"Life Magazine - Travel Number April 8, 1926

With John Held Jr. Cover Illustration

ohn Held Jr. was an American cartoonist, printmaker, illustrator, sculptor, and author. One of the best-known magazine illustrators of the 1920s, his most popular works were his uniquely styled cartoons which depicted people dancing, driving, playing sports, and engaging in other popular activities of the era. Held grew up in an artistic family that encouraged his pursuit of arts from the beginning. He began selling pieces of art by the age of nine. Held made an enormous fortune in the 1920s and became a part of the high-society life that he depicted in his art. He had a fairly unpredictable and constantly shifting love life, as he was married four times. He married Myrtle Jennings in 1910. After a divorce, he married Ada Johnson in 1918. During the 1920s the couple adopted three children. He served as constable of Weston, Connecticut and ran for Congress as a Democrat. The campaign was unsuccessful, much to his relief, because he never left his house nor gave a speech. Held was commissioned to illustrate F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby, and his work perfectly captures the novel's atmosphere of glamour and decadence.

Illustrations: John Held Jr.
Dated: 1926
Publisher: Life
Edition: First Edition
Size: 4to
Binding: Softcover
Type: Magazines
Notes & Literature: With rare double page center fold by Charles Dana Gibson

Condition Report: Good