Painter James Avati has been called both the “Father of the Paperback Book Covers” and the “Rembrandt of Paperback Book Covers.” Born in New Jersey, Avati studied architecture at Princeton University and, after serving in World War II, became a prolific commercial illustrator and cover artist. At first he used professional models but the majority of his paintings used friends, family, and people he spotted on the streets of Red Bank, New Jersey. Ten years before his death at the age 92, Avati was inducted into the Society of Illustrators’ Hall Of Fame.
Anyone born in NJ is ok with me!
Is the job of Ombudsman of Paperback Book Covers still available? If so, sign me up
🙂
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Wasn’t Avati related by marriage to George Ford Morris, the famous painter of horses? I’m from Red Bank and met Avati and his wife in the early 1950s.
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