PBA Galleries

3 issues for October 1933, January 1934 and October 1934 [Vol. 1, Nos. 6 and 9; Vol. 2, No.6] (Aleko Lillius, ed., Manila, Philippine Islands)  62 to 98pp. each. Original wrappers with striking front cover multi-colored Art Deco illustrations on gilt background by Alexander Kulesh. 

Extensively illustrated with photographs and drawings, including ads. Using a title probably borrowed from the magazine of the Automobile Club of Southern California (which had just been renamed “Westways”), these periodicals, offering a wide variety of “cultured” articles, from history to music, were apparently aimed at the mostly white social elite of the US-ruled Philippine Islands. A notable feature were  the cover designs by Kulesh, a young Russian impressionistic painter who had escaped from the Soviet Union across the Chinese border, then travelling throughout Asia on dangerous expeditions among savage jungle tribes. The magazine was a short-lived venture, with only 20 issues appearing from May 1933 to Feb. 1935; surviving copies are very rare, WorldCat showing partial holdings at only one American institution, the University of Wisconsin, which has only 1 of the 3 issues offered here.