Gelett Burgess
American artist, art critic, poet, author and humorist (1866-1951) · United States · On the map · Artists · Died at 85
Frank Gelett Burgess was an American artist, art critic, poet, author and humorist. He was an important figure in the San Francisco Bay Area literary renaissance of the 1890s, particularly through his iconoclastic little magazine, The Lark, and association with The Crowd literary group.
Gelett Burgess is read about 20 times a day, in 5 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 30 June 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 60 days, one point a day.
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Photos 7
1894 illustration of the fountain after the incident, from The San Francisco Call
The 1895 issue of The Lark in which Burgess's "Purple Cow" first appeared
The original "Purple Cow" from 1895
Le Petit journal des refusées, 1896
1917 silent drama film The Mysterious Miss Terry, based on a story by Burgess
The 1906 front dust jacket of Burgess's Are You a Bromide? coins the word "blurb".About this person
He is best known as a writer of nonsense verse, such as "The Purple Cow", and for introducing French modern art to the United States in an essay titled "The Wild Men of Paris." He was the illustrator of the Goops murals, in Coppa's restaurant, in the Montgomery Block and author of the popular Goops books. Burgess coined the term "blurb."
