Irresistable eye-candy for vintage illustration fans.
Lifestyle Illustration of the 50s by Ryan Hughes is the long-awaited follow-up to his equally superb collection of vintage magazine illustration of the 1960s. Featuring work from acclaimed artists such as Coby Whtimore, Al Parker, Lynn Buckham and Ernest Chiriaka, this new collection offers more of the same, which is no bad thing for enthusiasts (including myself) who seek out these previously lost or forgotten masterpieces deserving of a new-found attention.
It’s bright, beautiful, glamorous and escapist fun from a period that marks commercial illustration’s heyday before modern photography took hold and all but reduced it’s appeal to specialist markets. The introduction by David Roach describes a lifestyle enjoyed by the artists that matches their work, where rubbing shoulders with future screen stars Grace Kelly and Tippi Hedren were simply part of a days work at the studio, and where sales and demand for their work were such that salaries exceeding a million pounds a year were reported by those working at their peak. Boy how things have changed.
The reproductions throughout are of a high quality, mainly scanned from their original magazine appearances and digitally restored, and although there are many pieces that feature un-credited, it remains an essential introduction to the art and artists of this glowing period in illustration history and comes with my highest recommendation.
Lifestyle Illustration of the 50s – Edited by Ryan Hughes
Goodman Fiell
Paperback 512 pages
24.4 x 19.4 x 3.6 cm
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