Robert Grossman (artist)
Robert Grossman | |
---|---|
Born | Robert Samuel Grossman |
Website | http://robertgrossman.com |
Robert Samuel Grossman (March 1, 1940 – March 15, 2018[1]) was an American painter, sculptor, filmmaker, comics artist, illustrator and author.
In a career spanning fifty years, Grossman's illustrations have appeared over 500 times on the covers of various national publications.
Education and early career
Grossman's father, Joseph Grossman, was a display artist[3] who gave his son his earliest training. The elder Grossman also sent Robert to Saturday morning art classes at the Museum of Modern Art, in Manhattan, NYC. He was Jewish.[4]
Grossman graduated from
A Yale Record parody of The New Yorker (called The Yew Norker)[6] led to an introduction to art director Jim Geraghty, and an art editor position at the weekly. During this period, Grossman created "Captain Melanin," "the world's first African-American superhero," for the satirical journal Monocle.[7]
In 1963, Grossman began a freelance illustration career.
Best-known work
Grossman created the familiar airplane tied in a knot for the 1980 film comedy AIRPLANE!.
For the 1970 comedy recording
Rolling Stone magazine issued a series of posters featuring Grossman's cover paintings of George W. Bush, Richard Nixon, Bob Dylan, The Who, Jerry Garcia, and Crosby Stills and Nash.[10]
Painter
Throughout his career, Grossman employed an
On the evolution of technique in his illustration, Grossman said, "I was impressed by the way David Levine and the Push Pin artists were using line to develop a bulgy three-dimensional feeling in their work. I found an old airbrush in my dad's shop and discovered a jiffy way to outbulge them all. For a while I diligently pursued outline-less-ness as the secret to a real stereoscopic three-dimensional look. I felt my line work belonged to a different world that had nothing to do with the airbrush and went its separate way. Lately I find a strong line reasserting itself in my pictures."[13]
Sculptor
The understanding of form and volume which informs his two-dimensional work finds further expression in an ongoing series of sculptural busts (many of which can be viewed at Grossman's portfolio website). Unlike most sculpture, they are not intended to be walked around, but are constructed to be photographed from a single point, under particular lighting, printed, and shown to a mass audience.[12] Grossman sculpts these in red modeling clay, then brings a painterly understanding of color to their multi-hued veneers. Unlike his paintings, which may take on any subject, the sculptures have been primarily a medium for Grossman's caricatures.
Filmmaker
Grossman received a 1977
During the 1980s, Grossman and his brother David produced a number of animated television commercials under the "Grossman Brothers" banner.[8] One air-conditioner ad featured a miserable, suddenly melting pet dog. A pair of singing cupids were the centerpiece of ads for a New York radio station specializing in love songs. A dancing piggy bank performed juggling feats for a local bank. Grossman's preferred technique has been replacement animation, in which separate puppets (or parts of puppets) are sculpted to represent each increment of action. A single character might have dozens of different heads, enabling the expression of any desired word or emotion. The technique was used on The Nightmare Before Christmas.[16]
Cartoonist
Grossman has written and drawn multipanel comics throughout his career. The pen and ink
In June 2008, The New York Times published a discussion with Grossman of his political comic strips, which date back to the Kennedy administration. The profile appeared concurrently with the launch of "O-MANLAND,"[21] an online compilation of strips focusing on the 2008 presidential race. The site is named after "O-Man," Barack Obama's Grossman-invented alter ego, whose superpowers and charisma know no bounds. The artist collaborated with veteran record producer and musician John Simon on a theme song for the site.[21] He also made Twump & Pooty (2017), a webcomic satirizing Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.[20]
Author
An occasional essayist, Grossman shared with readers of The Nation his reflections on Art Spiegelman's now-classic graphic novel Maus: "[S]oon one is marveling at the amount of fear, hope, love and pathos that can emerge from a sketch of a mouse's head scarcely a half-inch high. ... [Spiegelman] promises us a sequel and I, for one, can't wait. I hope he is scurrying. The most affecting and successful narrative ever done about the Holocaust."[22] A graphic novel, based on the famous New York Sun's “Great Moon Hoax,” titled "Life on the Moon", was published posthumously in May, 2019. The book was nominated for an Eisner Award in 2020.[23][24]
Personal life
Grossman's first marriage, to Donna Lundvall in 1964, ended in divorce in 1980. His second marriage, to Vicki Anne Morgan, ended in divorce in 1987. His survivors include his partner of 24 years, Elaine Louie; son Alex Emanuel Grossman, an actor, musician and filmmaker, and daughter Leila Suzanna Grossman, a photographer, who together run his website.[1][25] Alex is in the process of creating a documentary about his father.[26]
Notes
- ^ a b c Genzlinger, Neil (March 19, 2018). "Robert Grossman, Illustrator With a Brash Touch, Dies at 78". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
- ^ Grossman's The Nation contributor page: "Robert Grossman". Archived from the original on December 22, 2009.
- ^ "careerprospects.org". September 30, 2011. Archived from the original on September 30, 2011.
- ^ Baroff, Paula (August 14, 2020). "Artsy Thespian Nests in Historic Norcross". Atlanta Jewish Times.
- ^ The Yale Record | About | History Archived July 16, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Grossman, Robert (February–March, 1961). Cover Illustration. The Yew Norker (The New Yorker parody). New Haven: Yale Record.
- ^ "Design Observer". www.designobserver.com. Archived from the original on July 9, 2011.
- ^ a b "Robert Samuel Grossman - Biography". www.askart.com.
- ^ Smith, Ronald L. The Goldmine Comedy Record Price Guide. Iola: Krause, 1996.
- ^ "Robert Grossman, Robert Grossman Poster, Robert Grossman Prints - Barewalls.com". Archived from the original on September 28, 2007.
- ^ "Graphis International Awards & Publications". www.graphis.com. Archived from the original on February 4, 2011.
- ^ a b Graphis 186, Graphis Press, Volume 32, 1977.
- ^ a b c Heller, Steven. Innovators of American Illustration. New York: Van Nortrand Reinhold, 1986.
- YouTube "- YouTube". YouTube. Archived from the original on June 6, 2022. Retrieved 2018-04-20.[dead link]
- ^ "1977 Academy Awards". www.infoplease.com. Archived from the original on February 28, 2011.
- ^ "The George Pal Site: Techniques:Replacement Animation". www.awn.com. Archived from the original on May 15, 2011.
- ^ "Grossman comic strip". New York Magazine. New York Media, LLC: 13. 10 December 1973. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
- ^ Heller, Steven (2 July 2008). "Grossman Land". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
- ^ Heller, Steven (27 September 2012). "Pow! O-Man and Milt Rhomboid Battle in Comic Veteran's Satirical Strip". The Atlantic. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
- ^ a b "Robert Grossman". www.lambiek.net.
- ^ a b "欢迎光临-HB". www.o-manland.com. Archived from the original on February 1, 2011.
- ^ "Maus I: A Survivor's Tale". www.powells.com. Archived from the original on October 20, 2020.
- ^ "Life on the Moon by Robert Grossman". yoebooks.com. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
- ^ "2020 Eisner Awards Nominations". www.comic-con.org. 2 June 2020.
- ^ "Contact | ROBERT GROSSMAN". alexemanuel.com.
- ^ "About Alex – Alex Emanuel". alexemanuel.com.
References
- In-depth profile of Mr. Grossman, from The New York Review of Magazines (2002)
- O-man Land - Mr. Grossman's comics from The Nation and the New York Observer
- Grossman's comics index at The New York Observer
- The Nation contributor's page
- Graphis 186, Graphis Press, Volume 32, 1977
- Heller, Steven Innovators of American Illustration. New York: Van Nortrand Reinhold, 1986