An excellent overview of a fruitful career, The Art Of Robert E. McGinnis delivers on extensive images and to-the-point information.
Painter Robert McGinnis has earned international renown as a master illustrator by creating poster art for such movies as Breakfast at Tiffany’s, James Bond films (seven of them), Barbarella (starring Jane Fonda), The Odd Couple, and Cotton Comes to Harlem. And he’s a legendary book cover artist, having painted images for approximately 1,400 titles, from authors such as Lawrence Block, Erle Stanley Gardner (Perry Mason crime case series), Carter Brown, John D. MacDonald, Thornton Wilder, Johanna Lindsey (romance novels), and Stephen King (Joyland special edition). Also, McGinnis has created illustrations for major magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post and Good Housekeeping, as well as stunning gallery paintings of landscapes, Western scenes, and ladies.
Delving into private collections and personal archives, with many of the works shot from original paintings, The Art of Robert E. McGinnis opens the door to an unparalleled and illustrious career. One that continues to this day.
- Titan Books, November 2014
- Hardcover, 176 pages, 9″ x 12″
- ISBN-13: 9781781162170
- $34.95 USD
- Order online: Amazon
McGinnis has had a long and distinguished career as an illustrator, and this book captures that in a format and presentation that allows for a compelling overview focusing on the art and providing enough detail to keep the reader entertained and informed without getting bogged down.
The organization is clean and clear, the material divided into book covers, movies, magazine illustration, gallery art, West and landscapes. Within those are sub-categories exploring each period in his career.
This a visual experience and as such how this artwork is presented takes precedence. The layout is excellent, presenting a variety of page configurations, with many full-page illustrations, half-page illustrations and insets of book covers showing the published format.
The author spends a significant portion of the text describing and discussing the “McGinnis Woman”, the look and style he presented throughout his work. It’s a strong part but not the sum and thank goodness we’re treated to a complete retrospective showcasing his other periods and interests.
Art Scott is the writer, but first billing is given to McGinnis. The book opens with a career overview as an introduction that flows into an interview between the two. Its broad strokes and memories present the artist in a compelling light without getting into too much nitty-gritty. If you want to know what brushes he favoured this isn’t the book for you.
Robert McGinnis is the king of paperback covers, and The Art Of Robert E. McGinnis shows just why that is.
Originally published at Comic Book Daily.
