The Artistry of the Western Paperback

During the 1940s and 1950s, book illustrators created dynamic and engaging paperback covers for western tales of cowboys, villains, duels, and danger. They might not have been sold in galleries or taken months to complete, but they remain testaments to talent and skill. Study the works of A. Leslie Ross, Robert Stanley, George Gross, Stanley Borack, Tom Ryan, and Frank McCarthy, and decide: is it art or something else? Does it belong on a bookshelf, on exhibit, or both?