In 1949, ten members of the faculty of the Famous Artists School correspondence course were commissioned to paint their interpretation of Samson and Delilah, based on the 1949 Cecil B. DeMille production at Paramount.
The artists pictured include: (back row, from left to right) Harold von Schmidt, Norman Rockwell, Ben Stahl, Peter Helck, and Austin Briggs. (Front row): John Atherton, Al Parker, Al Dorne (on the ground, who apparently didn't contribute a painting), Steven Dohanos, Jon Whitcomb, and Robert Fawcett.
Rockwell did a big painting of Samson pushing down the columns of the temple.
He shot reference of actor Victor Mature, and did the color study at right.
Austin Briggs showed Samson slaying a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of an ass.
Al Parker portrayed Delilah cutting the lock of Samson's hair, thus robbing him of power.
Harold von Schmidt, known for his dramatic action illustrations, showed Samson wrestling with a lion.
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Previously on GurneyJourney:
Samson and Delilah by the old masters, with a blog reader poll for the favorite (hint: the winner was Solomon Solomon)
Images courtesy the Famous Artists' and Norman Rockwell Museum Digital Collection. All Rights Reserved.
Hey Jim, isn't the romantic scene Jon Whitcomb?
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ReplyDeleteI'm a big fan of Rockwell and have a lot of respect for illustrators of that era, but these are all surprisingly clunky.
ReplyDeleteI always imagined that some of the best illustrators of yesteryear would be able to compare not wholly unfavorably against painters of previous centuries when tackling similar subjects, but the results of this event seem to suggest otherwise.
Perhaps this and the Sargent vs. Abbbey sketches you posted on earlier are demonstrations of how even highly skilled artists can stumble when tackling subjects different than what they normally specialize in.
Victor, I agree. Maybe the movie requirement hamstrung the universality. I can't help but imagine that Lovell, Abbey, Leyendecker, Pyle, or Cornwell would have flattened the competition.
ReplyDeleteI saw Rockwell's painting of Samson in a promotional video for The National Museum of American Illustration. (http://www.americanillustration.org/) The video was posted on youtube back in 2009.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it wasn't one of his best. But on a side note-- man would I have loved to have been in that room with all those fantastic artists in the prime of their careers!
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ReplyDeleteWhy did they choose "Samson and Delilah" for the contest?
ReplyDeleteMay have to do with ancient Greeks and the cultural heritage we Westerners still own to them.
Anyhow; finding me once more enjoying one of those multiple Gurney-Journey-Entries.
Also like that well composed photograph here. All those artists in their suits (there were no jeans yet in those times;-)) posing besides the framed pieces of their art work; kind of a pictorial symphony, with everything admirably interwoven: just wondering who's been the director of that photo symphony: Al Dorne?
Interesting post! I also have to agree with Victor that the paintings for the most part are surprisingly clunky given the calibre of the artists...
ReplyDeleteAnyways, since there seems to be some trouble locating better images of the paintings, I immediately recognized the Austin Briggs painting and found it in my files on my computer. It is used as an example in a chapter on folds from the FAS. I've uploaded the image here so you guys can see, maybe James you can edit this image into the main blog post?
http://i.imgur.com/aEdyu9I.jpg
Thanks for helping improve the post, Andrew and Jeff. I've made the edits.
ReplyDeleteI was very lucky to get the Famous Artist Course (complete) for about $140 in very good condition.
ReplyDeleteIt’s exceptionally well designed. Beautiful drawings, high quality photo paper for the few photos, sophisticated typography (that was hip at the time).
Definitely worth getting.
Seems like. from the illustrators' perspective, the whole thing was a publicity stunt, probably (if I were to guess) for far less money than they usually got per job. Maybe they did it purely as publicity for the FAS, so they weren't paid at all. That would certainly explain not only the lackluster results, but also why Al Dorne didn't bother at all! ;)
ReplyDeleteI think it would be a real mistake to think that Rockwell and Von Schmidt couldn't make a better effort on this subject than shown here.
As well as Pyle and Leyendecker, I bet Dunn, Frazetta, or Coll would have made killer pieces for this subject.
I agree with Kev Ferrara; most of the pieces look kind of like they were knocked out as a favor. Austin Briggs is the one who seems to have really given it all he had. I would have loved to have seen Dorne take a crack at it. His knack for action and exaggeration would have served the subject well.
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