Mr. J. Allen St. John is one of the youngest of American portrait painters whose work has been accorded recognition by the Society of American Artists, at whose recent exhibitions he has shown a number of interesting portraits. During the last spring opening he exhibited a notable portrait of his uncle, and the year previous a strikingly original portrait of a young artist, one of his colleagues. Both of these works showed a correctness and freedom of drawing above the ordinary, and a certain nervous quality of coloring and pose that stamped the painter as one willing to depart from the beaten tracks. IN fact, his most ambitious and just completed canvas -- a full-length painting of Caroline Miskel Hoyt -- fully justifies the high opinion held of him by those who have followed his career.

Mr. St. John has been under the direct influence of no special teacher, although he has been a pupil and is now a member of the Art Students' League. He speaks frankly of his ideas on all subjects pertaining to his art. "Portrait painting," he remarked, after speaking of his early exhibits of landscapes, "appeals to me as one of the highest branches of the painter's craft. So commonplace when stiffly and uninterestingly treated, but, on the other hand, presenting infinite possibilities  when the idea of making it a work of art holds equal place with that of truthfully rendering the features. For instance, one should look at a portrait as something not merely a likeness or photographic copy of the face alone, but a thing that is the sitter himself, his personality, to the tips of his fingers, the wrinkle of his clothes; and the artist should draw all these in so broad and sympathetic a way that those who do not know the person may yet find pleasure in the counterfeit, the lighting and the harmony of colors. I have painted many portraits of widely different types, striving always for these points, and to-day I am completely fascinated by the exquisite pleasure of studying human nature and transferring it to canvas."

Mr. St. John began his art studies at a very early age. He says, in speaking of his childhood: "My first recollections are my mother's studio, and the eyes of her portraits following me about the place."

His mother's father was Hilliard Hely, an artist of considerable talent who had spent his student life in Paris under the supervision of the worthy masters of those old days of the First Empire. His daughter received her first lessons from him, and later on Mrs. St. John went to Paris to continue her studies, taking the boy with her. "Even as a child," said Mr. St. John, "I found delight in the society of so-called bohemians my mother gathered around her, and one of my greatest pleasures was to ramble at will through the Louvre, the Luxembourg and the countless quaint and charming corners of the unfashionable parts of the city, so dear to all dreamers. But I unconsciously imitated those with whom I was brought in contact, and began to sketch and paint before I could read and write."

Mr. St. John returned to America after some years of this idle, joyous life, and after going through the usual course of schooling his father took him in hand when he reached the age of sixteen and decided to give him the chance of becoming a good, thrifty merchant. He bought him a partnership with a man of practical experience; but the dreamy boy was ill-adapted to the work and rebelled so vigorously that his father sent him, as a last resource, to his uncle's ranch in the San Joaquin valley of California, with the injunction to regain his health, to ride and to shoot, and to become a cowboy, pure and simple, for a time at least.

The lad's mind was still on the happy days of Paris and his early attempts at sketching, when he was suddenly brought into the picturesque scenery and environment of Southern California. While on a trip to Los Angeles he had the good fortune to fall under the influence of Mr. Eugene Torrey, an accomplished artist, and at one time a student in the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. This meeting decided the career of the young man. He threw all other prearranged plans to the winds and spent the next three years studying under his artist friend. He travelled with him from place to place, drawing and painting the old Spanish missions, and seeking inspiration form the glories of the Yosemite and the snow-covered peaks of the Sierra Madre. Dating from this time Mr. St. John has advanced steadily.

J. Allen St. John
(1872-1957)

James Allen St. John was born October 1, 1872 in Chicago. His friends called him "Jim St. John." His father, Dr. Jospehus Allen St. John, was born 1831 in East Hubbarston, Vermont. The St. John family moved to Janesville, Wisconsin in 1837, where they were among the first settlers in the region. They worked a family farm and eventually sent their son Josephus to college, where he studied Allopathic Medicine and became a physician. The artist's mother, Susan Hely, was born 1834 in Ireland. Her father Hilliard Hely (1800-1858) had been a portrait painter and graduate of Dublin's Trinity College. In 1937 her family moved to America and also settled in Janesville, Wisconsin, where they also worked a family farm. In his spare time Susan Hely's father painted portraits and taught his daughter to paint, but she yearned for academic art training.

In 1859 her older brother, George Hely, married Eliza St. John, the older sister of Josephus St. John. That same year Susan and Josephus also married. By 1870 they had moved to Chicago and lived at 311 22nd Street, where Josephus had a private medical practice and Susan attended the Art Institute of Chicago.

The artist's mother was a free spirit. She loved art school and enjoyed the company of Bohemians. She invited two women artists to board at their home. According to the artist, "My first recollections are of my mother's art studio and the magic way the eyes of her portraits followed me as I walked about the place."

In 1880 his mother left his father and moved to Paris to study at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. She brought her eight-year-old son. They lived in Europe for three years, where visits to the great museums made him want to become a painter.

In 1883 at the age of eleven he and his mother returned to America. She decided to continue her studies at the National Academy of Design in New York City, so his supportive father closed up shop in Chicago and moved to a Manhattan townhouse at 231 West 69th Street, where he opened a new medical practice and their son attended public school.

By 1877 his mother completed her training and opened her own portrait studio in the family home.

In 1888 James Allen St. John quit school after completing the eight grade. At that time this was the most common practice. Although he was privileged to attend prep school and ivy league college, he preferred to become an artist. He did not want to enter the work force and he rejected his father's offer to finance his own trading company.

In 1888 at the age of sixteen he left NYC and moved to California to live with his wealthy uncle George Hely, Aunt Eliza St. John Hely, and his three cousins, James, Guy, and Levi St. John Hely, on their two-thousand acre grain and livestock ranch in San Joaquin Valley of Southern California. There he painted landscapes and studied with Eugene Torrey (1862-1930), an acquaintance of his mother's from the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, who was based in Los Angeles as a landscape painter.

In 1891 at the age of nineteen he returned to NYC to live with his parents and study with William Merritt Chase (1849-1916) at the Art Students league.

His first published illustrations were for The New York Herald in 1898, where he continued to work for several years. This exposure led to illustrating several novels.

In 1901 his parents moved back to Chicago, so he remained in NYC and opened his own art studio at 393 Eighth Avenue, near 30th Street, just two blocks south of Pennsylvania Station.

By 1902 at age thirty he was an established illustrator, landscape painter, and portrait artist in NYC.

In 1903 his father became ill, so he closed his art studio and moved back to Chicago to live with his parents and help his mother care for his father.

On April 19, 1904 his father died in Chicago at the age of seventy-two.

He began to work as a commercial artist for publishers in the Chicago mid-western region. He illustrated books, newspapers and magazines. In 1904 he illustrated The Face in the Pool for A. C. McClurg Company of Chicago, which led to his important association with this publisher.

He met Ellen May Munger while learning to type at a secretarial school. She was born July 21, 1884 in Illinois. They married on November 11, 1905.

In 1908 at the age of 36 he returned to Paris, France, with his wife, where he studied for two year at the Academie Julian.

In 1910 he and his wife returned to Chicago and lived with his widowed mother. On October 25, 1913 Susan Hely St. John died at the age of seventy-nine.

In 1913 he and his wife moved to 3 East Ontario Street in Chicago. This remarkable three-story building, known as "The Tree Studio," was designed with living and working areas for resident artists. The St. John's lived on the ground floor, which also included a picturesque private garden.

In 1915 he illustrated chapter headings for The Return of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs for McClurg Publishing. The dust-jacket was painted by N. C. Wyeth. In 1916 he drew the story illustrations as well as the dust-jacket cover for The Beasts of Tarzan. This was the first of many painted covers for Tarzan books, for which the artist is most renowned.

In 1917 he began to teach Painting and Illustration classes at the Art Institute of Chicago. He continued to teach for the rest of his life.

In 1917 at the age of forty-six he was too old to serve in The Great War. He produced several patriotic posters for recruitment and Liberty Bonds to support the war effort.

In the 1920s he illustrated stories for many of the top magazines, such as Colliers, The Rotarian, and Liberty. He also painted covers for The Green Book, The Red Book and Blue Book.

In 1928 he taught a painting class at the Businessmen's Art Association in Chicago, which was a private club for professional artists that worked for newspapers and advertising, but wanted to hone their skills, work from nude models, and enjoy weekend outings to paint landscapes and socialize with other professional artists.

During the years of the Great Depression he worked for Boy's World, Amazing Stories, Fantastic Adventures, Magic Carpet and Weird Tales.

In 1942 at the age of seventy he was too old for draft registration during WWII.

In the 1940s and the 1950s he worked for Amazing Stories, Fantastic Adventures, Fate, Other Worlds, and Mystic Magazine.

In the 1950s he taught Life Class and Illustration at the American Academy of Art in Chicago.

J. Allen St. John died at age eighty-four in Chicago on May 23, 1957.

~ © David Saunders 2012

The Edgar Rice Burroughs / J. Allen St. John Connection
 www.erbzine.com/mag20/2008.html ERBzine 0035 ERB Illustrators
ERBzine 0054 OTIS ADELBERT KLINE GALLERY
ERBzine 0068 J. ALLEN ST. JOHN BIO & ERB CHECKLIST
ERBzine 0069 ST. JOHN MOSAIC
ERBzine 0070 ST. JOHN ILLUSTRATED ERB CHECKLIST
ERBzine 0105 Tarzan the Terrible Art with commentary
ERBzine 0124 Tarzan the Untamed Art I with commentary
ERBzine 0125 Tarzan the Untamed Art II with commentary
ERBzine 0220 Illustrated Reference list of ERB pulp mag appearances from 1912
ERBzine 0239  Sacred Icons of J. Allen St. John by Nkima
ERBzine 0240 Numa's Lair with Guide our Other St. John Sites by Nkima
ERBzine 0247 ERB The Prophet: Inventions, Innovations & Predictions with St. John's Barsoomian Gallery I
ERBzine 0248 ERB Future Visions ~ St. John Barsoomian Gallery II ~ ERB Predictions
ERBzine 0249 ERB The Prophet with St. John's Barsoomian Art III
ERBzine 0272 St John Images of Amtor III
ERBzine 0326 Lord Greystoke Gallery - Pellucidar III - Savage Pellucidar - Land of Terror
ERBzine 0326a Lord Greystoke Gallery - Pellucidar III - Large Images
ERBzine 0422 Frank Schoonover Gallery
ERBzine 0431 St. John At The Earth's Core
ERBzine 0432 Lord Greystoke's Pellucidar Gallery
ERBzine 0485 Beasts of Tarzan Interior Art I
ERBzine 0486 Beasts of Tarzan Interior Art II
ERBzine 0427 Master Mind of Mars Interior Art
ERB C.H.A.S.E.R. Encyclopedia
ERB Illustrated Bibliography ~ Main Gallery
ERB Illustrated Bibliography ~ Gallery A
ERB Illustrated Bibliography ~ Gallery B
ERB Illustrated Bibliography ~ Gallery C
ERB Illustrated Bibliography ~ Gallery D
ERBzine 0682 Illustrated Bibliography by Darrell Richardson (Burroughs Biblio-Pro-Phile)
ERBzine 0602 St. John Early Bio and Colour Gallery I
ERBzine 0683: St. John Gallery II ~ Line Art
ERBzine 1642: St. John Gallery III
ERBzine 1641: The J. Allen St. John "Self Portrait"
ERBzine 2118: Pulp Cover Art I - Amazing
ERBzine 2119: Pulp Cover Art II - Weird and Fantastic
ERBzine 2305: Face in the Pool Art 
ERBzine 2314: Colour Art