The Art of Erté

Romain de Tirtoff (23 November 1892 – 21 April 1990) was a Russian-born French artist and designer known by the pseudonym Erté. He is best known for his Harper's Bazaar covers from 1915 to 1936.

 His delicate figures and sophisticated, glamorous designs are instantly recognisable, and his ideas and art still influence fashion into the 21st century.

Symphony in Black

King of Diamonds

This all but forgotten TV show starred Broderick Crawford and ran for 38 episodes during the 1961-62 season. Radio great Gerald Mohr guest starred in 2 episodes, as did Telly Savalas. The bewitching songstress from Peter Gunn, Lola Albright, made an appearance in the first episode, aired  12 Sep 61. The 30 minute show was produced by ZIV TV, which also syndicated Highway Patrol, Sea Hunt and a host of other great TV series.

Crawford played Johnny King, a free  lance  trouble-shooter for the diamond industry

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In mid 1962 Dell's association with Western Publishing came to an end, with Western taking almost all the character licenses from Disney and just about eveything else popular and lucrative with them to their new comicbook line, Gold key. This left Dell scrambling for material. They'd licensed ZIV characters in the past, so this was one of their new comcis. The show ended about the time this hit the stands, and there was only the single issue.

The comic was drawn by  Mike Sekowsky  

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Good To The last Drop

All Wound Up and Ready To Go!!!

A Quick Look At Phil Noto's Art

For many decades, up until the mid 60s or so, most magazine covers were painted images, because photographic printing techniques just weren't as good. As soon as possible though, magazine editors ditched the army of illustrators that had graced their covers, stories, and advertisements in favor  of cheaper photos.

 Today's print media has hardly any use for an illustrator..paperback novels rarely have pictures and fiction magazines are rare. Analog & Asimov's still have proper paintings, usually, but not of the caliber of a Freas or Sternbach. Ellery Queen's Magazine uses old covers by pulp artists I showcase here. Where is the current generation of Bartons, McGinnis, & Saunders?

Comic books.

I won't break my own self enforced rule of limiting comic book mentions to pre-1972. I have heard that this artist, Phillip Noto, works on some DC titles and is well known in the comics realm. However, I'm not familiar with him, and have just stumbled upon his work. Here are  a few samples.

Bond.  James Bond

Buffy

If all else fails, you could open a French restaurant...

From Film Fun magazine, July 1937.

The Art of Edwin Georgi

A pilot in WWI, Edwin Georgi (1896 - 1964) was largely self-taught, learning his way up in ad and art agencies.His syle ranged from simple, posteresque lines and colors to his more famous pointillist pieces with boldly directed light, a unique use of warm shadows, and sparkling colors. He did  ads for Webster Cigars, Woodbury, Ford Mercury, Crane paper, and Yardley. His illustrations appeared in  Goldenbook Magazine, Fortune, Redbook, Woman's Home Companion, Saturday Evening Post, Cosmopolitan , True, Esquire, Ladies' Home Journal,  American Girl, and Liberty. 

Edwin Georgi

 His depiction of sultry, sensual femininity, with a bewildering palette of pearlescent hues, created a powerful image of eroticism in fifties America - and one of impeccable morality. 

Redbook, "Fiesta of Love" (1957)

Redbook, "Old Miguel's Girl" (1956) 

Woman's Home Companion, "The Bright Look" (1946)  

Antique 4th of July Post Cards

Clyde Crashcup

Issue #3

Melvin Monster , Nancy and Little Lulu writer John Stanley scripted these comic book tie ins to the cartoon, which was shown as part of  The Alvin Show in 1961-1962 . 

Issue #1

  Crashcup  was a scientist in a white coat whose experiments invariably failed, voiced by Shepard Menken.

Shepard Menken (November 2, 1921 – January 2, 1999) 

Menken attended Columbia University and the Juilliard School of Music. He had roles in 17 movies, but was also a voice actor.in animated cartoons for Hanna-Barbera, UPA, and Marvel Productions, as well as advertising spots for StarKist Tuna and Mattel Toys. He voiced Dr Doom in the early 80s animated version of Spider-Man.

Issue #5

 The Dell series ran from '63-'64 and was drawn by Irving Tripp, who drew Little Lulu among other characters. Clyde also appeared in some comics featuring the chipmunk Alvin.

Issue #2

 Clyde tended to "invent" things which had already been invented. He typically would invent something by taking a pencil out of his lab coat's pocket and drawing a picture in midair of his conception: the picture would then become the actual object. He was aided by his silent assistant Leonardo.

Issue #4

1963, reprinted 1966