Many people know about artist-illustrator Robert McGinnis because of the iconic posters he’s created for such Hollywood film productions as Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Barbarella, The Odd Couple, Cotton Comes to Harlem, and James Bond thrillers starring both Sean Connery and Roger Moore. But others of us know McGinnis much better for his paperback book covers — works he’s been creating ever since 1958.
This coming Sunday, February 3, will mark the artist’s 93rd birthday. To commemorate that occasion, I have posted — in CrimeReads — a fairly good-sized tribute to his six-decades-long career, complete with more than three dozen scans of book fronts McGinnis has painted for crime, mystery, thriller, and suspense novels. While that seems like a lot, it’s actually a modest selection, compared with this artist’s full output. As I explain in the article,
[McGinnis] has produced more than 1,000 unique paintings employed on American paperback book covers. His works are distinguished by their precise use of color, the artist’s preference for portraiture over depicting story scenes, and especially the lithe and luscious women who are so often the focal point of his canvases. Women whom Vanity Fair once described as “a mix of Greek goddess and man-eating Ursula Andress.”
You can enjoy reading the full piece here.
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