Daniel Zalkus, a renowned illustrator, who himself works as an artist-reporter from time to time, has put together an excellent commented series of historical drawings on-the–spot, representing a golden era of graphic reportage in the American magazines from the 1950’s and 60’s. Zalkus´ series Visual Journalism. The Artist as Reporter was publised recently in five parts on Leif Peng´s illustration-blog Today’s Inspiration.
Noel Sickles, Lithopinion
Part one shows examples of the works of Noel Sickles and Austin Briggs for the magazine Lithopinion. Austin Briggs´ series was done at the famous Mourlot printing workshop in Paris. His drawings were created with lithographic crayons and tusche washes, tools normally used on stone or metal places in printmaking.
Austin Briggs, The House of Mourlot, Lithopinion
Part two focuses on illustrations done for Fortune Magazine. The art director Leo Lionni became a driving force behind the “visual journalism” movement. Besides Robert Weaver´s expressive Woolworth – series, a graphic report by John Russell Clift is shown, documenting the works going on in a airport´s cargo department.
John Russell Clift, Fortune Magazine
Part three is on illustrations done for Sports Illustrated, whose art director Richard Gangel encouraged reportage drawing. He sent illustrator Bob Peak on an assignment to travel with the Shah of Iran during a tiger hunt.
Bob Peak, A Lady hunts with the Shah, Sports Illustrated
Part four presents examples of CBS projects. One series is by the famous graphic reporter Feliks Topolski documenting the Democratic and Republican national conventions of 1956.
Feliks Topolski, Blue Conventions
Part five is about graphic travelogues made for the Holiday Magazine. The famed English illustrator Ronald Searle was a regular contributor.
Alexander Roob’s “History of Press Graphics. 1819-1921. The Age of Graphic Journalism” is out now. (Taschen Cologne, Hardcover, 24.6 x 37.2 cm). In over 600 pages, this far-reaching compendium presents press illustration and graphic journalism as a distinct and unique genre and a laboratory for developing avant-garde aesthetics. The images are largely taken from the […]
What sails here under the flag of caricature is nothing other than an early form of blunt and bleak social realism. The group makes a powerful and monumental impression, misery in the dimension of a history picture, and that’s exactly how it was meant to be. The publisher of La Caricature, Charles Philipon, like most […]
Heavenly Zo / INRI becomes ISO / Swabian and Lorraine Somnambulism Heavenly Zo Richard’s emblematic sexual symbolism originated in the theurgic Neoplatonic geometry of Alexandrian late antiquity and had found its way from there into Jewish mysticism and Hermeticism. The most famous example was the Seal of Solomon, the hexagram, which consisted in the interpenetration […]