of the Frontier (#1140, 1954).
ILLUSTRAZIONI PUBBLICITARIE/ADVERTISING ILLUSTRATIONS
Beer (1950).
Pepsi-Cola (1960).