Illustration, Old and... New?

[DeeDub]

I just ran across an online museum exhibit that I thought would be of interest here. It's a retrospective on the work of an illustrator named Arthur Radebaugh, whose illustrations were used in magazines and newspapers from the 1930s to the 1960s.

Although the reason for current interest in Radebaugh is his view of the future, i.e., present day, the illustrations and photos in this exhibit tell us even more about the aesthetics of The Golden Era. Check out the clothing, cars, architecture, and graphic design elements at http://www.palaceofculture.org/radebaugh.html

 

[Mr. Sable]

That's super cool! Thanks for sharing it.

 

[Curt Chiarelli]

Thanks for posting this! In our era where everything is Photoshopped to death and reduced to little more than a five-finger exercise in cut-rate, clip art pseudo-creativity, this exhibit will give some fascinating insights into the work of a nearly-forgotten American illustrator.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Pretty cool stuff!

This site has been mentioned here before, but is worth bookmarking if you don't have it - lots of great ad illustrations, mostly from the 50s:

http://www.plan59.com/main.htm

 

[ENfield3-8303]

Thanks DeeDub and Doctor Strange

Speaking as a fan of old time time advertisments,this stuff is just too cool! :eusa_clap

 

[scotrace]

Neat! I have a collection of MoToR magazines from the 30's & 40's. The level of the art in them is always surprising.

 

[happyfilmluvguy]

These should be in a real exhibit.

 

[CharlieH.]

Radebaugh's work is most absolutely stunning. And what ever happened to the perfectly good art of streamlining?

 

[Staggerly]

Gorgeous. And I'd love to have been able to sit in on the meeting where the Coca-Cola people first saw that ad! It looks to me like they bought themselves a great big middle finger.

 

[erikb02809]

I work at a museum dedicated to American Illustration (www.americanillustration.org) from that era. I'm surrounded by a variety of illustration art all day, but I've never seen anything quite like Arthur Radebaugh's work. After looking over that site, I'm really impressed.:eusa_clap I'm going to have to ask the director why we don't have him represented in the collection.