Pulp Artist Jerome Rozen

March 1936

Jerome Rozen  was born in Chicago in 1895 but when he was four years old his parents relocated to Flagstaff, Arizona. They moved back to Chicago when he was 15. He had a twin brother named George.

In 1914 the indecisive family once again moved to Arizona. George became a telegraph operator while Jerome studied art.

In 1918 Jerome was drafted into the Army for the World War and was stationed in France, where after the armistice in 1919 he was at liberty to visit the Louvre Museum in Paris. After returning home he decided to attend the Art Institute of Chicago. He graduated in 1921 and by 1923 he was hired as an art instructor. During one semester he even taught his twin brother, George, who had decided to follow Jerome into commercial art.

In 1931 he painted the four earliest original pulp magazine covers for The Shadow, but starting with the January 1932 issue he was suddenly replaced by his brother George, who went on to become The Shadow's more renowned cover artist, while Jerome branched out into the more lucrative and prestigious fields of advertising and slick magazine illustration. He worked for such magazines as Country Home, Boy's Life, Good Housekeeping, Liberty, Pictorial Review, Redbook, and The Saturday Evening Post.

By 1942 Rozen had been out of the fast-paced slick magazine market for four years due to severe injuries in a car accident that took his wife's life.. He was finally able to re-start his career by painting pulp covers for Western Aces, Mystery Magazine, Ten Detective Aces, Wings, Thrilling Adventures, and 10-Story Detective.

1944 ad

After the war, he painted ads for Shell Oil and others, and illustrated magazines such as Boy's Life and Look.

1961 ad

Sep 1935

Dec 1935

Feb 1938