Monday, August 30, 2021

New Book About Artists Art Fitzpatrick and Van Kaufman


The Pontiac advertisement illustration above was part of a famous 1959-1972 series. The car was illustrated by Arthur M. Fitzpatrick (1919-2015), Wikipedia entry here.  The background was by Van Kaufman (1918-1995).  It is of the Monte Carlo casino in Monaco.

Early in his career Fitzpatrick worked as a car stylist at Briggs (which made bodies for carmakers) and Hudson as well as "Dutch" Darrin's California organization.  After World War 2 he shifted to automobile advertising art, delineating vehicles for advertisements and brochures.

Kaufman studied art in Los Angeles and worked for Walt Disney painting backgrounds and doing some animation work.  Following the war he went into freelance illustration and began working with Fitzpatrick in 1950.

A new book titled "Art Fitzpatrick & Van Kaufman: Masters of the Art of Automobile Advertising" arrived in my mailbox a few days ago.  Here is the cover:

 It is filled with illustrations of Pontiacs, Buicks, Mercurys and a few other brand cars.  It also has a good amount of text that describes the working methods of the artists.  I was fascinated, reading the book in one session.

The website for the book is here.

Illustration Magazine issue No. 73 has some material on "Fitz" and "Van" by the book's author. And the book's website has some sample pages for your inspection.

3 comments:

emjayay said...

What is that car next to the 9 foot wide Pontiac at Monte Carlo, and what are those huge scoops or whatever they are on the trunk lid (or is it a rear engine cover)?

Donald Pittenger said...

emjayay -- Good question: I wondered about it too 'cause it looks a tiny bit familiar. I'll try to look into the matter, tho' my reference material on Italian coachbuilding for that era is only so-so.

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