John White Alexander: Magazine Illustrations on Location

"Robert Louis Stevenson"
by John White Alexander

"After John White Alexander's return from Europe, he continued illustrating for Harper's. He and Fred Muller made a voyage down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers in the towboat of a large coal fleet, which was described by Mr. Muller in an article, 'King Coal's Highway,' for which Mr. Alexander made a series of illustrations. 

Alexander also spent two summers abroad. The first summer, in 1884, he went to Spain and Morocco; the second summer, that of 1886, he went for 'The Century Company' to do work for that magazine - a series of portraits, including Thomas Hardy, Alphonse Daudet, Austin Dobson, George Bancroft and Robert Louis Stevenson. Stevenson was living at at Skerryvore, Bournemouth, in the south of England, and Alexander stayed with him there. On July 11, 1886, Stevenson wrote to his family about the portrait which was published in 'The Century' for April, 1888; and later in a letter written to Henry James, Stevenson refers to Alexander, this time to 'the dear Alexander,' whom he says he has just seen. The portrait of George Bancroft appeared in 'The Century' for January, 1887, and the Hardy portrait in July, 1893. 

Alexander also spent a month or six weeks in Ireland that year, doing a number of illustrations, interesting landscape sketches, for a series of articles about Ireland by Charles de Kay, which appeared in 'The Century' during 1889 and 1890."

To be continued

(Excerpts from "John White Alexander: A Biographical Sketch" by H.M. B. for "The American Magazine of Art.")