Who was this artist, Steele Savage? His full name was Henry Steele Savage. Born in 1898, in Central Lake, Michigan, he went on to have an outstanding career as an illustrator.

His range of work included book covers and interior illustrations, religious themes, and a series of science fiction covers with a predilection for pastel-colored, disembodied, floating faces. All those faces!

Savage’s work dates back at least to World War II, when he painted some recruitment posters. One of them also features a series of faces; women in profile who are wearing the different uniforms for women in the U.S. military services at the time.

The theme of floating faces is repeated throughout the incredible SF covers Savage painted in the late 60s and early 70s.

See also a listing of Steele Savage covers at ISFDB.

A few covers and illustrations on flickr.

A small gallery of Arabian Nights illustrations, circa 1932.