Friday, October 14, 2016
Unruh
Jack Unruh was a fine artist who did the best, or at least the most interesting, illustrations for many magazines , especially ones of the Time- Life Group, for over 50 years. One of his last regular assignments was doing the pic for the humor column by Bill Heavey at the end of Field and Stream. Bill wrote a good remembrance of him here.
He could be surreal...
He also could see beauty in unlikely creatures. Sure, a Sandgrouse is pretty; but how many people would or could do such a delicate drawing of a Lappet- Faced Vulture? (I am pretty sure that is what it is, not a griffon!)
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2 comments:
Reminds me a bit of Artzybasheff.
Steve, I met your friend here in Austin a few years ago, here to celebrate Bill Wittliff's novel THE DEVILS BACKBONE which he created the cover for, as well as the illustrations. Must confess I did not recognize him right away as the artist that had done much that I had been enthralled by over the years. Bill W, introduced him as an illustrator for Garden and Gun magazine, and it still did not register with me. I kept thinking that as an artist, he owed much to Mexican paiter and draftsman Jose Luis Cuevas whose illustrations, in their time, the 1960s and early 70s, Tom McGuane admired so much. Your friend though overlaid, added something original of his own, improving whatever he may have found of use in work by Cuevas.
He was rather taciturn, did not talk much, appeared content to let everyone else yack, happily silent among a big crowd of Austin blowhards. After your post I realized I d been a fan of his for years without having his name at hand.
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