Tuesday Art ATTACK- Hugh Joseph Ward - Spicy Adventure Stories Cover April 1937

Hugh Joseph Ward was born on March 8, 1909 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to a working class family. When Ward graduated high school he got a job being a cartoonist for the Philadelphia Inquirer and studied art at the Philadelphia School of Industrial Art at night. By 1931 Ward began his most significant work in the field of pulp illustration. Pulps were sensational adventure magazine that were printed on cheap pulp paper and were very popular in the first half of last century. He became the lead artist at Trojan Publications which made such titles as Lone Ranger, Spicy Adventure, Private Detective, and Bedtime Stories. By the 1940s Ward began working for major magazines and doing national advertisements. In 1944 Ward joined the Army to help fight in World War II. A lifetime heavy smoker it was discovered he had lung cancer while he was in the army. Ward passed away in 1945. This piece really shows Wards dramatic style and skill. It was created in 1937. The painting was done in oil and measures 30" x 21".