Bernie Fuchs: "an important moment in his life"

In reference to Tom Watson's guest post a few days ago, David Apatoff wrote, "For [those] who are curious about that "truck ad," I believe you can find it in the Society of Illustrators Annual for 1959." And not long after, Tom Watson himself sent the scan below from that SI annual.


David also provided the following quote about that truck ad from Bernie Fuchs:

"I was 26 or 27 when I painted this, and yes, I painted the truck and everything else in this picture. I'm trying to remember whether they had one of the older guys in the studio touch up some of the chrome on the fender after I was done. Chrome was pretty hard to get right. But I don't think so. It was a long time ago. Later I specialized in people and backgrounds, and the cars themselves would be painted by artists who were more capable than I was. My art director submitted this painting to the Society of Illustrators competition without even telling me. I had no idea there was such a thing until he came to me and told me that the jury had picked my painting to be in the show."

Speaking of Bernie Fuchs' automotive art, here are a few scans, courtesy of Charlie Allen...


Charlie writes, "The Edsel ads especially good....though didn't help the ill fated car down the line."


He continues, "Head honcho art director for Foote Cone on those ads.....Fred Ludekins, no less!"


Having done his fair share of auto advertising art during the same period when Bernie Fuchs did these pieces, Charlie gives us the benefit of his vast personal experience: "on Fuchs and photos. Even, or maybe especially, on cars....the artist can't 'trace' or Lucy the photo....it just doesn't work. Autos need, or needed back in those days, an amazing amount of tweaking, stretching, tucking, changing reflection patterns, etc. etc. If 'photo copying' were easy, everybody and his uncle would have been successful artists and illustrators in my time."


Charlie adds, "I like his ads and the more conservative techniques. But you have to admit, his loose editorial style [was] brilliant. Far out for the times....and so well designed, drawn, and painted."


Next comes this note from Bryn Havord in England:

"I was very saddened to learn that Bernie Fuchs had died. I've had a privileged life, and one of those privileges was to publish a lot of his work when I was a women's magazine art director in 1960s London and, of course, I consider that I have been privileged to continue to see his beautiful work develop over the years. Not an easy task as I live in the United Kingdom and have not been to the States since the mid 60s."


Bryn continues, "Bernie's work had a profound effect and influence on the English women's magazine illustrators working at that time: in particular when he was working in pencil with Liquitex acrylic washes. Liquitex wasn't available in England at the time, and a large trade developed when the artists had friends in America sending tubes and jars of the paint over the Atlantic so they could try and emulated Bernie's work."


Bryn elaborates on the anecdote Tom Watson described on Wednesday about how Bernie Fuchs' painting style changed because "he was trying to find a method of creating the effect of a still life illustration of a glass of beer on a shiny bar top." Bryn provided us with several scans from the issue of Lithopinion, the magazine that sent bernie to England to paint scenes from London pubs.


Bryn writes, "That visit to England proved to be a catalyst in Bernie's career; he never used acrylics ever again."


"Bernie was quoted in the catalogue of his recent 50 year retrospective at the Telluride Gallery thus: "I started working in oils because I was inspired by the rich glow of sunlight passing through an amber mug of ale in London. I wanted to be able to capture that feeling in a painting..."


Bryn continues, "I also attach a scan of a recent painting by Bernie of a couple of wine glasses painted for the Telluride Wine Festival in 2008. It's interesting to compare the wine glasses to the beer mug, forty years has seen a development in sophistication, not only in technique, but in the choice of drink!"


Regarding that experience in England while on assignment for Lithopinion, Bryn concludes, "I think it was an important moment in his life which needs illustrating."

* Many thanks to Bryn Havord and all the other contributors who made this week possible: Charlie Allen, Harold Henriksen and Tom Watson, as well as everyone who contributed comments.

* My Bernie Fuchs Flicks set