Cover Art

DAN IVAN PUNCHATZ... SEPT. 8, 1936- OCT. 23, 2009

X

It's possible you've never heard of Dan Ivan Punchatz. Lots of outstanding people only come to our attention as we read their obit. I think that upon making his acquaintance, you won't forget him quickly. He was an illustrator of popular horror and science fiction, and the first "Star Wars" poster. He was a great influence to a generation of illustrators, and a master of the absurd and fantastic. His cover art included Isaac Asimov's "Foundation". He was associated with the genre know as magic realism.

He also contributed to Rolling Stone, Esquire, and Playboy. Ray Bradbury was another author that Punchatz illustrated..."his ability...is endlessly stunning".

To ease his workload he opened Sketch Pad Studios as a training ground for dozens of apprentices known as the "elves". His studio was said to work like a Renaissance workshop. Mr. Punchatz did the first sketch, then passed it on to a group of assistants with varying skills. Renderings of flat colors, transparent washes, and surface detail were handed out. Punchatz finished with a final highlighting and calligraphy.

He also worked as an assistant television art director and produced animations. In the army in 1959, he worked as a medical illustrator, and producer of animated training films. Till he retired in the 1990's he worked on accounts for Pepsi, Exxon, and also illustrated children's books.

His work appeared in many galleries and his portrait of B.F. Skinner is in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery. He taught illustration for 35 years at Texas Christian University.

x

Dan Ivan Punchatz was hired to create the packaging for a new video game. The game, "Doom", became a runaway best seller.

A Good Career..

JUDITH LEYSTER/ self portrait/ circa 1632-1633
x
A WOMAN NAMED JUDITH LEYSTER, 1609-1660, HAD A CAREER IN ART 400 YEARS AGO IN HOLLAND. One might say that Leyster was ahead of her time, but the expanding culture of art in the Netherlands in the 17th Century was an open door to creativity. It was said that everyone was a collector, that even farmhouses were decorated with paintings.
x
In her self portrait, above, she turns to us, greets us with warmth and a smile, and invites us to view what she does best...paint. She wasn't amongst the greatest, such as Rembrandt, but she was considered to be very good, and the 400th Anniversary of her birth is being celebrated. After training with such as Frans Hals, she earned membership in the prestigious guild of St. Luke in Haarlem.

A Game of Tric Trac/ circa 1631
x
She had her own workshop, her own students and her own style, one that combined the brushwork of Hals, and the chiaroscuro of Caravaggio. But her story took a familiar turn. She married a painter, Jan Miense Molenaer, had three children and painted less and less frequently. As her husband's art grew in popularity, hers diminished. Perhaps the demands of domesticity replaced her artistic talent, as has often been the case.
x

Young Flute Player/ circa 1635
x
Many of her paintings were attributed to other artists and weren't properly identified until the 1890's. Her art reflects a humor and engagement that surely emphasizes her personality. She is being honored now with an exhibit at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC., through November 29, 2009.
xMerry Company/ circa 1630-1631
x
The National Gallery show includes just 10 of her paintings featuring her self portrait. The exhibition was organized by the curator of Northern Baroque painting, Arthur J. Wheelock, Jr.
x
Then as now it may have been difficult for a woman to have everything, but not impossible to try. This woman found a way to be creative, to be dedicated. To be an artist. And quite special enough to be saluted 400 years later.