Rudolph Belarski (1900-1983) was an American paperback cover artist whose action-packed or pin-up laden paintings sold countless books and magazines during the 1930s and 1960s. While predominantly of pulp fiction, detective or war stories in subject matter, he is also well-known for a series of paintings dedicated to the hospitalised servicemen in London and New York during World War Two. After a prolific career in publishing Belarski became an instructor at the Famous Artists School until his retirement in 1972. His work remains as some of the best examples of pulp art and continues to be sought after by art collectors world-wide.
Reference -
Pinterest Board: Rudolph Belarski
Web: Pulp Artists
Recommended Reading;
- Belarski Pulp Art Masters by John P. Gunnison
Artist Spotlight is a feature on the Wing’s Art and Design Studio blog where I share a selection of my favourite artists of the past and present, offering a brief overview of their work that will hopefully inspire you to find out more about these masters of illustration.
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Credited as inspiration behind my own fashion portraits, René Gruau (4 February 1909 – 31 March 2004) was an Italian fashion illustrator who’s stylised and elegant work for high-profile clients such as Christian Dior, Vogue, Schiaparelli and Givenchy became synonymous with fashion illustration and has continued to inspire generations after him – perhaps none more so than in the ...
With the sun beginning to tease with ideas of long days spent at the beach and hanging out at that unrealistically cool and imaginary surf shack, my artistic cravings start to lean towards the work of legendary surf artist Jim Phillips. No other artist captures the feeling of easy-going summers better, with his eye grabbing ...
Robert McGinnis (1926) is an American illustrator best known for his paperback book covers for crime and romance stories written by authors such as Donald Westlake (aka Richard Stark of the excellent Parker books) and the Carter Brown Series. He’s estimated to have illustrated over an amazing 1200 covers and is still working today on ...
Robert Maguire (Aug 3rd 1921 – Feb 26th 2005) was an American illustrator synonymous with the world of pulp fiction producing over 600 covers for paperbacks and magazines during a prolific career spanning the 1950s – 1980s. Only a few of his contemporaries (artist’s such as Charles Copeland and Rudy Nappi) could match his ability ...
David Downton (1959) is arguably the most popular and recognised fashion illustrator working today with work appearing regularly in magazines such as Vogue and Harpers Bazaar. He also works extensively with commercial clients including Chanel, Dior, Tiffany’s, Harrods, Topshop and Bloomingdales. His deceptively effortless and beautifully stylised fashion portraits featuring (among many others) models Catherine Deneuve, Carmen ...
Richard Amsel (Dec 1947 – Nov 1985) was an American illustrator and designer particularly well-known for his work during the 1970s and 80s including the first 2 Indiana Jones films, The Dark Crystal and Chinatown. He can easily be counted among the great poster artists such as Drew Struzan and Bob Peak, and his work ...
Darwyn Cooke (born 1962) is an award-winning comic book artist, writer and designer best known for his work on Catwoman, The Spirit and (one of my favourite series of books), Richard Stark’s Parker. He has also worked on various animation projects including Batman: The Animated Series with Bruce Timm, which became a cult favourite among ...
Eyvind Earle (April 1916 – July 2000) was an artist and designer whose work at the Disney Studios during the 1950s contributed to some their best-loved features including two of my favourites, Sleeping Beauty and Lady and the Tramp. His unmistakable style is particularly evident in Sleeping Beauty with his beautifully designed backgrounds, characters and colour ...
Coby Whitmore (1913-1988) was an American lifestyle illustrator whose prolific output working at the Charles E. Cooper studio was used in advertising for top brands of the 1940s and 50s and featured in magazines including The Saturday Evening Post, McCalls and Cosmopolitan. He was counted among the top illustrators in this field along with fellow ...
Reynold Brown (1917-1991) was a commercial artist best known for his prolific output for movie posters during the 40s, 50′s and 60′s with a portfolio thought to be approaching nearly 300 posters. Although he also worked extensively for magazine and advertising clients, it’s his iconic work for movies such as This Island Earth, Attack of ...
Al Parker (1908-1985) was a hugely popular American illustrator, often referred to as the ‘Dean of Illustrators’. His work appeared in all the major lifestyle magazines of 1930′s -1960′s including, Collier’s, Ladies Home Journal, Cosmopolitan, Saturday Evening Post, Sports Illustrated and Vogue. His colourful and lighthearted paintings helped to define the ‘look’ of lifestyle illustration of ...
Joseph Christian Leyendecker (1874 – 1951) was a prolific artist of the American Golden Age who’s fashionable depictions of sophisticated men and women graced the major lifestyle magazines of the period, including a run of 322 Saturday Evening Post covers; a figure unmatched before the arrival of Norman Rockwell. He is also well-known for his advertising ...
Mark Schultz (1955) is an American comic book writer and artist famous for his creation Xenzoic Tales (otherwise known as Cadillacs and Dinosaurs) in which a world altered by ecological cataclysm is now inhabited by both humans and dinosaurs, not to mention all sort of other strange creatures. His work combines rip-roaring adventure stories with ...
Andrew Loomis (1892–1959) was an American artist of the period known as the Golden Age, with work appearing frequently in books, magazines and advertising and was comfortable in a wide variety of styles and mediums. Although all of his work is of an extremely high quality, it’s his series of popular instructional books that will ...
It’s impossible to talk about illustrators for very long without mentioning Norman Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978). Often referred to as America’s favorite illustrator and particularly well-known for his long run of 332 Saturday Evening Post covers. His paintings depict life in America with a charming innocence that has been credited as ...
Dave Stevens (July 29, 1955 – March 11, 2008) was a prolific comic book artist, best known for his creation The Rocketeer and a series of pin-ups that regularly featured the 1950′s icon Bettie Page, with whom he became close friends. He also worked as a storyboard artist on Raiders of the Lost Ark for George ...
The posters for the early Star Trek movies created by Bob Peak (May 30, 1927 – August 1, 1992) caught me at the perfect impressionable age. The illustration below for Star Trek III – The Search for Spock does a wonderful job of recreating the operatic scale of the film that so captured my imagination as ...
When I started thinking about which artist I would choose to be the first of my Artist Spotlight posts, I felt somewhat overwhelmed by choice. I decided to start with an artist that i’ve only really become familiar with in the last year or so, but find myself returning to over and over again. Coles ...
