The Fair God
In celebration of the restoration and conservation of drawings by Eric Pape on loan from the Lew Wallace Museum in Crawfordsville, Indiana.
This Exhibition of art by Eric Pape includes many examples of Eric Pape’s hundreds of illustrations for Lew Wallace’s “The Fair God”, unseen publicly since the artist’s death in 1938.
Including artworks on loan from private collectors. A prelude to the publication of “Eric Pape: The Fair God” a new compilation of all of Eric Pape’s illustrations for books and magazines.
Preface
Amongst many important editions illustrated by Pape, “The Fair God” by Lew Wallace stands out as Pape´s finest accomplishment as an illustrator.
He had already established himself as a well recognized member of the team of artists who provided illustrations for The Century Magazine, one of the preeminent publications of the 19th century, creating many highly regarded illustrations for their serial book publications. The commission to provide illustrations for “The Fair God” was a prestigious one, following on his impressive work illustrating “The Incas: Children of the Sun”, a book of poetry by Telford Groesbeck in 1896. “The Fair God, or the Last of the ‘Tzins, A Tale of the Conquest of Mexico” was Lew Wallace´s first book, and after his second book, “Ben-Hur, A Tale of the Christ” became the best-selling book of the nineteenth century, his publishers wished to capitalize on Wallace´s popularity with a deluxe edition of “The Fair God”.
They commissioned Pape to provide over 300 artworks to illustrate the edition, which increased it from one to two volumes to accommodate all the art. Pape traveled to the southwest United States and Mexico for inspiration, drawing and painting in the locations pertinent to the book, and visiting museums and collecting native artifacts.
Featured Works
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The Fair God:
Past Exhibition
2025 | Hammond Castle Museum
At the time of the exhibit, it was expected to be the largest collection of Pape’s artworks on public display anywhere in the world, many of which haven’t been publicly seen in nearly a century.
An extraordinary fine art exhibit featuring over 50 works by renowned artist and former Cape Ann resident, Eric Pape (1870–1938). Curated predominantly from the private collection of Dr. Gregory Conn, the world’s leading Pape collector and biographer, this special exhibition showcases a select group of Pape’s 300 illustrations for The Fair God (1898)—many unseen since his death in 1938.