ARTIST: Norman Blaine Saunders (New York, Minnesota, Nebraska, 1907 - 1989)
NAME: A Rope for the Rogues
YEAR: 1960
MEDIUM: gouache on paper
CONDITION: Excellent. Framed under glass.
SIGHT SIZE: 17 x 24 inches / 43 x 60 cm
FRAME SIZE: 29 x 36 inches / 73 x 90 cm
SIGNATURE: Unsigned, credited in the magazine for the image.
NAME VARIANTS: Blaine Saunders
NOTE: Comes with copy of the original magazine and letters from artist's son David to Steven Spilger;
An image of this painting appears on page 224 of the Norman Sounders book.
PROVENANCE: Illustration for Real Magazine, October 1960th, pages 26-27 (credited in the magazine);
Painting was preserved in the private collection of Norman Saunders until his death in 1989 because he was proud of it;
Was inherited by artist's son David Saunders;
Was sold in 2010 to Steven Spilger to raise money to pay for printing the H.J.Ward book with The Illustrated Press.
CATEGORY: antique vintage painting
SKU#: 116083
US Shipping $120 + insurance.

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Norman Blaine Saunders (New York, Minnesota, Nebraska, 1907 - 1989)
Norman Blaine Saunders was a prolific 20th-century American commercial artist. He is best known for paintings in pulp magazines, paperbacks, men's adventure magazines, comic books and trading cards. On occasion, Saunders signed his work with his middle name, Blaine.
Saunders was born in Minot, North Dakota, but his earliest memories were from the family's homestead near Bemidji in northern Minnesota where he and his parents lived in a one-room cabin. He recalled moving north at age seven, to Roseau County on the Canada??“US border, where his father was a game warden and a touring Presbyterian minister. "A tribe of the Chippewa Indians were there and by the time I was 12, was practically a blood brother."
Saunders' career was launched when his contributions to Captain Billy's Whiz Bang resulted in a job with Fawcett Publications, where he was employed from 1928 to 1934.
He left Fawcett to become a freelance pulp artist, moved to New York City and studied under Harvey Dunn at the Grand Central School of Art. He painted for all the major publishers and was known for his fast-action scenes, his beautiful women and his ability to meet a deadline. He worked in almost any genre??”Westerns, weird menace, detective, sports and the saucy pulps (sometimes signed as "Blaine"). He was able to paint very quickly, producing 100 paintings a year??”two a week from 1935 through 1942??”and thus lived well during the Depression era.
During World War II, Saunders served with the Military Police overseeing German prisoners. Transferred to the Army Corps of Engineers, he supervised the construction of a gas pipeline following the Burma Road. During his off hours, he painted watercolors of Burmese temples.
In 1958, Saunders obtained his first assignment from the trading cards company Topps, painting over photographs of baseball players who had been traded, so that they would appear to be wearing the jersey of their new team. Topps soon employed Saunders to create artwork for many other cards, including the 1962 Mars Attacks series and the Batman TV series in 1966.
Product developer Len Brown, inspired by Wally Wood's cover for EC Comics' Weird Science #16, pitched the idea to art director Woody Gelman. Wood fleshed out his and Gelman's initial sketches, and Bob Powell did the final designs. Saunders painted the 55-card set.
The cards were test marketed by Topps through a dummy corporation called Bubbles, Inc. under the name Attack From Space. Sales were sufficient to expand the marketing, and the name was changed to Mars Attacks. The cards sparked parental and community outrage over their graphic violence and implied sexuality. Topps responded initially by repainting 13 of the cards to reduce the gore and sexuality; then, following inquiries from a Connecticut district attorney, Topps agreed to halt production.
Saunders also produced a number of less well known trading-card series, including Ugly Stickers, Nutty Initials, Make Your Own Name Stickers and Civil War News.
Saunders married Ellene Politis in 1947. Their daughter, Zina Saunders, is also an illustrator for magazines, books and trading cards. Their son, David Saunders, is a painter-sculptor who designed the "Apple Fence" at New York's Laguardia Airport.