Harry Kane Sold at Auction Prices

b. 1912 - d. 1988

Harry Kane (Kirchner) (July 2, 1912 - March 1988) was a twentieth century illustrator and artist who was born Harry Kirchner and was of Russian/Jewish descent. Primarily known for his work on the children's books, "The Three Investigators", he had an amazing career that spanned over 50 years, doing work on paperback covers, advertising art, men's adventure magazines, movie posters and much more.

Harry was a self-taught artist who was born in Philadelphia in 1912. When he was younger he used to cut high school to go to the zoo and draw animals. He was extremely knowledgeable about art history and contemporary art and his thirst to better his skills led him to books by Howard Pyle and NC Wyeth, which he studied closely. Harry's career began during the great depression when he and a few of his artist friends left Philadelphia for the bright lights and big dreams of New York City. It was difficult to find employment in this troubling time in American history, but Harry had one thing going for him that many others didn't have, talent. The job hunt began around 1930 and eventually led to the door of Street and Smith Publications, one of his first paying jobs, drawing for Western Story Magazine.

Harry eventually got married to his wife Minna and they lived in Greenwich Village for a while. World War II began and Harry was drafted and sent to Hawaii to be a map maker. In 1941, Harry and his wife had their first child, a son they named Eugene. They soon realized that their son was mentally ill and he had to spend much of his life in an institution. Life was hard for Minna, as Harry was stationed in Hawaii, and she was left to raise Eugene on her own. She petitioned the army to release Harry early to help with Eugene but to no avail. The war ended in 1945 and Harry was one of the first people to come home. Upon returning from the war Harry and Minna saw the birth of their next child Hadiya in 1946, with another daughter, Janice, coming along not long after. Harry spent much of his free time with his ailing son.

When Harry returned from the war he found his job was no longer waiting for him, so he began taking freelance jobs. He did work for Seagrams, Schlitz beer, Calso Gasoline Company, Phillip Morris and much more. In the mid-1960s Random House hired Harry to work on a new set of children’s books called Alfred Hitchcock and The Three Investigators. Harry worked on most of the covers and interiors of the first 16 books and the series proved to be very popular selling millions of copies.