Ric Grasso

Ric Grasso is one of those second - tier illustrators of the 50's who fascinates me because he and his career are such a mystery. Clearly a competent illustrator with a tendency to try some interesting experimentation with technique and composition, Grasso's work, nonetheless, never seems to have won him a spot among the alummni of the top flight magazine illustrators. I've yet to come across a piece by Grasso in Saturday Evening Post, Ladies Home Journal, or the like. He has no listing in "Illustrator in America".

But he did a fair amount of work for this publication, Every Woman's, and the "men's sweat" publications - probably finding steady, though not high profile, work.

What was the secret to cracking the top rank, and how frustrated must illustrators like Grasso have been to always be relegated to the second string? The answer to that, like the work and name of Ric Grasso, may well have faded into obscurity.