Author Archives: Dazzling Erin

Artist Profile: Mort Kunstler (1931– )

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1Mort Kunstler studied art at Brooklyn College, UCLA, and the Pratt Institute.  After graduating in 1953, he worked as a freelance artist in New York City.  Along with drawing covers and illustrations for several “men’s adventures” magazines, Kunstler also painted posters for The Poseidon Adventure and the original The Taking of Pelham 1,2,3.  Since the 1980s, Kunstler has specialized in painting dramatic interpretations of key American historical events with an emphasis on the Civil War.  He has been called “the foremost Civil War artist of our time.”

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Artist Profile: Gloria Stoll (1928– )

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Stoll1One day in 1941, 17 year-old Gloria Stoll threw away all of her student artwork.  Her building’s janitor rescued her portfolio and showed it to one of her neighbors, a pulp artist named Rafael DeSoto.  With DeSoto’s help, Stoll pursued a successful career as a commercial artist.  From 1941 to 1948, she sold cover art to magazines like All-Story Love, Dime Mystery, and New Love.  She retired from commercial art when she got married in 1948 but she continued to paint.  Her work can be found in the permanent collection of Yale University and the Carnegie Museum of Art.

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Artist Profile: Norman Saunders (1907–1989)

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Saunders1A native of Minnesota, Norman Saunders trained in art by correspondence courses with the Federal Schools, Inc. of Minneapolis.  After receiving his diploma in 1927, Saunders received a scholarship to the Chicago Art Institute and worked as a staff artist for Fawcett Publications.  After moving to New York in 1934, Saunders started his long and prolific career as an independent pulp artist.  By the time he painted his last pulp cover in 1960, he had painted a record 867 pulp covers.  After 1960, Saunders illustrated comic books, men’s adventures magazines, and trading cards.

A small sample of his work can be found below:

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Artist Profile: Jeff Wall (1946– )

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Jeff Wall -- A Sudden Gust Of Wind

“It’s a pitfall to have a definition of photography.” — Jeff Wall

Born in Vancouver, Canada, Jeff Wall received his Masters of the Arts from the University of British Columbia in 1970 and  gone on to become one of the most influential and important photographic artists of all time. Like Gregory Crewdson, Wall is best known for large, elaborately staged cinematographic pictures.  Wall is often credited with being one of the first artists to prove that photography could be a true art form.

Jeff Wall -- A View From An ApartmentJeff Wall -- Insomnia13_After 'Invisible Man' by Ralph Ellison, the Prologue_1999-2000Jeff Wall -- MilkJeff Wall -- MimicJeff Wall -- Picture For WomenJeff Wall -- The Crooked PathJeff Wall -- The Destroyed RoomJeff Wall -- The Flooded GraveJeff Wall -- The StorytellerJeff Wall -- The Volunteer

Erin’s Favorite Films of 2012

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

Taking into consideration that I haven’t seen Zero Dark Thirty yet, here are my ten favorite films of 2012.

1. Argo

2. Bernie

3. Silver Linings Playbook

4.  Brave

5. Lincoln

6. For Greater Glory

7. Looper

8. Moonrise Kingdom

9. The Avengers

10. October Baby

Artist Profile: Charles DeFeo (1891 — 1978)

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DeFeoCharles DeFeo was born in New Castle, Delaware and studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Art.  He moved to New York in 1912 and worked at ad agency while taking night classes at the Art Students League.  DeFeo’s first freelance assignments were providing interior illustrations for magazines and he eventually branched out to doing freelance pulp cover art.  He also taught at the Grand Central School of Art in the 1930s.  After retiring in 1960, DeFeo devoted himself to making ornate hand-tied flies for fishermen.  DeFeo’s flies were widely praised for their artistry and are now highly prized by collectors.

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Artist Profile: Milton Luros (1911–1999)

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LurosMilton Luros was born in Brooklyn, New York.  After graduating high school, he attended the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn where he studied commercial illustration.  By 1937, he was freelance artist whose work appeared on the covers of magazines like Crack Detective, True Gangsters, and Western Aces.  In the 1950s, Luros wrote and drew a nationally syndicated comic strip called  Roger Lincoln, S-Man.  Later in his career, Luros worked as both an agent and a publisher.

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