Alberto Morrocco OBE RSA RSW RP RGI LLD DUNIV

Alberto Morrocco 'Tomatoes', gouache on board, Scottish

Though signed "Yolanda," the artist of this gouache and watercolor painting is unknown. The still life, contained and symmetrical, is dominated by the form of a pear. On either side,...

Japan Issue Fortune Magazine Cover Proposal Japanese Mid-Century Illustration Antonio Petruccelli (1907 - 1994) JAPAN ISSUE Fortune cover proposal, c. 1936 14 1/4 x 12 inches (sight) Framed 19 3/4 X 17 3/4 Inches Gouache on board Signed lower left BIOGRAPHY: Antonio Petruccelli (1907-1994) began his career as a textile designer. He became a freelance illustrator in 1932 after winning several House Beautiful cover illustration contests. In addition to 24 Fortune magazine covers, four New Yorker covers, several for House Beautiful, Collier’s, and other magazines he did numerous illustrations for Life magazine from the 1930s – 60s. ‘Tony was Mr. Versatility for Fortune. He could do anything, from charts and diagrams to maps, illustrations, covers, and caricatures,’ said Francis Brennan, the former art director for Fortune. Over the course of his career, Antonio won several important design awards, designing a U.S. Postage Stamp Commemorating the Steel Industry and designing the Bicentennial Medal...

Original Painting Published Fortune Mag Cover 1935 Jewels Jewelry Illustration Antonio Petruccelli (1907 – 1994) Fortune cover published, Decembe...

Disney Legend Mary Blair was also a commercial illustrator for national brands such as Maxwell House Coffee and Beatrice Foods, and two complete national campaigns for Pall Mall cigarettes. The present work was part of her Pall Mall cigarette campaign "'So friendly to your taste!'". We are unsure whether this work was a reproduced, or was only used in a test market , or for a client comp. Nonetheless, as a piece of commercial work-for-hire art, it rises to the realm of fine art. Even though the look of the work has a quick, loose and playful feel to it, each element is carefully placed to strike a perfect balance. In this campaign, the artist created the background, and the art director stripped in the product label. The cigarette to the left is also a cut-out and pasted into position to achieve the ideal look. Commercial art is, in almost all cases, a collaborative effort between the Art Director, the Artist, Account People, and the Client, yet in this case, the Mary Blair signature flat graphic and colorful style is dominant and the packaging is secondary. We have to assume the client, American Tobacco Company's brand Pall Mall was trying to sell the sizzle and not the steak. Nothing in advertising is done by chance. This Pall Mall campaign was acutely tested, and apparently, the Mary Blair style was the brand identity that the ad agency chose over other submissions. Blair's warm personal feel fits perfectly with the tag line "'So friendly to your taste!'" and connects with the audience. In the 1950s - 1960s, Mary Blair was one of the few women artists to design and execute a major mainstream advertising campaign that was not solely women-oriented subject matter: babies, women's clothes, and household products. Cigarette ads had some of the most significant budgets and visibility. Typically, they were a full page back or inside cover and pervasive billboards. The ad agencies could have called any artist in the world, and they would have jumped at the opportunity for such a sought-after, lucrative and prestigious job. In the commercial art field, Mary Blair was somewhat like Margaret Burke...

Machine Age Industrial WPA Era American Scene Social Realism Mid 20th Century Jo Cain (1904 - 2003) Elliot 17 ¼ x 35 ¾ inches Gouache on board, c. 1930s Signed lower left 27 x 46 in...

Very well executed watercolor and gouache on heavy card stock of a spring bouquet composed of mainly roses and pansies. Unsigned. Circa 1915. Original gold painted wood frame. Under...

Stamped, verso, with estate stamp for Victor Di Gesu (American, 1914-1988) and painted circa 1955. Winner of the Prix Othon Friesz, Victor di Gesu first attended the Los Angeles Art...

Stamped, verso, with estate stamp for Victor Di Gesu (American, 1914-1988) and created circa 1955. Winner of the Prix Othon Friesz, Victor di Gesu first attended the Los Angeles Art...

An American School watercolor showing an old Ford Model T flatbed truck backed up to a barn in a rural landscape. A well-composed work painted in a harmonious palette by an accomplis...

Stamped, verso, with estate stamp for Victor Di Gesu (American, 1914-1988) and created circa 1955. Winner of the Prix Othon Friesz, Victor di Gesu first attended the Los Angeles Art...