~ 1900 – 1976
Margaret Hedda Brundage (née Johnson) as an American pulp magazine cover artist renowned for her sensational, pastel-rendered illustrations that defined the visual identity of Weird Tales during the 1930s. Often called the "Frank Frazetta of the 1930s" for her lurid depictions of fantasy and horror, Brundage was one of the few women working in the male-dominated pulp industry, creating 66 covers for Weird Tales (including all nine for Robert E. Howard's Conan the Cimmerian stories) and several for its sister publication Oriental Stories (later The Magic Carpet). Her work blended elements of peril, eroticism, and the supernatural, frequently incorporating BDSM themes such as bondage and flagellation, which stirred both controversy and acclaim among readers.
Born in Chicago, Illinois, Brundage showed early artistic promise. In the early 1920s, she studied fashion design at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, where she honed skills in illustration and color. After graduation, she worked as a freelance artist, creating black-and-white fashion drawings for local newspapers. In 1927, she married Myron "Slim" Brundage, a vaudeville performer, and gave birth to their son, Kerlyn. The marriage soured quickly, leading to separation and a formal divorce in 1939. Left to support her young son and ailing mother with minimal financial aid from her estranged husband, Brundage sought more lucrative and imaginative outlets beyond the constraints of fashion illustration.
In 1932, she approached the offices of Weird Tales, the pioneering fantasy-horror magazine founded by J.C. Henneberger in 1923 and edited by Farnsworth Wright. Despite her inexperience with color printing, her portfolio, featuring an evocative sketch of an Oriental dancer, impressed the editors. She debuted with the Summer 1932 cover of Oriental Stories and quickly transitioned to Weird Tales, starting with the September 1932 issue. From June 1933 to September 1936, she delivered an unbroken streak of monthly covers, becoming the magazine's most prolific artist.
Brundage's style was instantly recognizable: vivid, crimson-hued backgrounds with exaggerated shadows that amplified a sense of lurid drama. Her compositions minimized cluttered details, foregrounding the human (often female) form in states of vulnerability or dominance. But usually her soft-skinned heroines were either completely naked or covered in nothing more than a wisp of gossamer. With wide eyes and parted lips, these damsels in peril were being menaced by monsters or dagger-wielding cultists; often they were in bondage being whipped by evil priestesses; sometimes they were the ones in control, running naked through the snow with wolves. In any case, they were young and built like goddesses. At least a dozen of her Weird Tales covers explicitly featured bondage or flagellation scenes, with occasional sadistic or lesbian undertones, elements editors encouraged to sensationalize stories and boost sales.
The late 1930s brought challenges. In 1938, Weird Tales relocated to New York under new ownership, complicating logistics as Brundage's delicate pastels smeared during shipping. Her output dwindled to just eight more covers after October 1938, with her final contribution in January 1945.
Brundage, one of the few women artists working for pulp magazines, lived mostly in obscurity and poverty. She continued painting and gave some brief interviews in the 1970s.
She predeceased her son Kerlyn, who passed in 1972, by four years, dying quietly at age 75.
Today, Brundage's legacy endures among collectors and pulp enthusiasts. Critics argue her finest works merit museum walls, their blend of erotic fantasy, technical mastery, and unapologetic sensuality a testament to a trailblazing voice in genre art.
7 albums/76 artworks
Latest Update: October 7, 2025 -> Created new page for this artist (76 artworks)
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Karen Smits