Asia Magazine launched in 1917 and quickly became one of the most visually ambitious American publications of its era, commissioning cover art that treated the continent as a source of genuine aesthetic wonder rather than mere exotic backdrop. Frank McIntosh, who defined the magazine's look across the late 1920s and 1930s, brought a bold decorative style that blended Art Deco geometry with imagery drawn from across the region. The period originals from this publication are among the most striking examples of American magazine illustration from that era.