Henry J. Soulen, “Chan Chi-tan Saw the Flames Jump Up”, Oil on Canvas, 1938, 32 x 36 Inches, Weisman Museum of Art
Henry J Soulen was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He attended the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts and later studied with Howard Pyle. For many years, his work appeared regularly in most of the quality magazines, and usually in color – even when the use of color was restricted – because of the brilliance of his pallet.
His work is richly colored and strongly patterned. Each of his pictures is treated in a manner appropriate to the lack of pictorial depth of mural painting, and equally, to a magazine cover. He was given a Peabody Award for his magazine cover designs. During World War II, he gave free art lessons at the Valley Forge Military Hospital, a rehabilitation center for veterans.
The painting “Chan Chi-tan Saw the Flames Jump Up” was on page 19 of the Saturday Evening Post, Volume 210, Number 52 on June 25, 1938.