Hans Waldemar Wessolowski

German-American illustrator (1894–1948)

Hans Waldemar Wessolowski
Born(1894-08-19)August 19, 1894
Graudenz, German Empire
DiedMay 12, 1948(1948-05-12) (aged 53)
Norwalk, Connecticut
StyleScience fiction, pulp fiction
Amazing Stories Quarterly, Fall 1929, cover art by Wesso

Hans Waldemar Wessolowski (August 19, 1894 – May 12, 1948) was a German-American artist best known under the pseudonym "Wesso" for his many cover illustrations for early pulp magazines in the 1930s and 1940s.

Career

Hans Waldemar Wessolowski[1] was born August 19, 1894,[2] in the city of Graudenz in the German Empire (now part of Poland).[3] He had a brother and a sister.[4] He studied art at the Royal School of Art in Berlin, and started his career at the satire magazine Simplicissimus.[3]

Blind in one eye, Wessolowski was rejected for military service. Anxious to see the world, he joined the German merchant navy. Dissatisfied with the hard work required, he jumped ship in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1912. He became a naturalized American citizen in 1913.[3]

He signed his work "Wesso", and it is this name that is most commonly cited when his art is given credit.[5] He worked for a wide range of pulp magazines, including Amazing Stories, Astounding Stories, and Strange Tales.[6] and Clues.

He got his first job as a cover artist when editor Harry Bates hired him in September 1929 to draw the cover for the first issue of Astounding Stories. Wesso had never heard of science fiction before. His covers were brightly colored and eye-catching. He was particularly proficient at drawing monsters, and less so at depicting advanced technology.[7] He drew the covers for Astounding Stories every month until Howard V. Brown took over cover art duties[8] in October 1933.[9] He created 34 covers for the magazine.[10]

Editor Hugo Gernsback tried to hire Wesso as a cover artist for Amazing Stories, but the artist refused to accept the low fee Gernsback offered.[7]

In 1940, Wesso joined the New York Daily News as a staff artist.[4] He ceased working for pulp magazines after 1942, except for the occasional commission.

Death

Hans Wessolowski died at the age of 53 at Norwalk Hospital in Norwalk, Connecticut, on May 12, 1948.[11] He left a wife, but no children.[4]

Notes

  1. ^ Artist Biography & Facts Hans Waldemar Wesso - askART
  2. ^ "H. W. Wesso". Internet Science Fiction Database. 2024. Retrieved August 18, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c Käther, Matthias (2021). "Hommage an Hans Wessolowski (1894-1948)". In Käther, Matthias (ed.). Fantastic Pulp 2 (in German). Windeck, Germany: BLITZ-Verlag. pp. 1–2. ISBN 9783957196132. In Graudenz (das heute zu Polen gehört) 1894 geboren, begann er seine Karriere beim legendären Müncher Satiremagazin ,,Simplicissimus'', nachdem er an der Königlichen Akademie Belin sein Handwerk gelernt hatte. Durch sein fehlendes Auge werde er vom Militärdiesnt befruit — verspürte aber nach geraumer Zeit doch eine unstillbare Abenteuerlust und ging zur deutchsen Handelsmarine. Des harten Dienstes überdrüssig, sprang er 1912 in der Nähe von New Orleans uber Bord and schwamm an Land. Schon 1913 gelang ihm die Einbürgerung, under er wurde amerikanischer Staatsbürger.
  4. ^ a b c "Newspaper Artist Dies". Fitchburg Sentinel. May 13, 1948. p. 4.
  5. ^ del Rey, Lester (2021). The World of Science Fiction, 1926–1976: The History of a Subculture. Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Routledge. p. 52. ISBN 9780367748395.
  6. ^ Ed Hulse, The Blood 'n' Thunder Guide to Collecting Pulps. Murania Press, 2009, ISBN 0-9795955-0-9 (pp. 187, 210).
  7. ^ a b Ashley, Michael; Lowndes, Robert A.W. (2004). The Gernsback Days: A Study of the Evolution of Modern Science Fiction From 1911 to 1936. Holicong, Pa.: Wildside Press. p. 162. ISBN 9780809510559.
  8. ^ Carper, Steve (2019). Robots in American Popular Culture. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company. p. 136. ISBN 9781476670416.
  9. ^ Ashley, Michael (2000). The History of the Science-Fiction Magazine. Volume 1: The Time Machines: The Story of the Science-Fiction Pulp Magazines From the Beginning to 1950. Liverpool, UK: Liverpool University Press. p. 38. ISBN 9780853238553.<
  10. ^ Nevala-Lee, Alec (January 10, 2019). "How Astounding Saw the Future". The New York Times. Retrieved August 18, 2024.
  11. ^ "Hans Wessolowski". Hartford Courant. May 14, 1948. p. 6.
  • Works by Hans Waldemar Wessolowski at Project Gutenberg
  • Hans Waldemar Wessolowski at ISFDB