Digest This: David Stone Martin Illos from RDCB

Today's Reader's Digest Condensed Books artwork is by David Stone Martin. Since I've written so extensively about DSM in previous posts, I'm going to keep the commentary to a minimum -- enjoy the pictures!

















I wrote about David Stone Martin's career back in 2008. If you're interested in reading those posts, here are the links:

David Stone Martin: Modernism Meets Traditionalism

David Stone Martin: Early Days

David Stone Martin: For the Record

David Stone Martin: "...unusual pictures, vitalized by many strange textures"

David Stone Martin: "Bending a wire"

Or if you'd rather just stay here and peruse another batch of DSM illos, here's his work from another RDCB - this time from 1963.



























* Many thanks to Reader's Digest Creative Director, Robert Newman for linking this week's posts to the Reader's Digest art Tumblr page! Robert has been posting some classics from the back covers of Reader's Digest from those days on the RD tumblr page. Be sure to go take a look!

Digest This: Allan Kass Illos from RDCB

Today's series is by a Detroit illustrator named Allan Kass, from a 1960 edition of Reader's Digest Condensed Books.



While there are plenty of well known and highly regarded mid-20th century illustrators...



... it's amazing to think that someone as skilled as Allan Kass could be virtually unknown -



- even by those of us who study this era in illustration closely.



Kass' work so brings to mind artists like Robert Fawcett or Austin Briggs that when I first discovered one of his Vaux Hall ads several years ago, I (and several others I consulted) were sure that it must be by one or the other.



Harald Henriksen, who has contributed so much to this blog over the years, was the first to determine that the artist in question was Allan Kass.



Since that time, we've learned quite a bit about Allan Kass. Rhonda Whiting, who loves Kass' later-period romance novel cover art and corresponded with the artist before he passed away, contacted me with quite a few biographical details. You can read those details at this link.



Rhonda has also created a blog dedicated to Allan Kass' book cover art where you'll find hundreds of examples scanned from her collection.



Not long after my first few posts about Allan Kass, I was contacted by his daughter, Susan. She wrote, "I can tell you that he was an amazing man in so many ways - and an enormously talented artist."



I can't imagine anyone disagreeing with that statement.



While I'm always on the lookout for more work by Allan Kass...



... it's not very easy to come by - which makes this small series from RDCB such a treat.



* One place where you'll find several more beautiful Allan Kass illustrations, from his Detroit automotive art period, is at graphiccollectibles.com



Mitch itkowitz has generously provided nice large scans of a half dozen originals he has for sale from the Allan Kass estate. Check 'em out!

* Many thanks to Reader's Digest Creative Director, Robert Newman for linking this week's posts to the Reader's Digest art Tumblr page! Robert has been posting some classics from the back covers of Reader's Digest from those days on the RD tumblr page. Be sure to go take a look!

Digest This: Stan Galli Illos from RDCB

Today we're looking at some fantastic illustrations by Stan Galli, from a 1965 edition of Reader's Digest Condensed Books.



Stan Galli was one of the most renowned west coast illustrators of the mid-20th century.



For those of us who care about such details, Galli is often spoken of in tandem with Fred Ludekens and Bruce Bomberger.





This trio of west coast artists seem to have burst on the east coast scene in magazine illustration at about the same time. In fact, early in their careers, they were all friends and studio mates at the Patterson & Hall advertising art studio in San Francisco.









Today Stan Galli is often remembered by fans of his work for his involvement with the long-running Weyerhaeuser Co. ad series, which helped established his credentials as a wildlife artist.





But as this RDCB series demonstrates, Galli was a tremendously versatile illustrator.







A few years ago when I was corresponding with Galli's son Tom, he told me, "If there was anything to describe dad's success I would have to say his incredible ability to obseve and learn from it. Not just looking at everything but most importantly seeing what he looked at."







If you're interested in reading more about the artist as recounted by Tom Galli, you'll find that post at this link:

Stan Galli Remembered

* Many thanks to Reader's Digest Creative Director, Robert Newman for linking this week's posts to the Reader's Digest art Tumblr page! Robert has been posting some classics from the back covers of Reader's Digest from those days on the RD tumblr page. Be sure to go take a look!