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 the Hard Case Crime series. Aside from paperback covers he also produced work for the magazines Time and The Saturday Evening Post and over 40 movie posters including Breakfast at Tiffanys, Barbarella and the James Bond films Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, Diamonds are Forever and Lie and Let Die.
Most notable of his work remains the excellent pin-ups, full of sophistication and fashionable elegance in a style unique to McGinnis and painted in Egg Tempera; the process of which is covered in great detail in the documentary Robert McGinnis – Painting the Last Rose of Summer, which is available on DVD and comes highly recommended.
Reference – Robert McGinnis Gallery | American Art Archive
DVD – Painting the Last Rose of Summer
Pinterest Board –Robert McGinnis
Recommended Reading;
- Tapestry – The Paintings of Robert McGinnis
- The Paperback Covers of Robert McGinnis
- Dames, Dolls and Delinquents – A Collectors Guide to Sexy Pulp Fiction Paperbacks
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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