Major Felten

Major Felten, also "Felton" (March 19,^[citation needed] 1904 – November^[citation needed] 1975) was an American visual artist and illustrator.[1] He produced modernism style designs in charcoal drawings and other media.[2][3]

Early life

Felten was born March 19, 1904 in Canaan, Connecticut. He spent much of his life in Darien, Connecticut.^[citation needed]

Career

Felten became known for his posters and book illustrations during the 1930s to 1950s. Some of his posters were published by Davis Blue Artwork, a company founded by Robert Blue and Brian Davis.^[citation needed]

Felten provided illustrations for the Ives Washburn 1931 edition of Baudelaire's translated poems The Flowers of Evil.[4]

Felten produced an illustration in the style of Commercial Modernism for the January, 1934, issue of Ladies' Home Journal.[3]

A Major Felten charcoal illustration was used as the basis of the design on a folding screen in a Darien, Connecticut, home featured in a 1936 article in Architecture Magazine.[2]

In 1938, Felten produced illustrations of dancers Barton Mumaw[5] and Ted Shawn.[1] He produced posters for the Jacob's Pillow dance festival, and maintained correspondance with the organization from 1947 to 1971.[6]

Felten produced the cover illustration of the brochure for the 1940 Railroads at the New York World's Fair by the Eastern Railroad Presidents Conference.[7][8]

Also in the 1940s, Felten illustrated several books by Helen Dore Boylston, including her Carol Page[9][10] and Sue Barton[11] series.

References

1. Felton, Major (1938), Ted Shawn, OCLC 824752290, retrieved 2024-03-31
2. Clute, Eugene (March 1936). "MURALS BY PHOTOGRAPHY" (PDF). Architecture. LXXIII (3): 18.
3. Felten, Major (January 1934). "Fiction Illustration". Ladies' Home Journal: 18.
4. "Record Flowers of evil / By Charles Baudeliare; translated by Lewis Piaget Shanks, illustrated by Major Felten | Collections Search Center, Smithsonian Institution". collections.si.edu. Retrieved 2024-03-31.
5. "Jacobs Pillow : File : Barton Mumaw [Barton Mumaw BM003]". archives.jacobspillow.org. Retrieved 2024-03-31.
6. "Jacobs Pillow : File : Major Felten [Major Felten 55 ]". archives.jacobspillow.org. Retrieved 2024-03-31.
7. "Railroads at the New York World's Fair - www.rgusrail.com". www.rgusrail.com. Retrieved 2024-03-31.
8. "Record Railroads at the New York World's Fair, 1940 | Collections Search Center, Smithsonian Institution". collections.si.edu. Retrieved 2024-03-31.
9. B., E. L. (July 16, 1944). "Fledgling Actress; CAROL ON BROADWAY. By Helen Dore Boylston. Illustrated by Major Felten. 222 pp. Boston: Little, Brown & Co. An Atlantic Monthly Press Book. $2".
10. Boylston, Helen Dore (1942). Carol plays summer stock (First ed.). Boston: Little, Brown and company. LCCN 42019681.
11. Boylston, Helen Dore (1949). Sue Barton, Neighborhood Nurse. Little, Brown.