Anders Zorn: The Art of the Power Portrait

Anders Zorn ~ Portrait of Adolphus Busch - 1897 oil on canvas, 51 x 37 1/2 in.
Painted during Zorn’s second trip to the United States from 1896 to 1897.

Anders Zorn, power portraitist.

I planned this post ~

What does a traveling and much in demand portraitist do when commissioned to paint a busy executive who has neither the time nor the inclination to pose…

Anders Zorn, portrait of Adolphus Busch portrait with photo overlay.

~ but upon further study I realized that the photo was an old school photoshop. Busch's head is a photograph from life, which has been grafted onto the body in a photo of the Zorn painting. This monster was then photographed and printed!

Anders Zorn ~ Adolphus Busch portrait - photoshop/painting

old school photoshop portrait of Adolphus Busch
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

Details of the Zorn painting showcase how thinly he painted but for the highlights.

Things Go Better With Beer

Haddon Sundblom

Beer Belongs

1948~1956

For more Beer Belongs ads (especially the Gannam's) ~ Beer Belongs: Home Life in America Series

The Pause That Refreshes

Haddon Sundblom

Wine Advisory Board

1941~1943

1941-9 Wine Advisory Board LIFE Sep 15, 1941 ~ Haddon SUNDBLOM

1941-10 Wine Advisory Board LIFE Oct 13, 1941 ~ Haddon SUNDBLOM

1942-1 Wine Advisory Board LIFE Jan 26, 1942 ~ Haddon SUNDBLOM

1942-3 Wine Advisory Board LIFE Mar 16, 1942 ~ Haddon SUNDBLOM

1942-5 Wine Advisory Board LIFE May 11, 1942 ~ Haddon SUNDBLOM 

1942-6 Wine Advisory Board LIFE Jul 13, 1942 ~ Haddon SUNDBLOM

SUNNY!

1942-9 Wine Advisory Board LIFE Sep 21, 1942 ~ Haddon SUNDBLOM

1942-11 Wine Advisory Board LIFE Nov 23, 1942 ~ Haddon SUNDBLOM

1943-1 Wine Advisory Board LIFE Jan 4, 1943 ~ Haddon SUNDBLOM

1943-3 Wine Advisory Board LIFE Mar 1, 1943 ~ Haddon SUNDBLOM

Sundblom Santa, 1974

Haddon H. Sundblom (1899-1976) 


Santa 


signed 'Sundblom' (lower right) 


oil on canvas 
18 x 20 in. (45.7 x 50.8 cm.) 

Provenance

Private collection, commissioned from the artist, 1974.

Seven Up, One Down

or: A Small Attempt at Correcting Internet

I have seen the following 7 illustrations/paintings erroneously attributed on Internet. Six were identified as Dean Cornwell's and one to his short time teacher Charles S. Chapman. Hopefully this post will once and forever set the record straight.

title?, Charles E. Chambers

Mead Schaeffer - Grand Canary - 1933 Good Housekeeping

Mead Schaeffer - Head Tide - 1932 Good Housekeeping

Remi and Mattia pause for a moment on their way from Paris to Boulogne, Mead Schaeffer

The Buried Talent, Dan Content - February 1934 Hearst's/Cosmo

The Buried Talent, Dan Content - February 1934 Hearst's/Cosmo

Driftwood, Walt Louderback - July 1929 Hearst's/Cosmo
verso

Driftwood, Walt Louderback - July 1929 Hearst's/Cosmo

3 Maids-a-Milking?!?!

or: The Truth About Today's Refrigerators!

Today's refrigerators don't keep your milk from souring.

Gil Elvgren, G.E. ad 1941

The wise man has his milk fresh, hence the need for a milk-maid.

Andrew Loomis, Milk-maid

Haddon Sundblom, Milk-maid, demo c1940's

Though if all you want is better results…

Anders Zorn, Maria

…just drink your Ovaltine.

Gil Elvgren, Ovaltine ad 1945

Antonin Sterba 1875-1963

Antonin Sterba, portrait painter, first studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago,

Antonin Sterba, Self Portrait 

and then in Paris, under Jean Paul Laurens and Benjamin Constant.

Life Study, Paris 1901 - Antonin Sterba

Sterba was a successful teacher at both the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and Chicago's American Academy of Art.

life class - American Academy of Art - 1924

Coca-Cola Santa's Haddon Sundblom, pin-up master Gil Elvgren, movie poster illustrator/western artist Howard Terpning, cowboy artist Tom Ryan, and magic realist Ivan Albright are some of his more notable students.

Gil Elvgren,  Sunkissed

figure study by Haddon Sundblom

Gil Elvgren - Check and Double Check

Gillette Elvgren -LIFE- Mr. Sterba

Life Drawing - American Art Academy

Antonin Sterba, Self Portrait 

Lady in White, c1930 - Antonin Sterba

Haddon Sundblom, Love Racquet

Haddon Sundblom,  Coca-Cola, 1959

Howard Terpning, Twas the Night Before Christmas

Howard Terpning also spent valuable time as a Sundblom assistant.

Howard Terpning, Pin

Haddon Sundblom - PinUp

More info can be gleaned from Illustration Magazine issue #'s 1, 26, 27 and also~ todaysinspiration.blogspot.com.