Another often overlooked but extremely talented illustrator is Robert Meyers. A regular contributor to The Saturday Evening Post and many other national magazines, Meyers had a one man show at the Society of Illustrators in '55 and '56. But his dissatisfaction with his career as a commercial artist is evident from his statement, "There must be more to life than just being a paint brush."
In spite of such feelings, Meyers' great talent and professionalism is evident in everything I've ever seen by the artist, including this excellent interpretation of water from a July 1954 issue of the Post.
You'll find a few more examples of Meyers' work in my Robert Meyers Flickr set.
From what I gather, amogst the illustrtors of that generation, a generation of great change AND a shrinking ilustration market, there were a lot of disgruntled, disillusioned illustrators.
ReplyDeleteIt seems a shame that we can easily overlook the sadder parts of the history of illustration. Even at it's gloomiest the field holds gems, like Meyers' professionalism in producing wonderful work feeling the way he did.
We can learn a lot from this.
Plus, the water look way cool!
That's an astute observation, Stan, and I thank you for it! From the little I've been able to find out about Meyers I can tell you that he fulfilled his life-long ambition to become a cattle rancher and western artist by moving his family out to Wyoming in 1960 (just as the magazine illustration market was beginning to peter out).
ReplyDeleteWhat seems most sad about Meyers' circumstance is that he had a relatively short life and only got to enjoy his rebirth in the West for ten years before his death.