John R. Neill
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other persons named John R. Neill, see John R. Neill (disambiguation).
John Rea Neill (November 12, 1877 - September 13, 1943) was a children's book illustrator primarily known for illustrating more than forty stories set in the Land of Oz, including L. Frank Baum's, Ruth Plumly Thompson's, and three of his own. His pen-and-ink drawings have become identified almost exclusively with the Oz series. He also did a great deal of magazine illustration work which is not as well known today.
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, John R. Neill did his first illustration work for the Philadelphia's Central High School newspaper in 1894-95. He then turned to advertising art for the Wanamaker department store in Philadelphia. He became a staff artist of the Philadelphia North American newspaper, for which he produced features like 'Life Among the Macaronis', 'The Fate of a Crown' (based on a book by L. Frank Baum), 'Children's Stories That Never Grow Old' and the Sunday page 'The Little Journeys of Nip and Tuck', with verses by W.R. Bradford (1909-1910).He was first commissioned to illustrate The Marvelous Land of Oz, the second Oz book L. Frank Baum wrote, published in 1904; The Wonderful Wizard of Oz had been illustrated by W. W. Denslow, with whom Baum argued and lost contact afterwards.
Originally, Neill's illustrations were reminiscent of Denslow's to bring continuity and familiarity to the characters. Denslow's illustrations had been quite popular. However, as the series expanded, Neill brought his own unique flair to the illustrations, showing more artistic representations of the characters as well as beautiful paintings of numerous scenes. In fact, he was later named the Royal Painter of Oz.
Dorothy drawn by Denslow appeared to be a chubby five or six year old with long brown hair in two braids. Neill chose to illustrate a new Dorothy in 1907 when the character was reintroduced in Ozma of Oz. He illustrated the young girl in a more fashionable appearance. She is shown to be about ten years old, dressed in contemporary American fashions, with blonde hair cut in a fashionable bob. A similar modernization was given other female characters.
Neill continued to illustrate the Oz books after Baum's death, and his artwork was praised for helping give Ruth Plumly Thompson's books "legitimacy" in the eyes of Baum's fans. Neill would eventually succeed Thomspson as the designated "Oz historian" and write several books himself.
The Oz books he wrote for the firm of Reilly & Lee are considered part of the Famous Forty, and appeared one a year from 1940 to 1942. These were The Wonder City of Oz, The Scalawagons of Oz, and Lucky Bucky in Oz. He had completed a draft of The Runaway in Oz at his death but had not illustrated or edited it. Reilly & Lee decided not to publish the manuscript, and it lay incomplete until 1995, when it was published by Books of Wonder with illustrations by Eric Shanower.
