Neill, John R.
Neill, John R. [John Rea Neill] (1877–1943),definitive illustrator of Oz books. Trained at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Neill was 25 when he got his big break—little suspecting that he would spend the next 41 years as ‘Imperial Illustrator of Oz’. He was hired to succeed W. W. Denslow as L. Frank Baum's illustrator after a bitter copyright dispute over The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900). Insolvent, Baum hoped that a sequel would solve his financial woes. It did (temporarily). The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904), a profusely illustrated text with 16 colour plates, 24 full‐page line drawings and over 100 smaller pictures, was an immediate success, and Neill continued his collaboration. He had a beautifully detailed style similar to Arthur Rackham's and an economy of line, evidenced in his trademark...
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