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Wednesday, 10 March 2010

Martha Sawyers: Army Correspondent

Posted on 02:30 by Unknown
"As this is being written, Miss Sawyers has just donned the uniform of the Army Correspondent and is off for the Far East to make pictorial records of the war for Life magazine."

- From the book, Forty Illustrators and How They Work.


"Miss Sawyer had lived and painted in Peiping until the advancing tide of Japanese aggression had all but shut off her escape to Shanghai. Indeed, the war was raging at the Marco Polo bridge two weeks before her departure."


The other day I received the generous contribution of this portrait of Gilbert Bundy, courtesy of his nephew, Jeff Holloway. Bundy was a war artist with the U.S. Army in the Pacific theatre during WWII. He experienced horrific frontline combat first hand on many of the most infamous beaches while accompanying the advancing American troops.

This piece being dated 1944, one has to wonder if Bundy and Sawyers meet by chance while they were both stationed in those embattled regions of the Far East?


* My Martha Sawyers Flickr set.
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Monday, 8 March 2010

Martha Sawyers: "... she brings us a bright picture of the other side of the earth, unbelievable people and places."

Posted on 10:06 by Unknown
In the early days of the 20th century, in the tiny town in Cuero, Texas, a young girl read a book called "Religion of the Far East." That book, filled with pictures of exotic people and places and stories of peculiar ceremonies would so profoundly influence the young girl that she decided to one day go experience those fascinating lands for herself.


That young Texan girl was named Martha Sawyers and before she was done she had drawn and painted her way through "Paris, Bali, Penang, Singapore, Sumatra, Java, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Peiping," according to her article in Forty Illustrators and How They Work.


When she and illustrator husband, William Ruesswig, returned to America in 1937, Sawyers had a show of her artworks at the Marie Sterner Galleries. Collier's magazine art editor, Bill Chessman happened to see her exhibition and (as luck would have it) was in need of an illustrator with a solid understanding of Asian cultures.


And so, without planning, Martha Sawyers became "an illustrator of Asiatic lore" - called upon by major clients of all sorts who required an artist who could handle the depiction of other races and cultures with passion and sensitivity.


Last week I launched a new blog called Female Illustrators of the Mid-20th Century. At the time, I didn't realize that today was International Women's Day. I thought this would be the perfect day to begin a week-long look at this remarkable woman, described as follows in the catalogue that accompanied one long-ago show of her pastel drawings:

"Martha Sawyers came out of the heart of Texas... she brings us a bright picture of the other side of the earth, unbelievable peoples and places."


"Only a great love for these could have exacted the hundreds of paintings asiatic-oriental. Hard work that perfected a technique and color brilliant and authentic."

* My Martha Sawyers Flickr set.
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Friday, 5 March 2010

Lorraine Fox: A Female Illustrator Your Should Know

Posted on 11:32 by Unknown
I can't imagine any artist more appropriate to feature than Lorraine Fox to cap off this week of launching a new blog about Female Illustrators of the Mid-20th Century. Fox was a true original. Her distinctly personal style of art would alone have set her miles ahead of her contemporaries...


...but even more impressive is that she achieved such success (being regularly published in all the major magazines of the day) while in the company of some of the undisputed giants of 1950s "idealized literal realism" at the Charles E. Cooper studio.

Along with Al Parker and a few others, this 'boys club', comprised of Coby Whitmore, Joe DeMers, Jon Whitcomb and Joe Bowler (not to mention Fox's own husband, Bernie D'Andrea) virtually owned all the visual real estate in "The Seven Sisters" from one month to the next during the 1950s.

Any illustrator - but especially a female illustrator - would have needed tremendous self confidence to not take a back seat to this elite group.


At a time when American beauty was being defined for women by men, Lorraine Fox managed to convince the art directors of some of the country's most prominent publications that her unique voice should also be heard.


Murray Tinkelman, Director of the MFA program in Illustration at the University of Hartford, said of his friend and mentor, "Lorraine lived in... that world of decorative illustration. It wasn't quite cartooning, it wasn't quite narrative illustration, it was a kind of symbolic illustration that depended on folk art as a root source."


"[In spite of having no formal illustration education] I knew enough that what Lorraine was doing was brilliant."


"Anybody could tell what Al Parker did and what Norman Rockwell did was brilliant..."


"... but Lorraine was doing brilliant stuff that didn't depend on the academic foundation of Parker or Rockwell."


When I interviewed Murray for Today's Inspiration I suggested he guest author a week of posts on Lorraine Fox. He sounded very enthusiastic about collaborating with me on something like that. With his help, I hope to bring you a comprehensive look at the life and work of this truely remarkable artist some time soon.

* The scan at top of a Lorraine Fox original is courtesy of Heritage Auctions.

* My Lorraine Fox Flickr set.

* With the inclusion of Lorraine Fox, there are now 15 artists documented on Female Illustrators of the Mid-20th Century.
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Thursday, 4 March 2010

Marilyn Conover: A Female Illustrator You Should Know

Posted on 04:05 by Unknown
Wow. I just got off the phone with Marilyn Conover and I'm still picking my jaw up off the floor. Some time soon I'm going to have to write a long, indepth transcription of the conversation we just had... but for now, here are a few facts and highlights:

Marilyn had just moved from Boston to New York when she illustrated this story for Readers Digest Condensed Books. She didn't even have furniture at that point, so these pieces were propped up on packing crates while she painted them.


She was originally from Chicago and she and her husband worked as apprentices to Gil Elvgren. She also knew Joyce Ballentyne and knew of Lucia Lerner. She says that even during her early years in the business she was never disrespected of mistreated by any man. "And that was long before all that Women's Liberation crap!" she said with emphasis.

Yes, even at age 84, Marilyn Conover is a real firecracker!


But that's not to say life was a walk in the park...


"Just thinking about those old days is making me physically ill," is how she described it to me.


She talked about the stress of being a professional illustrator and a mother - how her husband brought her a layout she had to work on in her hospital bed after delivering her baby girl - about the female art director at JWT in Chicago who refused to let her go home to look after her daughter until late in the evening because she wanted to meet then and there. "Oh, I wouldn't wish that kind of life on any woman," said Marilyn. She adds, "And my husband was no help at all." In the '50s, taking care of children was women's work.


Both Marilyn and her husband were artists, but when they moved to New York she continued illustrating while he became an art rep... at the Charles E. Cooper studio!


Marilyn says she never wanted for work. Despite any shortcomings some other illustrators might have suffered, she was always busy with assignments.


She credits her New York art rep, Joe Mendola, with her success. "From the minute he saw my portfolio he wanted me in his group," she says matter of factly. "Joe was great. He was the best."


There's so much more... but I'll save it for another day. I was amused when Marilyn asked me what I was going to do with all this info. "I'm going to write about you on my blog," I said.


"Really," she replied with a note of incredulity, "who would care?"

* My Marilyn Conover Flickr set.

* With the addition of Marilyn Conover, there are now 12 entries on the new Female Illustrators of the Mid-20th Century blog.
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Wednesday, 3 March 2010

More of Me Talking About Me!

Posted on 15:35 by Unknown
For those of you who enjoyed listening to Part 1 of my podcast interview with Thomas James of Escape from Illustration Island...


... here's Part 2.
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Lucia Lerner: A Female Illustrator You Should Know

Posted on 12:15 by Unknown
"Lucia" was one of the very first mid-century illustrators I ever took note of. Finding out the details of her career became a sort of holy grail to me. When I first presented her work I titled the post "The Mysterious Lucia".

Below, the earliest piece I've ever found by her, from the January 1947 issue of an obscure old magazine called Household. As you can see, there was really nothing exceptional about the artist's work at that early point in her career.



Below, one of many Gibson Greeting Cards ads Lucia illustrated during the mid-1950s. Gibson was a steady account for the Chicago-based artist. I had the great fortune to connect with a gentleman named Will Nelson, who was just starting out in the commercial art business during this period and worked as a junior illustrator in the same studio, Stephens, Biondi, DiCicco. Will befriended Lucia, and its thanks to his generosity in extensively sharing stories of those times that I've managed to document as much as I have about Lucia. She was a remarkable woman... a single mother at a time when it was almost unheard of, a highly paid and highly respected professional in a field dominated by male competitors. Will said, "Her studio was the only one with a private counter and sink....the rest of us shared individual two man studios. You knew you had "arrived" when you were placed on the north side of the building. In the SBD family she was queen and treated accordingly."


Below, a Lucia illustration from 1960, from around the time she moved to SBD's Los Angeles studio. What became of her after this point is more difficult to determine. But the quality, skill and maturity of her work at this point in her career is without question. I like to think that, despite the adversity that was being visited upon the illustration business after 1960, Lucia continued to enjoy a successful career.

I've just collected and rewritten the entire Lucia Lerner story and posted it on Female Illustrators of the Mid-20th Century. Included there is a hint to what ultimately happened to this wonderful, still mysterious artist (and its not by coincidence that I used a Lucia illustration for the header art on the new blog).


* My Lucia Lerner Flickr set.
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Tuesday, 2 March 2010

Barbara Bradley: A Female Illustrator You Should Know

Posted on 11:02 by Unknown
Last week I received, once again, a comment from a reader asking "what about the female illustrators of the mid-20th century?" This is something that comes up again and again, despite my efforts to feature women artists as often as possible. It made me realize that I haven't done enough to get the word out.


With that in mind, I have just created a companion blog to Today's Inspiration called (surprise!) Female Illustrators of the Mid-20th Century.

And who could be a better first subject for this new blog than Barbara Bradley? Its been nearly two years since Barbara passed away. When she was still with us a week rarely went by when I wasn't blessed with an email or two from her. She wrote with rare insight, offered thoughtful, informed analysis, and always, words of encouragement. Barbara was a remarkable person. I still miss her. (The image above, scanned from the original art, was a very thoughtful gift I received from Barbara's family not long after her passing. I absolutely treasure it and feel very privileged to share it with you today.)

*Update* TI list member Heather David sent me a note yesterday. When she received her TI email containing the scan of Barbara's gouache comp she recognized it as the precursor to this finished illustration, for a Bank of America ad! Many thanks Heather... this gives us the rare opportunity to see the beginning and the conclusion of a Barbara Bradley ad art assignment!

1962 Bank of America Ad
In the next few days (and on other occasions in the future) I'll be featuring female artists of the mid-20th century here on Today's Inspiration - some whom I've featured before, some for the first time. In each case, everything about these artists will be collected and reposted on Female Illustrators of the Mid-20th Century.


Multi-part posts previously presented on TI will be collected and "reprinted" as single, full-length posts. In this way, I hope FIotM-20C will become a valuable resource for those specifically interested in finding artwork examples and documentation on the careers of female illustrators from the '40s, '50s and '60s.
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