Oil on board painting used for book cover

[sarahd53]

I am wondering about this painting and the artist who made it. Hard to read the signature, but the back says Cover Windom's Way. After searching I found the book cover and information about the book, but having a tough time figuring out who the artist is. Can anyone help point me in the right direction? 

[sarahd53]

I should search a little more before writing these 😂

Found a listing for the book and it states on the back that the cover artist is Tom Dunn

[donsdetour]

If real and not a copy by a different artist, could be good.

Find an authinticator for such...

[maxine*j]

The cover painting for the book was done by Tom Dunn.

If you look at this listing, there is a photo of the back cover of the book with that information:

\https://www.ebay.com/itm/Windoms-Way-by-James-Ramsey-Ullman-Pocket-1008-1st-Prt-Apr-1954-/2517795903...

Whether yours is the original work by Tom Dunn, or a copy of the cover art done by someone else, I cannot say.

[maxine*j]

My apologies.  Another cross-post.  I really am done here.  Too frustrating to keep looking like an idiot because posts are not showing and I'm just making unnecessary replies.

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[donsdetour]

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@maxine*j wrote:

My apologies.  Another cross-post.  I really am done here.  Too frustrating to keep looking like an idiot because posts are not showing and I'm just making unnecessary replies.

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Dont be happens to all of us... 

[melda58]

If it were mine and I wanted to sell it, I would do so with the caveat "attributed to" unless I had provenance to go with it.  From what I can see, the details match up pretty well but of course that isn't proof.

Rita

[sonomabarn67]

You should take a few more close ups of details like the hand holding the glass. If yours is the original, it has faded. Have you looked for other Tom Dunn covers to compare. My eye says it looks to be a faded original. Oil on board but... maybe a gouache which explains the fading as oils don't usually fade.

[sonomabarn67]

Also, if cleaned and varnished it might start to look more like the cover we see in the pic.

[debora_34_]

Given he produced covers for pulp books , Tom Dunn would be considered a commercial illustrator, not an artist.   No reason why yours isn't the original cover art; it would have "heavied up" or become darker in the printing process.   Cleaning and/or varnishing it will negatively impact value.   And there does appear to be a market for his work.

[sonomabarn67]

No, I disagree. Have you ever been to a museum? All or say, most of the paintings in museums have been cleaned/restored as part of a proper, ongoing plan to preserve them. I'm not suggesting that the OP do this work but rather a qualified restorer. If museums have this work done then why would it be out of place for the owner of a dirty, faded work to have the same work done? Having said that, we don't know the value of the Dunn and if the cover is even worth restoring.  Removing grime and surface dirt is a good step if it has any value.

[argon38]

I'm with Debora in thinking that OP should leave it as is. Work on it prior to sale will eat into any prospective profits without any guarantee of enhanced value (it might even reduce collector interest). And the fact the book cover is garishly bright doesn't necessarily mean the original artwork looked that way.

[maxine*j]

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@sonomabarn67 wrote:

No, I disagree. Have you ever been to a museum? All or say, most of the paintings in museums have been cleaned/restored as part of a proper, ongoing plan to preserve them. I'm not suggesting that the OP do this work but rather a qualified restorer. If museums have this work done then why would it be out of place for the owner of a dirty, faded work to have the same work done? Having said that, we don't know the value of the Dunn and if the cover is even worth restoring.  Removing grime and surface dirt is a good step if it has any value.

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And that's the key point.  We cannot say with certainty that this was painted by Tom Dunn and is the original artwork for the book cover.  Even if it is, we don't know if it has enough value to justify the rather hefty cost of restoration. 

While I agree with you that it looks faded, we don't know if the colors of the original (if this is the original by Tom Dunn) were ramped up by the printers for the book cover itself.

Anyhow, a bit of biographical information on Dunn (1922 - 2005) and several examples of his work:

https://unobtainium13.com/2016/07/11/artist-profile-tom-dunn-1922-2004/

and

https://pulpcovers.com/tag/tomdunn/

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[maxine*j]

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@melda58 wrote:

If it were mine and I wanted to sell it, I would do so with the caveat "attributed to" unless I had provenance to go with it.  From what I can see, the details match up pretty well but of course that isn't proof.

Rita

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Ah, PROVENANCE!   Maybe two people in a thousand who come here for help ever give us that, or even a hint as to a piece's history with them.   😖

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[argon38]

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@maxine*j wrote:

Anyhow, a bit of biographical information on Dunn (1922 - 2005) and several examples of his work:

https://unobtainium13.com/2016/07/11/artist-profile-tom-dunn-1922-2004/

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"Honest men and women rightly shunned this

Soldier of Fortune

but Jane Hoyt was desperate."

😀