Fashion Illustration: "...it just keeps coming back, like a familiar melody."

"I’ve watched the popularity of fashion illustration wax and wane. But I’m happy to say – and this book bears me out – that it never goes away; it just keeps coming back, like a familiar melody." ~ Carmen Dell’Orefice, from the introduction to David Downton's 2010 book, "Masters of Fashion Illustration"



For quite some time now, I've been wanting to devote a week on Today's Inspiration to fashion illustration of the mid-20th century.



Not because I have all sorts wisdom to share on the subject (I don't) or because I have followed the work of fashion illustrators closely (I haven't) -- but because occasionally I've come across pieces like the ones above and below and thought, "Wow, these are just too cool not to share on the blog!"



For those of us who have focused our attention mostly on other types of illustration, its easy to overlook the importance of fashion illustration and how it influenced the stylistic development of some of our favourite mid-20th century artists...









These artists in turn influenced the entire illustration industry, inspiring countless other artists to incorporate the elements of fashion illustration in their own work.



Some have even gone beyond the industry, profoundly influencing the larger world of fine art and popular culture.



While I think I have a pretty good grasp on the motivations of the 'typical' illustrator, the nature of fashion illustration and those who specialize in it remains largely a mystery to me. I don't think I'm alone in my opinion that fashion illustrators live in a world somewhat apart from the rest of the industry.

So what exactly are the elements of fashion illustration? I feel I lack the expertise to speak with any authority on the subject. Instead I'll offer some observations made largely out of ignorance and hope that TI's learned readers will share some genuine insight as we go along.

Some fashion illustrators seem to be primarily poster designers...



... others seem to be almost like fine artists who specialize in figure drawing...



... still others seem to be not unlike technical illustrators or designers of infographics...



... while yet others could very well be portrait painters.



Under the umbrella of "fashion illustration" these specialists have found not only common ground but great acclaim as well.

You'll notice I started and concluded this post with art by a contemporary illustrator, David Downton. That's because David and I have corresponded for a couple of years now and I wanted to highlight his excellent book, "Masters of Fashion Illustration", in which he acknowledges artists like J.C. Leyendecker, Bob Peak, Coby Whitmore and others one might not normally think of as fashion illustrators. Its thanks to David and his book that I began to consider fashion illustration in a different light.

I hope you'll share you thoughts on the subject!

Happy Father's Day!

Six Degrees of Illustration Separation

The Dodge Truck ads from the last post certainly were a hit with TI readers. Thanks to several commenters, we now know that Charles Wysocki was the artist responsible for the beautiful illustrations in that series.



Harry Borgman very kindly sent the ad below from the 1956 Detroit Art Directors Annual, illustrated by Wysocki, for McNamara Brothers, the art studio where Harry and Chuck Wysocki once worked.



Yesterday, while flipping through the 1959 issue of the Saturday Evening Post where I found the Wysocki Dodge Truck ad at the top of this post, I had a "six degrees of illustration separation" moment.

Beside Chuck Wysoki's ad, there were several other illustrated car ads in that issue. The one below was, unfortunately, not signed.



But here's one by Ben Jaroslaw, who was Bernie Fuchs' illustrative partner when they both worked at The Art Group, a rival studio to McNamara Brothers. No doubt Harry Borgman, Chuck Wysocki, Ben Jaroslaw, Bernie Fuchs and many of the artists at both studios all socialized together - or at least knew of each other as close professional acquaintances.



No doubt all of those artists marvelled at the work of Art Fitzpatrick and Van Kaufman - also known as "AF/VK" - who were then turning out a spectacular series of Pontiac ads at a furious pace. The AF/VK ad below appeared in that same October 1959 issue of the SEP as the other auto ads above.



But as far as I know, Art Fitzpatrick and Van Kaufman weren't part of the Detroit automotive art scene. AF/VK were, I believe, New York-based illustrators represented earlier that decade by Seymour Thompson Associates. Thompson had represented several other successful illustrators - including one whose work also appeared in that very same issue of the Saturday Evening Post...




... James R. Bingham.

The 1960 Dodge Trucks Campaign

In 1960 Dodge Trucks ran an ad campaign that was very forward-looking. Smart, colourful, stylized illustrations were featured in a series of magazine ads (and for related brochures and catalogues) positioning Dodge trucks in a distinctive, contemporary light.



Kudos to the art director who sold the client on this approach - and to Dodge for going out on a limb by agreeing to such a unique presentation of their product line! This must surely have been a risky decision.



Risky because the style of these illustrations - as beautiful as I think it is - doesn't strike me as terribly appealing to what I imagine as the typical 1950s truck purchaser.



The three ads above were previously presented here on Today's Inspiration. Recently I unearthed two more of these gorgeous, innovatively executed ads.





Seeing that there was in fact a fairly large group of these ads, I searched online and discovered scans of even more images from the series!







What a spectacular series.



And what a beautiful and distinctive style!



And yet I have never come across it anywhere else... who could this mysterious artist have been?

And then I recalled the work of Albert Pucci, whom we recently looked at.



Could Pucci have been the artist behind the 1960 Dodge trucks campaign?

* Thanks to Flickr members Alden Jewell and thisisengage for providing the last two Dodge Trucks scans in today's post!

James R. Bingham: "Art was his life and the rest of it was sometimes a strain."

Some artists are so focused - so driven to create - that they seem to live for nothing else. James R. Bingham was such an artist. During one 9-year stretch of his career in the '40s, he took only 11 days of vacation. When asked what he would do if he had time for a hobby, he said "paint."



Because he was so single-minded of purpose, so prolific, because he had such a facility for such a diverse range of subject matter - and because he was just so damn good - James R. Bingham has become in my mind - not a heroic figure, exactly - but something of a larger-than-life character.



Bingham was an artist from the get-go. He made that decision at age 3 (beating out Al Dorne, who made it at age 5).



His son, James Bingham Jr. told me, "Dad did artwork for the yearbooks for all the years he was in high school. He would draw on anything... when Dad's family got together they all used to complain about having black bottoms... Dad used to go to the bathroom and draw on the toilet paper then roll it back up!"



Young artists looking to break into the business are often advised, "Draw. Draw everything... and all the time." Bingham must have innately understood this. His industrious nature - and, of course, his talent - served him well. After just two semester of art college he was offered a teaching position. He chose instead to go to New York, where he immediately found an art rep and steady work as an illustrator.



I asked Jim Jr. if his dad got involved with the Society of Illustrators. He replied, "The Society of Illustrators approached my Dad to become active,but he was so busy with work, home assisting with rearing kids, and having a social life, he didn't think he had the time. Also there were monetary requirements he thought were excessive."



Perhaps more telling about why he chose not to join the SI is Bingham's attitude about the distinction between fine and commercial art... and his perception of his role in its creation. Jim Jr. wrote, "Many of the artists in the Society were what Dad considered not illustrators, but fine artists. Some, for example, took months to complete an assignment whereas Dad, in the same amount of time, would complete many assignments."



James R. Bingham clearly had an admirable work ethic. Like many artists of his generation, he also clearly saw himself as a craftsman first - working at a skilled trade he had a natural affinity for - and working hard to provide for his family. There is, however, a down-side to the type of personality that almost obsessively immerses itself in this type of lifestyle.

Jim Jr. told me, "Dad didn't garner a lot of attention as he always worked at home or in a private studio. The illustrators of the Society in some ways shunned Dad for not being available for functions and other things."



"He, as with a lot of artists, was a loner in most of the trappings of life. Art was his life and the rest of it was sometimes a strain."

Like so many other East Coast illustrators, the Binghams lived for a time in the artist's mecca of Westport, CT, which suggests that Bingham was at least to some degree seeking out the company of his peers. But, Jim Jr. says, "In '49 we experienced a Noreaster storm. The snow was up to the second floor windows. M&D decided to have a storm party, snowed in for 10 days with a dozen other people in the house. No heat, cooking over the fireplace in the living room, and no facilities other than "out back."



"By the time we could get out M&D never wanted to see their house guests again and vowed never another snow storm!"



Jim Jr. continues, "Dad and my uncle Bob took a fact finding trip to Florida and it was love at first sight for both of them. In 1950 it was off to sunny Fl."





This was the decade when Bingham became the regular artist on two major ongoing Saturday Evening Post series: Perry Mason...



... and Tugboat Annie.



Jim Jr. said, "After we moved to Florida in 1950, Dad continued working with Seymour Thompson [in New York]." Below, The Thompson Reps ad from the 1952 New York Art Directors Annual shows Bingham in fine company among some of the best, most successful illustrators of the 1950s.



Bingham was also picking up work locally in Florida. Jim Jr. doesn't recall exactly when, but at some point Seymour Thompson retired...however, "by then Dad was doing a land office business with architectural renderings. For a while I think Dad did just about every high rise ever envisioned for south Fl. He also did work for Niemam & Marcus and yearly did the Chris-Craft catalog as their corporate office was just north of us in Pompano Beach, Fl."



"His work for Chris Craft are perfection when reduced for advertising."*



Jim Jr. shared with me the story of his father's death:

"He was in the middle of the Chris Craft work when he had a stroke."



"This occurred just after Mom's death. He went to the doctor and died the day his results came back from the doctor's office."



"At that time I was acting as an artist rep. for the area artists. His death took the wind out of my sails and I moved away from the representation."



"Just before his death he had decided to start fine art and completed some studies... but I didn't understand them."



"They seemed to be dark & complex... very compelling."



"But that just wasn't to be."



James R. Bingham died in 1971.

Many thanks to James Bingham Jr. for sharing the story of his father's life and career with us. Thanks also to Bruce Hettema of P&H Creative Group, Heritage Auctions, James Vaughn, and KOdama on Flickr and John, the owner of 1959Cadillac.com for sharing their James R. Bingham images with me for this series of posts.

* Note: I was unable to get confirmation that the Chris-Craft illustrations in today's post, found online, are definitely by James R. Bingham - but they are from the correct time period and look very much like they could be by Bingham. ~ Leif