Frank Rudolph Paul was born April 18, 1884 in Vienna, Austria. He studied architecture in Vienna, and he also studied in Paris, London, and New York City.
His first published works in America were graphic designs for a small Jersey City newspaper, The New Jersey Journal, where he was discovered by Hugo Gernsback in 1914.
Along with painting the cover for Gernsback's first issue of Amazing Stories in April 1926, Paul also created all of the interior story illustrations as well.
Frank R. Paul spent the rest of his life as the primary artist on most Gernsback publications, including Science Wonder Stories, Air Wonder Stories, and Wonder Stories.
Frank R. Paul also worked for other pulp publishers, including Fiction House and Martin Goodman.
In defense of his seemingly outrageous images in science fiction magazines, the artist is quoted as saying,"When I run into a story so bizarre that it seems to have too much of a muchness, I remind myself that our great-great-grandfathers would have pooh-poohed prophesies of radio and television and aviation. Many of our magagazine authors are military men, doctors, chemists, and scientists."
During WWII Paul worked as a draftsman in shipyards in Florida and California.
He also did freelance illustrations for New York book publishers and executed private mural commissions.
He married Rudolpha C. Rigelsen and they raised four children.
According to Ray Bradbury, "As for me, Frank R. Paul romanced me with future architectures when I was eight, summoning me to cities lost in the Time Ahead until he landed me in shocks of joy, in the colored facades and high-rises of the Chicago World's Fair."
Frank R. Paul died in Teaneck, New Jersey, at age 79 on June 29, 1963.
© David Saunders 2009 |
