James Edmund Allen (February 23, 1894 – September 9, 1964) was an American illustrator, printmaker, and painter. His works include a significant body of lithographs and etchings showing steelworkers, pipe workers, and other aspects of American industrial life, carefully composed compositions depicting "the daily heroism of America's industrial workers.” Allen was also a prolific illustrator who, working mostly in oil, contributed numerous illustrations to stories in popular magazines of the day. He has been misidentified in many references as James Edward Allen. Early life When Allen was three his family moved to a rural area outside Anaconda, Montana. Known as “Edd” to his family and friends, he and his younger brother, Elmer “Lee” Allen (1896-1971), loved the rugged outdoor life in Montana and the values of persistence and self-reliance it instilled. They learned horse training from the Blackfoot Indians, earning the nickname “Horse Whisperers”. It was also during this time that James began developing his skills as an artist, concentrating on outdoor scenes portraying men at work. This style, portraying the muscle of America, became the hallmark of his future success as an artist. In 1913 he moved to Chicago to study painting at the Art Institute of Chicago. There he became a friend of future illustrator J. Allen St. John. By 1915 he was studio assistant to his art teacher, Alexis Jean Fournier. Soon after, he moved to New York where he took classes at the Art Students’ League, the Grand Central School of Art, and the Hans Hoffman School. Ever the perfectionist, Allen studied illustration with Harvey Dunn and etching with Joseph Pennell and William Auerbach-Levy. He also worked with sculptor Naum M. Los to improve his sense of 3-dimensional form. Career James Allen began his over 30 year career as illustrator with the People’s Popular Monthly in 1913. In 1916 James E. Allen moved to Interlaken, New Jersey, living among other artists in the well-known Interlaken Colony near Asbury Park, New York. He was soon selling freelance illustrations to magazines and book publishers in nearby Philadelphia and New York City. By the end of his career, his work appeared in some 20 popular magazines such as American Boy, Blue Book (magazine), Collier's, Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping, Ladies' Home Journal, Nash’s and Pall Mall Magazine, The Red Cross Magazine, and Saturday Evening Post. As a staff artist for Doubleday, Page and Company, he illustrated a 17-volume edition of the