Peggie Bach

Happy California Prune Farmers - Female Illustrator - Mid Century

1950s

The enduring appeal of Ben Denison's work is not what would be considered corny men's magazine humor of the early 1960s, but rather his masterful painting skills. In the present wor...

Disney Legend Mary Blair was also a commercial illustrator for national brands such as Maxwell House Coffee and Beatrice Foods, and two complete national campaigns for Pall Mall cigarettes. The present work was part of her Pall Mall cigarette campaign "'So friendly to your taste!'". We are unsure whether this work was a reproduced, or was only used in a test market , or for a client comp. Nonetheless, as a piece of commercial work-for-hire art, it rises to the realm of fine art. Even though the look of the work has a quick, loose and playful feel to it, each element is carefully placed to strike a perfect balance. In this campaign, the artist created the background, and the art director stripped in the product label. The cigarette to the left is also a cut-out and pasted into position to achieve the ideal look. Commercial art is, in almost all cases, a collaborative effort between the Art Director, the Artist, Account People, and the Client, yet in this case, the Mary Blair signature flat graphic and colorful style is dominant and the packaging is secondary. We have to assume the client, American Tobacco Company's brand Pall Mall was trying to sell the sizzle and not the steak. Nothing in advertising is done by chance. This Pall Mall campaign was acutely tested, and apparently, the Mary Blair style was the brand identity that the ad agency chose over other submissions. Blair's warm personal feel fits perfectly with the tag line "'So friendly to your taste!'" and connects with the audience. In the 1950s - 1960s, Mary Blair was one of the few women artists to design and execute a major mainstream advertising campaign that was not solely women-oriented subject matter: babies, women's clothes, and household products. Cigarette ads had some of the most significant budgets and visibility. Typically, they were a full page back or inside cover and pervasive billboards. The ad agencies could have called any artist in the world, and they would have jumped at the opportunity for such a sought-after, lucrative and prestigious job. In the commercial art field, Mary Blair was somewhat like Margaret Burke...

Lorraine Fox was a pioneering female Illustrator/artist who championed a unique style immediately identified as hers. This work, in two parts, was most likely for a newsstand woman's...

Most likely for a Magazine like Redbook, Cosmopolitan and Good Housekeeping, Ladies Home Journal or Woman's day Lorraine Fox is Hall of Fame member of the Society of Illustrators She...

Kay Ameche, American (1904 - 2005) - A Day on the Farm, Year: 1981, Medium: Screenprint, signed and numbered in pencil, Edition: 200, AP 40, Image Size: 17 x 22 inches, Size: 22...

HARRY CARLETON ATTWOOD (1907-1985) Fruit Gatherers - Design for Eltham Palace Chalks Framed 23 by 13 cm., 9 by 5 in. (frame size 39.5 by 31.5 cm., 15 ½ by 12 ½ in.) Attwood was b...

Kay Ameche, American (1904 - 2005) - Younger Than Springtime, Year: 1981, Medium: Screenprint, signed and numbered in pencil, Edition: 200, AP 40, Image Size: 17 x 22.5 inches, S...

This Rural Scene Mural Study by Samuel Greenburg is scored in a manner indicating transfer to a larger format. However as yet no related image or mural is...