John Philip Falter

Father and children in front of TV - Mid-Century

1950

This work is remarkable for its intense dramatic lighting effects and wide-angle composition. Very few artists conceived and executed with acutely dramatic light in the arc of art hi...

Only Ballantine Ale Brews "Brewer's Gold," ad illustration appeared in the major magazines of the day. A magic moment is caught at a peak point of drama. It's the instant of friends having fun. A cold beer from the fridge is offered and it's is acknowledged with a head nod. The woman in the foreground covers her giggling face reacting to a funny comment. The decisive moment is preserved. Sounds like a critique of an art photograph? No, it's an illustrator. This ingenious Infiniti "S" composition simultaneously represents the best of photography and painting. Cartier-Bresson could have captured the precise moment. While Nicolas Poussin could have rendered the complex figural composition. Add to it , a painting technique and color scheme with the quick drama of a post-impressionist. We have a great work of art by an overlooked American illustrator/artist/painter, Mike Ludlow...

Cover of The Saturday Evening Post, February 5, 1949 Label on back is Falter’s handwriting, his daughter said Curtis Publishing probably titled it “meeting the Date”. The Episcopal ...

Medium: Oil on Panel Signature: Signed Lower Right An FFA student with his father receiving a check for his first delivery of steers to the Omaha stockyard.